When I try to run an insert statement like below on Azure SQL DW I always get the following error message
Msg 107085, Level 16, State 1, Line 1 107085;The query encountered a data consistency issue that prevents further execution. This issue could have been caused by use of non-deterministic operations in the query. Rewrite the failed query and re-execute it
insert into dbo.LoadLogs (Id, LoadDescription, RecordCount, LoadDate)
select newid() as Id, #LoadDescription, #RecordCount, #LoadDate;
The SQL DW service today doesn't support non-deterministic functions in DML statements. So your NEWID() call in the INSERT statement isn't supported (the error message is a bit misleading - we can improve that). Adding support is in our backlog. You can always file a request in our feedback forum:
https://feedback.azure.com/forums/307516-sql-data-warehouse
For now, you'll need to create a local variable for your GUID generations. Something like:
DECLARE #newidentifier UNIQUEIDENTIFIER;
SET #newidentifier = NEWID();
insert into dbo.LoadLogs (Id, LoadDescription, RecordCount, LoadDate)
select #newidentifier, #LoadDescription, #RecordCount, #LoadDate;
Check the content of our NewId(),also the datatype of all fields, and the value before insertion happen.
Maybe your ID is a primary key and auto incremental,your query is no longer happen and it can't be done.
Hope it helps.
I have this stored procedure wich its like this :
ALTER PROCEDURE [dbo].[P_ALIMENTATION_VolumeVentes]
AS
BEGIN
SELECT EDS, NomEDS,AgenceEDS, AgenceNomEDS,SecteurEDS, SecteurNomEDS,DirectionEDS,DirectionNomEDS,
(SELECT count(*) FROM CPListeVentesNonConformes WHERE CPListeVentesNonConformes.EDS = CPRT.EDS AND TypePart='PP') AS ListeVenteNC_PP,
(SELECT count(*) FROM CEListeVentesNonConformes WHERE CEListeVentesNonConformes.EDS = CPRT.EDS AND TypePart='ET') AS ListeVenteNC_ET,
(SELECT count(*) FROM CPListeVentesNonConformes WHERE CPListeVentesNonConformes.EDS = CPRT.EDS AND TypePart='PP' OR TypePart='ET') AS ListeVenteNC_PPET,
(SELECT count(*) FROM ListeVentes WHERE IDES01 = CPRT.EDS AND TypePart='PP') AS ListeVentes
INTO VolumeVentes
FROM CPR CPRT
GROUP BY EDS, NomEDS,AgenceEDS, AgenceNomEDS,SecteurEDS, SecteurNomEDS,DirectionEDS,DirectionNomEDS,TypePart
END
When i execute with the command line EXEC [dbo].[P_ALIMENTATION_VolumeVentes]
that work super great my table is create.
But when i use SQL Agent to schedule a job i have a nice surprise to have this error :
Executed as user: ZRES\CSAPREP10IUCRADM. The conversion of a varchar
data type to a datetime data type resulted in an out-of-range value.
[SQLSTATE 22007] (Error 242) The statement has been terminated.
[SQLSTATE 01000] (Error 3621). The step failed.
The structure table who will be create VolumetVentes have no fields with a type as datetime
Here is the structure of the tableVolumeVentes
I don't understand exactly where is the error ?
Thank you for help
Actually it should never work since you already have VolumeVente table.
SELECT INTO creates new table with columns described in select statement
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms188029(v=sql.120).aspx
You should modify this code to become INSERT SELECT.
But you will probably still get the same conversion error because (I guess) column order is not correct in select statment and does not match column order in existing table. That is why you should always explicitly define column list in INSERT INTO clause, so the final script will look like:
INSERT INTO VolumeVentes(EDS, NomEDS,AgenceEDS, AgenceNomEDS,SecteurEDS, ...)
SELECT EDS, NomEDS,AgenceEDS, AgenceNomEDS,SecteurEDS
FROM ...
Use
INSERT INTO... Statement
instead of
SELECT INTO FROM... Statement
I want to insert some data on the local server into a remote server, and used the following sql:
select * into linkservername.mydbname.dbo.test from localdbname.dbo.test
But it throws the following error
The object name 'linkservername.mydbname.dbo.test' contains more than the maximum number of prefixes. The maximum is 2.
How can I do that?
I don't think the new table created with the INTO clause supports 4 part names.
You would need to create the table first, then use INSERT..SELECT to populate it.
