Built-in Data Types In SQL Express: Best Practices?
Jul 21, 2006
Greetings,
I think these should be rather simple questions, yet I spent a number of hours last night digging through the forums here and msdn and couldn't find any satisfactory answers. Basically, there tend to be types of information that are commonly saved in most databases, like names, addresses, phone numbers, email addresses, etc...and there are a variety of built in data types in SQL Server. What are the best built in datatypes for some of the common entries in a sql database. Also, there are a number of character based types and I am curious why one would be more useful in certain situations than another. Why is there char( ), nchar( ), varchar( ), nvarchar( ) and text datatypes? Why so many? Also, what is the "text" datatype and when is it most likely to be used? There is very little about the text type that I can find in the msdn or SQL Server docs...aside from the fact that it's text. On top of all this, there's numerous binary types as well. I'm really not getting the reason behind all these different basic types and why I would want to use one over the other in any specific instance.
I've built my SQL Server Express database with SQL Serevr Management Studio Express, and now I want to enter some seed data to assist in building tha app around it. I cannot find an option to manage the data in SQL SMSX, like I used to with Enterprise Manager. I don't want to have to write an app just to get test data in. Seems like this should be a common need. Am I missing something obvious here? Can't find any reference to this in a search of the forums. Please help.
I have a SQL Server 2000 database which works like a charm in my asp app. Joining tables by id columns which are of different data types (eg. int in one table and varchar in the other) is no problem with the SQL Server engine, but Native Client refuses to do so and hands me back an error. Even if columns have a slightly different collation (like Slovenian_CI_AS and SQL_Server_1250_CI_AS) SQL Express native client returns an ERROR????!!! Is it possible that Native client cannot resolve this on its own? Must I change the colattion and datatype on all my tables???? Please help!!!!
I´m exporting an ms-excel file, then I use a lookup transformation to get a field from a SQL Server 2005 table. The Lookup transformation editor, after selecting the table, shows a warning that says:
at least one mapping between a column from available input columns ans a column from available lookup columns must be defined on the columns page.
So I try to make a relationship in the Lookup transformation editor's column tab where I find the Available input columns and the available lookup columns but I get the following error:
The following columns cannot be mapped: [Department, DEP_CLEGALCODE] One or more columns do not have supported data types, or their data types do not match.
The field in SLQ Server is varchar(10) and the input field is a derived column transformation; I have tried different Data Types but I always have the same error.
The DataFlow is: ExcelSource --> Derived Column --> Lookup --> Flat file destination
Can any one clarify me the doubt in deploying the application build with SQL Server Express 2005 as database and Vb.Net 2005 as frontend with the same setup made for delopying application. will the server installation and database creation can be made automatic.
If this is possible then what are the steps in doing so and the files to be included while enbeding with vb.net setup.
My web site has a log on screen and I only configured it with one user without any roles. This web site uses the SQL EXPRESS.(I Have 2 databases: 1 for the security required by the application and the other for my application. for the connectionstring I used a windows authentication security with an instance = true.)
Everything went well on my PC.
When I tried to deploy the web site on another PC, there was a big problem.
When I tried to login with the same user I created, then I have a problem.
The password is incorrect(Why? I don't know).
Maybe there is a problem with the IIS or with the SQL SERVER.
Is there anyway to really keep replicated SQL Server 2005 Express data secure when it is on a laptop and the laptop is stolen or lost. What would prevent someone from just reinstalling SQL Server on the laptop and attaching your database, or just attaching your mdf file to their own SQL Server. Is there anyway to keep that data secure in that scenerio? Thank you
When doing a unattended install of Microsoft SQL Server Express, I have a problem specifing the service to installed to be run under the as local system account.
I'm using: SQLACCOUNT & SQLPASSWORD parameters but it just won't work.
As default SQL Server is installed using the NETWORK SERVICE account, this causes the database to be read-only. What I want is to specifiy in the script that the service should run under the LOCAL SYSTEM account instead. This must also be OS-language independent.
I've tried:
SQLACCOUNT=NT AUTHORITYSYSTEM SQLACCOUNT=NT AUTHORITYLOCAL SYSTEM SQLACCOUNT=NT AUTHORITYLOCAL SERVICE SQLACCOUNT=SYSTEM
SQLACCOUNT=BUILT-INSYSTEM
etc.
and even some different SID as:
S-1-5-18 S-1-5-19
All with no password with the SQLPASSWORD parameter:
SQLPASSWORD=
I still getting the same error while validating the service account.
