In SQL Server, STRING_AGG() is an aggregate function that concatenates string values from a group into a single string. It’s a handy tool for doing things like creating comma-separated lists from related data.
In this article we’ll check out how to use STRING_AGG() with different separators. We’ll also see how we can control the order of the concatenated strings.
In SQL Server, we can use functions like GETDATE() to get the current date and time. There are also other functions, like CURRENT_TIMESTAMP, SYSDATETIME(), etc. These functions return values using one of the valid date/time types. For example, GETDATE() and CURRENT_TIMESTAMP return a datetime type, while SYSDATETIME() returns a datetime2(7) value.
Either way, if we want the current date to be displayed using MM/DD/YYYY format, we’ll need to do some extra work.
Fortunately SQL Server provides us with a range of options for doing this, and so we can pick the one that suits our scenario.
With that in mind, here are four ways to format the current date as MM/DD/YYYY in SQL Server.
When formatting dates in SQL Server you may be wondering whether to use CONVERT() or CAST(). After all, both functions allow us to convert between data types. Let’s take a look at at these two functions and figure out when to use each one.
When working with temporary tables in SQL Server, one of the most common tasks is checking whether the table already exists before creating it. This prevents errors in the event the table already exists, and ensures your scripts run smoothly regardless of previous executions.
In this article, we’ll explore five different approaches to checking for temporary table existence in SQL Server.
Sometimes we get dates in a format that SQL Server has trouble with when we try to convert them to an actual DATE value. One example would be dates in MMDDYYYY format. While it might be easy to assume that SQL Server would be able to handle this easily, when we stop to think about it, this format is fraught with danger.
The MMDDYYYY format is ambiguous. While we might know that the first two digits are for the month, SQL Server doesn’t know this. Some countries/regions use the first two digits for the day (like DDMMYYYY). So if we get a date like, 01032025, how would SQL Server know whether it’s the first day of the third month, or the third day of the first month?
In SQL Server, we have several options when it comes to formatting a DATE or DATETIME value as MMDDYYYY. The two most common functions for formatting dates like this are CONVERT() and FORMAT().
When working with numbers in SQL Server, both ROUND() and FORMAT() can be used to round the numeric values to a given decimal precision. But that doesn’t mean we should use them interchangeably. Each function serves a different purpose and has its distinct use cases.
The SQL rpad() function has been widely implemented across many major RDBMSs, including MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL, and MariaDB, to name just a few. But when it comes to SQL Server, we have a problem. SQL Server doesn’t currently provide us with an rpad() function.
But that’s not to say we can’t apply right padding in SQL Server. SQL Server still provides us with enough tools to get the job done. With a bit of work, we can get a similar result to what we might be able to achieve with rpad(). It may not be as elegant as a simple rpad() function, but at least it’s an option.
Deleting rows in a SQL database can sometimes be a nerve-racking experience. What if you’re deleting the wrong rows? Or what if the business later tells you they want their data back?
Fortunately SQL Server provides us with an easy way to essentially “back up” any rows affected by a DELETE operation to a table.
This article looks at using the OUTPUT ... INTO clause to save a copy of deleted rows to another table.
If you’re getting an error that reads something like “Violation of PRIMARY KEY constraint ‘PK_CatId’. Cannot insert duplicate key in object ‘dbo.Cats’. The duplicate key value is (1)” in SQL Server, it’s because you’re trying to insert a duplicate value into a primary key column.
A primary key cannot contain duplicate values.
To fix this issue, you’ll need to change the value you’re trying to insert into the primary key column.