SQL Server 2008 R2 Released To Manufacturing

Here is the announcement from Microsoft Data Platform blog that SQL Server 2008 R2 has been released to manufacturing.

SQL Server 2008 R2

Here is the link to free ebook download from Microsoft. Start learning before the product releases on May 2010.

SQL Server Trimming miliseconds (Zero out miliseconds)

Hi,
Where I work we needed to zero out the milliseconds from a datetime field in one of the database. I found out that somebody created function below which returns the passed datetime with the milliseconds zero out. Instead of 2010-04-15 14:50:49.953 this time we needed to return 2010-04-15 14:50:49.000. When I looked at the function I thought there is just to much DATEPART, CONVERT and concatenation being used. And I asked myself If I could make it much shorter, cleaner. So I did come up with a result and it works. Here is the original function:
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF
GO
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[TrimMilliseconds] (@D datetime)
RETURNS datetime
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE @Date datetime
SET @Date = CONVERT(datetime,
CONVERT(varchar(4), DATEPART(yyyy, @D)) + '-' +
CONVERT(varchar(2), DATEPART(mm, @D)) + '-' +
CONVERT(varchar(2), DATEPART(dd, @D)) + ' ' +
CONVERT(varchar(2), DATEPART(Hh, @D)) + ':' +
CONVERT(varchar(2), DATEPART(mi, @D)) + ':' +
CONVERT(varchar(2), DATEPART(ss, @D)))

return @Date
END
GO

Here is my updated version:
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER OFF
GO
CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[TrimMillisecondsNew] (@D datetime)
RETURNS datetime
AS
BEGIN
DECLARE @Date datetime
SET @Date = CAST(CONVERT(VARCHAR(19),@D,20) AS DATETIME)

return @Date
END
GO

As you see the second function is much cleaner and simpler. I only used convert and cast functions once to do the work. Less typing, less t-sql, work is done.

24 Hours Of Pass 2010

Check the link to obtain information and register for 24 hours of Pass 2010. This is 24 hours of back to back SQL Server related webcasts starting on May 19 at 12:00 GMT(UTC). There are a lot of good presentations available go ahead, check it out and register now. I don't think I can watch all but I hope I will have time for most.

MSSQL Replication 'Field Size Too Large'

Back from a vacation and I am ready to blog at least once a week. Last week there was an update to a large table which was involved in transactional replication. We wanted to move from using GUID as primary key and implement integer based identity key. So I had to stop publishing the table to be able to drop the primary key and add a new column, populate it create the primary key on the new column.

So we had the script executed to do the job. The I used the same script which alters the table to make the necessary changes in the subscriber database. Because the table in subscriber was in different file group with different indexes and I did not want to the replication drop and recreate the table itself (which is default). I then initiated the replication with a new snapshot and waited for 5 minutes. Then I saw the error message and found out that it's complaining about the field size too larger. How can that be? Both tables are exactly same for the basic schema. I tried to create a new snapshot with the same ugly error message. Then I decided to script out my additional indexes in subscriber and dropped the table. I created the table in subscriber from a script created in the publisher with my additional indexes in the specific file group I want. The I set the publication to create a new snapshot with leaving the target table in subscriber left as it is. And that did it.

Hope this helps.

SQL Server 2005 and 2008 Service Pack Announcements

Microsoft announced the upcoming targeted release dates for SQL Server 2005 and 2008 Service Packs.

SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 4 targeted release date is Q42010.
SQL Server 2008 Service Pack 2 targeted release date is Q32010.

For most people who has been waiting for SQL 2005 SP4 maybe over before the end of the year.

Suspect_Pages

I think not many database administrators are aware of the msdb.dbo.suspect_pages table in SQL Server 2005/2008. The database engine uses this table to record possible suspect page data. It records the pageid and event_type_value which indicates what type of error or how the page repaired along with some other data. For detecting suspect page in your server I recommend setting up a job which looks at that table with certain event_type_value. (the values can be 1,2,3,4,5,7) If database engine records a row with value less than equal to 3 then it means you're facing possible CRC failure, checksum error, or torn page. Then you can send an email alert to your self to start looking for solution. You can use DBCC commands to repair the page or if it does nt work you may have to restore the page from a backup. Suspect_pages table is like having some early warning system so I think dba's should use this table to alert themselves. You can read more about it here on MSDN Site.

HTH