Is there someone else who knows what I'm doing wrong?
Hi, i am newbie in ASP.net world. i am using 3 tier application architechture for my web based application. data base is sql server 2000. i have looked at object and sql datasource objects but i think they are not suitable for my requirements. so i am planning to directly use ado.net to access data from database.( i.e. creating connection, then creating commands n executing them) now what i am looking for is the best known practices for the above task. i have following solutions in my mind please let me know if i am missing some or which could be the best aproach.
careate one class which will handle all the database requests so that all the pages and business objects request that class to to do all the db related stuff. (creating connection, command n execution)
I was wondering if you guys know of a good site that talks about programmatically accessing and displaying data from a sql server 05 database in ASP.NET 2.0.I want to have a data adapter in a dataset, but I would like to create my own class file and pull the data from the adapter through code into the class. Is this the best way? Im wondering about the best practices while learning this new technology. Any articles provided would be appreciated. Thanks!
Could please any of you give me some advices for if there are tutorials and demos avaiable which cover all the SQL Server 2005 data mining built-in algorithms?
That will be great to hear from any of you shortly. Thanks a lot in advance.
Hello all,I just started a new job this week and they complain about the length oftime it takes to load data into their data warehouse,which they do once a month.From what I can gather, they rebuild the indexes before the insert with an80% Fillfactor, then insert the data (with theindexes enabled), then rebuild the indexes with a 100% Fillfactor.Most of my RDBMS experience is with a different product. We would havedisabled the indexes and Foreign Keys, loaded the data, thenre-enabled them, moving any records that violated the constraints into anappropriate audit table to be checked after.Can someone share with me what the accepted "best practices" are for loadingdata efficiently into a data warehouse?Any thoughts would be deeply appreciated.Steve
I am making a form that takes input for 1 to 5 students using VWD. With the help of previous posts I have been able to make the database insert query work properly. In my form I have a radio list that has the user select if they are entering information for 1, 2, 3,4, or 5 children. Depending on how many children are selected on the radio list, I am displaying the proper number of textboxes and validating the data using the handy RequiredFieldValidator. Now I am at the point where I want to perform the instert to the database depending on the selected number of children in the family. What is the general rule for best practices. Please keep in mind that it is my understanding that ALL fileds in a SQL insert statment must have data. Should I ...1) create alternative SQL statements depending on the textboxes displayed OR2) is it more common to insert a standard string or integer, depending on the datatype, into the unused textboxes to populate the unused fields? Sincerely,Mike
[This is one of those cases where I think I know the answer, but I hope I'm wrong!]
I have a data flow which is processing data from the XML Source. There are 16 outputs from the XML Source. I have to perform a variety of validations on these outputs: things like "column 1 is required if column 2 has value 'a' or 'b'", or "column 1 or column 2 may be present, but not both".
For lookups and such, I use the Lookup component and its error output, both to redirect rows that fail the lookup, and to capture the data, column number and error code.
But, how do I do the same for "normal" validations?
If I have to use the Conditional Split transform, then I'll have to have one output per validation, and use a Union All to combine the rows again for output to an error file. This will also cost an extra "Derived Column" transform per output, in order to get a column number and possible error code per failed validation.
Worse, it's a pain to have to maintain all the columns in such a large "Union All"!
If I had the time, I might write a "Conditional Error" transform. It might be fun. But I have to be done by the end of this month, and don't even have time to create the UI for evaluating expressions!
Any tips or tricks or pointers to such would be very welcome.
I have a table that I'm loading as part of a control flow that in turn is copied to a target table by using a data flow task. I am doing this because a different set of fields may be used from the source entry to create the target entry based on a field in the source table. That same field may indicate that multiple entries need to be created in the target table from one source table entry for which I use a multi-cast transformation.
The problem I'm having is that no matter how many entries there are in the source table, the OLE DB Source during execution only shows 7,532 entries being taken from the source table. If there are less than 7,532 entries in the source table, everything processes fine. More than 7,532 and the data flow task only takes 7,532 and then seems to hang. It also seems as though only one path of the multi-cast transformation is taken when the conditional split directs a source entry down that path.
