SQL Server 2022 introduced the GENERATE_SERIES() function, which enables us to create a series of values within a given range. Although this function is limited to just numeric values, we can still combine it with various other functions to create a series of date/time values.
Below are examples of how we can use the GENERATE_SERIES() function to help us get a list of all dates between two given date values.
The release of SQL Server 2022 in November 2022 introduced a bunch of new functionality, including some enhancements to the TRIM(), LTRIM() and RTRIM() functions.
The enhancements in the LTRIM() and RTRIM() functions are different to those in the TRIM() function. Below is a quick overview of the enhancements to these functions, along with examples.
When using the GROUP BY clause in SQL Server, we can use the ROLLUP modifier to create subtotals and grand totals, etc.
You may have seen two variations of this. One as GROUP BY ROLLUP () and the other as GROUP BY ... WITH ROLLUP.
You may be wondering which one you should use?
As it turns out, Microsoft recommends that we use the first syntax; GROUP BY ROLLUP (). The other syntax is provided for backward compatibility only.
In SQL Server, the GENERATE_SERIES() function is a relational operator that returns a series of values between a given start and stop point. These are returned in a single-column table.
Although the GENERATE_SERIES() function only works with numeric values, we can combine it with other functions to create a series of dates.
The GENERATE_SERIES() function was introduced in SQL Server 2022 (16.x) and requires the compatibility level to be at least 160.
If you have a query that returns multiple columns with numeric values in SQL Server, you can pass them to the GREATEST() function to find out which column has the highest value.
The release of SQL Server 2022 came with the introduction of the DATE_BUCKET() function.
The DATE_BUCKET() function allows us to arrange data into groups that represent fixed intervals of time. It returns the date/time value that corresponds to the start of each date/time bucket, as defined by the arguments passed to the function.
If you’re getting SQL Server error number 189 that reads “The greatest function requires 1 to 254 arguments“, it’s probably because you’re either passing too few or too many arguments.
As the error message alludes to, you need to pass at least 1 argument, and no more than 254 arguments when using the GREATEST() function.
To fix this issue, be sure to pass at least 1 argument, and no more than 254 arguments.
Continue readingIn SQL NULL is a special value, or mark, that is used to indicate the absence of any data value. And this is the case with SQL Server.
But SQL Server also has a special use of NULL in certain cases.
In SQL Server, we can use the DATETRUNC() function to truncate a date/time value to a specified precision.
For example, we could use it to truncate a date value like 2024-10-25 to 2024-01-01, or a time value like 10:35:12 to 10:00:00.
The DATETRUNC() function was introduced in SQL Server 2022 (16.x).
In SQL Server, we can use the TRIM() function to remove leading and trailing characters from a given string.
A common use case is to remove whitespace from the start and end of the string, but we can also specify other characters to remove.
Also, as from SQL Server 2022, we can specify which side of the string to remove the characters from (i.e. leading, trailing, or both).
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