(See note in Arguments section on MSDN: reference)
The SELECT...INTO [new_table_name] statement supports a maximum of 2 prefixes: [database].[schema].[table]
NOTE: it is more performant to pull the data across the link using SELECT INTO vs. pushing it across using INSERT INTO:
SELECT INTO is minimally logged.
SELECT INTO does not implicitly start a distributed transaction, typically.
I say typically, in point #2, because in most scenarios a distributed transaction is not created implicitly when using SELECT INTO. If a profiler trace tells you SQL Server is still implicitly creating a distributed transaction, you can SELECT INTO a temp table first, to prevent the implicit distributed transaction, then move the data into your target table from the temp table.
Push vs. Pull Example
In this example we are copying data from [server_a] to [server_b] across a link. This example assumes query execution is possible from both servers:
Push
Instead of connecting to [server_a] and pushing the data to [server_b]:
INSERT INTO [server_b].[database].[schema].[table]
SELECT * FROM [database].[schema].[table]
Pull
Connect to [server_b] and pull the data from [server_a]:
SELECT * INTO [database].[schema].[table]
FROM [server_a].[database].[schema].[table]
I've been struggling with this for the last hour.
I now realise that using the syntax
SELECT orderid, orderdate, empid, custid
INTO [linkedserver].[database].[dbo].[table]
FROM Sales.Orders;
does not work with linked servers. You have to go onto your linked server and manually create the table first, then use the following syntax:
INSERT INTO [linkedserver].[database].[dbo].[table]
SELECT orderid, orderdate, empid, custid
FROM Sales.Orders
WHERE shipcountry = 'UK';
I've experienced the same issue and I've performed the following workaround:
If you are able to log on to remote server where you want to insert data with MSSQL or sqlcmd and rebuild your query vice-versa:
so from:
SELECT * INTO linkservername.mydbname.dbo.test
FROM localdbname.dbo.test
to the following:
SELECT * INTO localdbname.dbo.test
FROM linkservername.mydbname.dbo.test
In my situation it works well.
#2Toad: For sure INSERT INTO is better / more efficient. However for small queries and quick operation SELECT * INTO is more flexible because it creates the table on-the-fly and insert your data immediately, whereas INSERT INTO requires creating a table (auto-ident options and so on) before you carry out your insert operation.
I may be late to the party, but this was the first post I saw when I searched for the 4 part table name insert issue to a linked server. After reading this and a few more posts, I was able to accomplish this by using EXEC with the "AT" argument (for SQL2008+) so that the query is run from the linked server. For example, I had to insert 4M records to a pseudo-temp table on another server, and doing an INSERT-SELECT FROM statement took 10+ minutes. But changing it to the following SELECT-INTO statement, which allows the 4 part table name in the FROM clause, does it in mere seconds (less than 10 seconds in my case).
EXEC ('USE MyDatabase;
BEGIN TRY DROP TABLE TempID3 END TRY BEGIN CATCH END CATCH;
SELECT Field1, Field2, Field3
INTO TempID3
FROM SourceServer.SourceDatabase.dbo.SourceTable;') AT [DestinationServer]
GO
The query is run on DestinationServer, changes to right database, ensures the table does not already exist, and selects from the SourceServer. Minimally logged, and no fuss. This information may already out there somewhere, but I hope it helps anyone searching for similar issues.
Locked. This question and its answers are locked because the question is off-topic but has historical significance. It is not currently accepting new answers or interactions.
What are some hidden features of SQL Server?
For example, undocumented system stored procedures, tricks to do things which are very useful but not documented enough?
Answers
Thanks to everybody for all the great answers!
Stored Procedures
sp_msforeachtable: Runs a command with '?' replaced with each table name (v6.5 and up)
sp_msforeachdb: Runs a command with '?' replaced with each database name (v7 and up)
sp_who2: just like sp_who, but with a lot more info for troubleshooting blocks (v7 and up)
sp_helptext: If you want the code of a stored procedure, view & UDF
sp_tables: return a list of all tables and views of database in scope.
sp_stored_procedures: return a list of all stored procedures
xp_sscanf: Reads data from the string into the argument locations specified by each format argument.
xp_fixeddrives:: Find the fixed drive with largest free space
sp_help: If you want to know the table structure, indexes and constraints of a table. Also views and UDFs. Shortcut is Alt+F1
Snippets
Returning rows in random order
All database User Objects by Last Modified Date
Return Date Only
Find records which date falls somewhere inside the current week.
Find records which date occurred last week.
Returns the date for the beginning of the current week.
Returns the date for the beginning of last week.