Seems like a strange problem I know, but any insight anyone could provide is appreciated. Thanks.
I apologize if this has been asked, but I can't find a complete answer.
We have a situation with parent/child tables which have an identity column as their PK. We need to be able to insert into the live tables from staging tables. The data in the staging tables are related via a surrogate key.
I have found the OUTPUT clause, but that can only refer to columns of the actual table (since there is no FROM clause in an INSERT). Our current best solution to this problem involves adding bogus "staging" columns to the destination tables, and removing them after we've inserted everything from staging. This is an unattractive solution to say the least.
I'll give an example that mirrors our actual solution, and ask if anyone has a better solution? ----------
Code Snippet CREATE TABLE [dbo].[TABLE_A]( [ID] [int] IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL, [DATA] [nchar](10) NOT NULL, [STAGING_COLUMN] [bigint] NULL, CONSTRAINT [PK_TABLE_A] PRIMARY KEY ([ID] ASC) ) GO CREATE TABLE [dbo].[TABLE_B]( [ID] [int] IDENTITY(1,1) NOT NULL, [A_ID] [int] NOT NULL, [DATA] [nchar](10) NOT NULL, [STAGING_COLUMN] [bigint] NULL, CONSTRAINT [PK_TABLE_B] PRIMARY KEY ([ID] ASC) ) GO ALTER TABLE [dbo].[TABLE_B] ADD CONSTRAINT [FK_TABLE_A_TABLE_B] FOREIGN KEY([A_ID]) REFERENCES [dbo].[TABLE_A] ([ID]) GO CREATE TABLE [dbo].[STAGE_TABLE_A]( [A_Key] [bigint] NOT NULL, [DATA] [nchar](10) NOT NULL ) GO CREATE TABLE [dbo].[STAGE_TABLE_B]( [B_Key] [bigint] NOT NULL, [DATA] [nchar](10) NOT NULL, [A_Key] [bigint] NOT NULL ) GO
The STAGING_COLUMN columns are the ones that will be added before, and dropped after.
Code Snippet DECLARE @TABLE_A_MAP TABLE ( A_ID INT, A_Key BIGINT ) INSERT INTO TABLE_A (DATA, STAGING_COLUMN) OUTPUT INSERTED.ID, INSERTED.STAGING_COLUMN INTO @TABLE_A_MAP SELECT DATA, A_Key FROM STAGE_TABLE_A INSERT INTO TABLE_B (A_ID, DATA) SELECT TAM.A_ID, STB.DATA FROM STAGE_TABLE_B STB INNER JOIN @TABLE_A_MAP TAM ON TAM.A_Key = STB.A_Key
This seems to work, but I'd really like another alternative. Even though this is happening when nobody else is using the database, I cringe at the thought of adding and removing columns just to make this work.
Here are a few of my constraints:
The above is a simplification of the actual problem. The actual problem goes about five levels deep (hence the B_Key in STAGE_TABLE_B). At the top level, our larger customer will have 100,000 rows to insert. Each level will average 3 times as many rows as the next higher level, so we're talking about real volumes here.
This has to finish over the course of a weekend.
This has to be delivered to QA this Friday Thanks for any help or insight.
I am trying to find a reference for a client that lists the fields available to be substituted into a data driven subscription from the query, along with the expected data types.  For example, the field on whether or not to include a link to the report seems to be expecting a bit data type.I have searched and can't seem to find anything.  I guess I could walk through the interface and try different data types, but if  a list exists, that would be better.Â
While run time these values are lets suppose @SSN = '999-000-000' & @State='ABC'
Now the Result is displayed with the state data Like 'AB' only.
Output: 1 999-000-000 AB
instead it should give system generated error.
Here I have 2 Questions: 1. Why it is taking 1st 2 Charecters? 2. Why it does not have any system generated for length?
I can do validation with Length function for these 2 variables however if have 100 variables then it should not feasible case. So, what is the reason behind?Â
I'm in the process of converting a rather huge VSAM database into a set of SQL tables. I am using the same data names from the mainframe (like XDB-NAME to RDB-NAME). I load the files using Import Export Data and it makes the tables with such column names as col001, col002, col003, etc... and always sets the data types to varchr(255). And I have to cut and paste the data names from the manframe side to the server side (and the data types to.) So, is there an easier way to do this? Or am I doomed to cut-n-paste my days away... Thanks for any help.
