sys.check_constraints contains a row for each CHECK constraint 1. parent_column_id – column id for which CHECK constraint is defined 2. parent_object_id – id of the object for whose column the constraint is defined. 3. create/modify_date – creation/modification date 4. definition – constraint’s criteria Since the name of the column the constraint is built on is not present in sys.check_constraints, you...

I’ve been converted – I now use GUID (UNIQUEIDENTIFIERS) instead of INT for most database tables’ primary key.  If there is only going to be 100 or less rows, I don’t bother but most everything else I feel justifies the extra bytes of GUID. It ensures the key is unique which greatly simplifies merging data in the future. A...

I am upgrading a legacy application that used GETDATE() on columns (describing the row created date) in many tables. We rename the column (our column names indicate local or UTC) Set the default to now be GETUTCDATE() Convert the old values. It then becomes quite trivial to update the legacy values (step 3) to what they would have been if this had been...

I like to run a check script I’ve crafted that tells me stats on the database before I upgrade and perform schema changes.  To make the script more universal, I wanted it to report the name of the database the stats are for (for printing purposes). I knew how to check the database server hostname (IF @@SERVERNAME = ‘[expected...

How many different ways are there to format a date/time? Too many.  Here is a list of formats and the specific command to get them: http://www.sql-server-helper.com/tips/date-formats.aspx