See the text of a procedure that has been deployed to a server
Drop all connections to the database
Table Checksum
Row Checksum
Drop all the procedures in a database
Re-map the login Ids correctly after restore
Call Stored Procedures from an INSERT statement
Find Procedures By Keyword
Drop all the procedures in a database
Query the transaction log for a database programmatically.
Functions
HashBytes()
EncryptByKey
PIVOT command
Misc
Connection String extras
TableDiff.exe
Triggers for Logon Events (New in Service Pack 2)
Boosting performance with persisted-computed-columns (pcc).
DEFAULT_SCHEMA setting in sys.database_principles
Forced Parameterization
Vardecimal Storage Format
Figuring out the most popular queries in seconds
Scalable Shared Databases
Table/Stored Procedure Filter feature in SQL Management Studio
Trace flags
Number after a GO repeats the batch
Security using schemas
Encryption using built in encryption functions, views and base tables with triggers
In Management Studio, you can put a number after a GO end-of-batch marker to cause the batch to be repeated that number of times:
PRINT 'X'
GO 10
Will print 'X' 10 times. This can save you from tedious copy/pasting when doing repetitive stuff.
A lot of SQL Server developers still don't seem to know about the OUTPUT clause (SQL Server 2005 and newer) on the DELETE, INSERT and UPDATE statement.
It can be extremely useful to know which rows have been INSERTed, UPDATEd, or DELETEd, and the OUTPUT clause allows to do this very easily - it allows access to the "virtual" tables called inserted and deleted (like in triggers):
DELETE FROM (table)
OUTPUT deleted.ID, deleted.Description
WHERE (condition)
If you're inserting values into a table which has an INT IDENTITY primary key field, with the OUTPUT clause, you can get the inserted new ID right away:
INSERT INTO MyTable(Field1, Field2)
OUTPUT inserted.ID
VALUES (Value1, Value2)
And if you're updating, it can be extremely useful to know what changed - in this case, inserted represents the new values (after the UPDATE), while deleted refers to the old values before the UPDATE:
UPDATE (table)
SET field1 = value1, field2 = value2
OUTPUT inserted.ID, deleted.field1, inserted.field1
WHERE (condition)
If a lot of info will be returned, the output of OUTPUT can also be redirected to a temporary table or a table variable (OUTPUT INTO #myInfoTable).
Extremely useful - and very little known!
Marc
sp_msforeachtable: Runs a command with '?' replaced with each table name.
e.g.
exec sp_msforeachtable "dbcc dbreindex('?')"
You can issue up to 3 commands for each table
exec sp_msforeachtable
#Command1 = 'print ''reindexing table ?''',
#Command2 = 'dbcc dbreindex(''?'')',
#Command3 = 'select count (*) [?] from ?'
Also, sp_MSforeachdb
Connection String extras:
MultipleActiveResultSets=true;
This makes ADO.Net 2.0 and above read multiple, forward-only, read-only results sets on a single database connection, which can improve performance if you're doing a lot of reading. You can turn it on even if you're doing a mix of query types.
Application Name=MyProgramName
Now when you want to see a list of active connections by querying the sysprocesses table, your program's name will appear in the program_name column instead of ".Net SqlClient Data Provider"
TableDiff.exe
Table Difference tool allows you to discover and reconcile differences between a source and destination table or a view. Tablediff Utility can report differences on schema and data. The most popular feature of tablediff is the fact that it can generate a script that you can run on the destination that will reconcile differences between the tables.
Link
A less known TSQL technique for returning rows in random order:
-- Return rows in a random order
SELECT
SomeColumn
FROM
SomeTable
ORDER BY
CHECKSUM(NEWID())
In Management Studio, you can quickly get a comma-delimited list of columns for a table by :
In the Object Explorer, expand the nodes under a given table (so you will see folders for Columns, Keys, Constraints, Triggers etc.)
Point to the Columns folder and drag into a query.
This is handy when you don't want to use heinous format returned by right-clicking on the table and choosing Script Table As..., then Insert To... This trick does work with the other folders in that it will give you a comma-delimited list of names contained within the folder.
Row Constructors
You can insert multiple rows of data with a single insert statement.
INSERT INTO Colors (id, Color)
VALUES (1, 'Red'),
(2, 'Blue'),
(3, 'Green'),
(4, 'Yellow')
If you want to know the table structure, indexes and constraints:
sp_help 'TableName'
HashBytes() to return the MD2, MD4, MD5, SHA, or SHA1 hash of its input.
Figuring out the most popular queries
With sys.dm_exec_query_stats, you can figure out many combinations of query analyses by a single query.