I've been writing this stuff for a while, and can't seem to come to the conclusion of how I should be retrieving data and assigning this data to variables.
Since i'm using SQL Server, I'm convinced that I should be using the datareaders GetSqlDouble (or whatever) function, but this would mean i need my local variables to be one of the SQL types. The problem with that is, that there will have to be lots of conversions done by me to be able to use a SQL type in my application.
For instance, I have a class where i'm retrieving dates. In order to retrieve them correctly (Null values included), I need to retrieve them with GetSqlDateTime(), then when it comes time to display the date in a table, i must first check for nulls, then convert to a string. This seems to be very cumbersome. Would I be better off just using GetDateTime(), and the .ToString method, and ignoring Sql Types all together?
so, basically, how are you guys using your sql server data? with the supplied sql types, and doing all of the post-processing work manually? I feel like i'm having trouble conveying my issue...hopefully someone knows what i mean....i'd just like some direction to save trouble in the long run, since i feel like there's got to be a better way...
Is it possible to easily copy data from one table to another if the data types don't match. I know you can do a INSERT INTO table1(col1,col2) SELECT (col2,col7) FROM table2 if the data types match but is there a way to do this if they don't. I'm not trying to copy date times into bit fields or anything. I just have an old table that I built when I really didn't know what I was doing now I at leastthink I have a better understanding of what data types to use, so I was wanting to move the data in the orignal table to my new one. Most of the fields in the olddatabase are text datatypes and the new database is nvarchar(50) data types. Thanks for any suggestions.
I have a really dumb question regarding SQL data types. I have a couple columns in a table that are specified as MONEY. These columns are being read from my web app and displayed on the website for reference when filling in other information.
My problem is that when it is displayed on the website it give four decimal places instead of two. For example I want it to report $33,000.29 but what is actually displayed is $33,000.2965.
How can I set up either SQL or my web app so that it only displays the two decimal places? I've looked into changing the datatype already but SMALLMONEY and MONEY have the same type of decimal values.
I am looking for a chart of SQL Server data types and information about them, such as usage, constraints, etc. Could anyone point me in the right direction?
I'm just getting used to using SQL 7 Database and am looking for some recommendations on what DATA TYPES to use when designing tables.
The site I am working on now uses cold fusion to enter, update, and insert mainly text and articles. Now the problem with the articles is that some of them are pretty big. And when inserting or updating them, if they go over the limit of characters I get an error.
I know in access I used to use the data type "MEMO" and be able to put a large piece of info in that field.
What's the equivalent for SQL server databe?
What are the most used/common or recommended data types that should be used when putting tables together?
hi, i'm trying to build an online forum using sql server 2000 and coldfusion mx.
could anybody help me as to what datatypes i should use for my database fields?
i'll be using 2 simple tables to start with, ie TOPICS and POSTS. each will contain fairly basic information such as name of poster, time, data, title, message etc.
any help would be greatly appreciated. thanx, zaffi.
Which data type do I need to assign to my field to let users enter characters such as +=-_| etc....pretty much every single character from a standard keyboard....
I am pretty new with SQL and was dabbling in a test database that is linked with a software application.
I made a change to a table - Lets call this (Table1). Table1 has a multiple columns.
Column1 is defined as numeric(9) Column2 is defined as varchar(20)
In this case, I wanted to make all values in Column2 = Column1 that did not have a value defined so I ran the following query:
update Table1 set Column2 = Column1 where Column2 = ''
This took effect but the particular software application doesn't recognize these values because they are the wrong data type.
How can I convert all data in a column to varchar(20) if it is another data type (i.e. in this case numeric(9))?
I've tried in Enterprise manager to redesign the table and adjusted the length to 21 and then back and saved it but this did not work. I was looking at Convert and Cast functions but don't know how to write one to accomplish what I need to do here.
Half of the data in Column2 is varchar(20) and half is numeric(9). I want all to be varchar(20).
Im comparing values. if i add the values which is numeric or monetary in the column and if it is greater than zero it will insert to a table, but the datatype of my column([Day 30 AMT] etc. is char. i want to implement like these like these because it cant return a result if i query..