Link
with the commnad
select * from sys.dm_exec_query_stats
order by execution_count desc
The spatial results tab can be used to create art.
enter link description here http://michaeljswart.com/wp-content/uploads/2010/02/venus.png
EXCEPT and INTERSECT
Instead of writing elaborate joins and subqueries, these two keywords are a much more elegant shorthand and readable way of expressing your query's intent when comparing two query results. New as of SQL Server 2005, they strongly complement UNION which has already existed in the TSQL language for years.
The concepts of EXCEPT, INTERSECT, and UNION are fundamental in set theory which serves as the basis and foundation of relational modeling used by all modern RDBMS. Now, Venn diagram type results can be more intuitively and quite easily generated using TSQL.
I know it's not exactly hidden, but not too many people know about the PIVOT command. I was able to change a stored procedure that used cursors and took 2 minutes to run into a speedy 6 second piece of code that was one tenth the number of lines!
useful when restoring a database for Testing purposes or whatever. Re-maps the login ID's correctly:
EXEC sp_change_users_login 'Auto_Fix', 'Mary', NULL, 'B3r12-36'
Drop all connections to the database:
Use Master
Go
Declare #dbname sysname
Set #dbname = 'name of database you want to drop connections from'
Declare #spid int
Select #spid = min(spid) from master.dbo.sysprocesses
where dbid = db_id(#dbname)
While #spid Is Not Null
Begin
Execute ('Kill ' + #spid)
Select #spid = min(spid) from master.dbo.sysprocesses
where dbid = db_id(#dbname) and spid > #spid
End
Table Checksum
Select CheckSum_Agg(Binary_CheckSum(*)) From Table With (NOLOCK)
Row Checksum
Select CheckSum_Agg(Binary_CheckSum(*)) From Table With (NOLOCK) Where Column = Value
I'm not sure if this is a hidden feature or not, but I stumbled upon this, and have found it to be useful on many occassions. You can concatonate a set of a field in a single select statement, rather than using a cursor and looping through the select statement.
Example:
DECLARE #nvcConcatonated nvarchar(max)
SET #nvcConcatonated = ''
SELECT #nvcConcatonated = #nvcConcatonated + C.CompanyName + ', '
FROM tblCompany C
WHERE C.CompanyID IN (1,2,3)
SELECT #nvcConcatonated
Results:
Acme, Microsoft, Apple,
If you want the code of a stored procedure you can:
sp_helptext 'ProcedureName'
(not sure if it is hidden feature, but I use it all the time)
A stored procedure trick is that you can call them from an INSERT statement. I found this very useful when I was working on an SQL Server database.
CREATE TABLE #toto (v1 int, v2 int, v3 char(4), status char(6))
INSERT #toto (v1, v2, v3, status) EXEC dbo.sp_fulubulu(sp_param1)
SELECT * FROM #toto
DROP TABLE #toto
In SQL Server 2005/2008 to show row numbers in a SELECT query result:
SELECT ( ROW_NUMBER() OVER (ORDER BY OrderId) ) AS RowNumber,
GrandTotal, CustomerId, PurchaseDate
FROM Orders
ORDER BY is a compulsory clause. The OVER() clause tells the SQL Engine to sort data on the specified column (in this case OrderId) and assign numbers as per the sort results.
Useful for parsing stored procedure arguments: xp_sscanf
Reads data from the string into the argument locations specified by each format argument.
The following example uses xp_sscanf
to extract two values from a source
string based on their positions in the
format of the source string.
DECLARE #filename varchar (20), #message varchar (20)
EXEC xp_sscanf 'sync -b -fproducts10.tmp -rrandom', 'sync -b -f%s -r%s',
#filename OUTPUT, #message OUTPUT
SELECT #filename, #message
Here is the result set.
-------------------- --------------------
products10.tmp random
Return Date Only
Select Cast(Floor(Cast(Getdate() As Float))As Datetime)
or
Select DateAdd(Day, 0, DateDiff(Day, 0, Getdate()))
dm_db_index_usage_stats
This allows you to know if data in a table has been updated recently even if you don't have a DateUpdated column on the table.
SELECT OBJECT_NAME(OBJECT_ID) AS DatabaseName, last_user_update,*
FROM sys.dm_db_index_usage_stats
WHERE database_id = DB_ID( 'MyDatabase')
AND OBJECT_ID=OBJECT_ID('MyTable')
Code from: http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2009/05/09/sql-server-find-last-date-time-updated-for-any-table/
Information referenced from:
SQL Server - What is the date/time of the last inserted row of a table?
Available in SQL 2005 and later
Here are some features I find useful but a lot of people don't seem to know about:
sp_tables
Returns a list of objects that can be
queried in the current environment.
This means any object that can appear
in a FROM clause, except synonym
objects.
Link
sp_stored_procedures
Returns a list of stored procedures in
the current environment.
Link
Find records which date falls somewhere inside the current week.
where dateadd( week, datediff( week, 0, TransDate ), 0 ) =
dateadd( week, datediff( week, 0, getdate() ), 0 )
Find records which date occurred last week.
where dateadd( week, datediff( week, 0, TransDate ), 0 ) =
dateadd( week, datediff( week, 0, getdate() ) - 1, 0 )
Returns the date for the beginning of the current week.
select dateadd( week, datediff( week, 0, getdate() ), 0 )
Returns the date for the beginning of last week.
select dateadd( week, datediff( week, 0, getdate() ) - 1, 0 )
Not so much a hidden feature but setting up key mappings in Management Studio under Tools\Options\Keyboard:
Alt+F1 is defaulted to sp_help "selected text" but I cannot live without the adding Ctrl+F1 for sp_helptext "selected text"
Persisted-computed-columns
Computed columns can help you shift the runtime computation cost to data modification phase. The computed column is stored with the rest of the row and is transparently utilized when the expression on the computed columns and the query matches. You can also build indexes on the PCC’s to speed up filtrations and range scans on the expression.
Link
There are times when there's no suitable column to sort by, or you just want the default sort order on a table and you want to enumerate each row. In order to do that you can put "(select 1)" in the "order by" clause and you'd get what you want. Neat, eh?
select row_number() over (order by (select 1)), * from dbo.Table as t
Simple encryption with EncryptByKey
I'm having trouble getting the following to work in SQL Server 2k, but it works in 2k5:
--works in 2k5, not in 2k
create view foo as
SELECT usertable.legacyCSVVarcharCol as testvar
FROM usertable
WHERE rsrcID in
( select val
from
dbo.fnSplitStringToInt(usertable.legacyCSVVarcharCol, default)
)
--error message:
Msg 170, Level 15, State 1, Procedure foo, Line 4
Line 25: Incorrect syntax near '.'.
So, legacyCSVVarcharCol is a column containing comma-separated lists of INTs. I realize that this is a huge WTF, but this is legacy code, and there's nothing that can be done about the schema right now. Passing "testvar" as the argument to the function doesn't work in 2k either. In fact, it results in a slightly different (and even weirder error):
Msg 155, Level 15, State 1, Line 8
'testvar' is not a recognized OPTIMIZER LOCK HINTS option.
Passing a hard-coded string as the argument to fnSplitStringToInt works in both 2k and 2k5.
Does anyone know why this doesn't work in 2k? Is this perhaps a known bug in the query planner? Any suggestions for how to make it work? Again, I realize that the real answer is "don't store CSV lists in your DB!", but alas, that's beyond my control.
Some sample data, if it helps:
INSERT INTO usertable (legacyCSVVarcharCol) values ('1,2,3');
INSERT INTO usertable (legacyCSVVarcharCol) values ('11,13,42');
Note that the data in the table does not seem to matter since this is a syntax error, and it occurs even if usertable is completely empty.
EDIT: Realizing that perhaps the initial example was unclear, here are two examples, one of which works and one of which does not, which should highlight the problem that's occurring:
--fails in sql2000, works in 2005
SELECT t1.*
FROM usertable t1
WHERE 1 in
(Select val
from
fnSplitStringToInt(t1.legacyCSVVarcharCol, ',')
)
--works everywhere:
SELECT t1.*
FROM usertable t1
WHERE 1 in
( Select val
from
fnSplitStringToInt('1,4,543,56578', ',')
)
Note that the only difference is the first argument to fnSplitStringToInt is a column in the case that fails in 2k and a literal string in the case that succeeds in both.
Passing column-values to a table-valued user-defined function is not supported in SQL Server 2000, you can only use constants, so the following (simpler version) would also fail:
SELECT *, (SELECT TOP 1 val FROM dbo.fnSplitStringToInt(usertable.legacyCSVVarcharCol, ','))
FROM usertable
It will work on SQL Server 2005, though, as you have found out.
I don't think functions can have default values in functions in SS2K.
What happens when you run this SQL in SS2K?
select val
from dbo.fnSplitStringToInt('1,2,3', default)