Understanding the Metadata Function DATABASEPROPERTYEX() (2022-08-29)

SQLServerCentral Newsletter for August 29, 2022 Problems displaying this newsletter? [View online](. [SQL Server Central]( Featured Contents - [Understanding the Metadata Function DATABASEPROPERTYEX()]( - [Performance Testing Databases with Flyway and PowerShell]( - [The ultimate guide to web accessibility]( - [From the SQL Server Central Blogs - Setting up SQL Server 2022 s3 Object Storage Integration using MinIO with Docker Compose]( - [From the SQL Server Central Blogs - Power BI guidance documentation]( Question of the Day - [EXCEPT Details]( The Voice of the DBA  Daily Coping Tip Give people the gift of your full attention I also have [a thread at SQLServerCentral]( dealing with coping mechanisms and resources. Feel free to participate. For many of you out there working in a new way, I'm including a thought of the day on how to cope in this challenging time from [The Action for Happiness Coping Calendar](. My items will be on [my blog](, feel free to share yours. Learning through Puzzles This editorial was originally published on 4 Aug 2017. It is being republished as Steve is on holiday. A few years ago I ran across the [Advent of Code challenge](. It's an interesting set of puzzles that you are asked to solve. Most are at a scale that wouldn't be practical to solve manually. Once you solve a puzzle, there is usually a second part that's unlocked (you must put in the solution) and then your progress is tracked on the site. A new puzzle is released every day leading up to Christmas, but you can skip around and solve puzzles as you like after that. I had fun in 2016 working through puzzles in T-SQL, PoSh, and Python. I need to go back and work the 2017 items. Recently I was trying to brush up on some Python skills and ran across the [PythonHow]( challenge. Before going on to rework some exercises and coursework, I decided to see what I remembered. The  puzzles are easy, but one leads you to the next. In other words, you start with [pythonhow.com/start](, when you solve the puzzle, you get a letter, say "r" (that's not right). You change the URL to pythonhow.com/r/ and you get the next challenge. That's a neat way to get build a flow. I could imagine that as a way of teaching someone new skills. Maybe you want to help someone learn R (currently our [Wednesday Questions of the Day](Language)) or window functions. Give them a problem, and once they solve it, the answer leads them to the next puzzle. A puzzle game, but one that paces you according to your understanding of a topic. I wonder how many people might like learning like this, or perhaps might be frustrated when they can't solve something. Maybe this is a nice addition to something like a [Stairway Series](, giving readers a chance to practice skills. Do you think this is a good idea? Not a super hard, challenge the experts, but maybe a way to help those that are beginners or intermediate SQL people learn to code better. Maybe some of you would like to build some small puzzles in T-SQL that we could link together? This might be a fun way to set up a T-SQL Advent calendar one year. Steve Jones - SSC Editor [Join the debate, and respond to today's editorial on the forums](   Featured Contents [SQLServerCentral Article]( [Understanding the Metadata Function DATABASEPROPERTYEX()]( Manvendra Deo Singh from SQLServerCentral Learn how to use the DatabasePropertyEX() function to query your database for settings. [External Article]( [Performance Testing Databases with Flyway and PowerShell]( Additional Articles from Redgate Performance tests are central to the quality of the database changes we deliver because they ensure that any business process that accesses the database continues to return its results in an acceptable time. When Flyway creates a new version of the database, it is the ideal time to run these performance checks. [External Article]( [The ultimate guide to web accessibility]( Additional Articles from SimpleTalk Accessibility ensures that everyone has a great experience on your site. Bikkani explains how to achieve web accessibility. [Blog Post]( From the SQL Server Central Blogs - [Setting up SQL Server 2022 s3 Object Storage Integration using MinIO with Docker Compose]( aen from Anthony Nocentino Blog In this blog post, I’ve implemented two example environments for using SQL Server 2022’s s3 object integration. One for backup and restore to s3 compatible object storage and the... [Blog Post]( From the SQL Server Central Blogs - [Power BI guidance documentation]( James Serra from James Serra's Blog Recently there has been a number of great articles published on Power BI that I wanted to make you aware of that go beyond the features descriptions found in...   Question of the Day Today's question (by Steve Jones - SSC Editor):  EXCEPT Details What is the proper description for the EXCEPT operator? Think you know the answer? [Click here]( and find out if you are right.    Yesterday's Question of the Day (by Steve Jones - SSC Editor) Clearing Session Cache What does DBCC FREESESSIONCACHE do? Answer: This flushes the distributed query connection cache Explanation: This command flushes the distributed query connection cache used by distributed queries. Ref: DBCC FREESESSIONCACHE - [Discuss this question and answer on the forums](    Database Pros Who Need Your Help Here's a few of the new posts today on the forums. To see more, [visit the forums](. --------------------------------------------------------------- SQL Server 2017 - Administration [Unable to Communicate to SQL 2005 via Linked Server]( - Hi all, I'm having issues communicating via a linked server from a Windows 2019 Standard server running SQL 2017 Standard to a Windows 2003 R2 Enterprise server running SQL 2005 Standard. The operating system on the source server was just upgraded from Windows 2012 R2. 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I just want to test the field for a value and if it is there, print a line of text. That's it. It […] SQL Server 2019 - Administration [Azure SQL Server - consideration]( - There are a few options for Azure SQL Server Vanilla Azure SQL Server (SaaS) Azure SQL Server using VM image (IaaS) Azure SQL Server Alwayson I'm trying to understand what option replaces the best an on-premises SQL server accessed by multiple servers, that will become multiple "callers" in Azure. SQL Server 2019 - Development [Flow Control Problem with multiple statements]( - I am creating a function that should retrieve a numerical value from notes. This can be represented a few different ways and I used a number of IF Statements to accomplish this. For some reason, it seems to be executing code in the Final IF Statement. The simplified code at the top works and produces […] SQL Azure - Administration [Azure Data Studio - SQL Profiler - save or export results to table]( - I can launch SQL profiler (Alt P) using Azure Data Studio and can see the system logs on the screen. However, when I stop the trace session on the screen, and change the [Select View] option on the top right, all the data that was collected initially gets lost. How to save the results of […] General Cloud Computing Questions [Gaining Practical Experience in Cloud]( - Hi All, I have worked in IT for a little over 10 years, starting in helpdesk, and working my way up to an enterprise systems administrator role, and finally ending up in Internal Audit as an IT Auditor. In my current role as an auditor I get to see a lot of different technology, but […] Reporting Services [Ratio from Metrix]( - Hello Calculating ratio from metrix - or if you have other way of doing it please ratio is SUM of A for 2018 divided by SUM of B for 2018 multiplied by 100 for percentage purpose Please see attached file to see whats given and required 75 = ( 300/400)*100 Thanks [ssrs calculation not working]( - I have a SSRS report that i need to calculate the Variance percent totals which the math logic goes Occupied Variance % - Vacant Potiental percent - Damaged Potiential percent Occupied Variance = 5% Cacant Potiental = -5% Damaged Potiential = -3% so it 5% -(-5%) -(-3%) How do i write this in a SSRS […] Continuous Integration, Deployment, and Delivery [CI/CD to deploy database using Gitlab]( - Hello, I want to do CI/CD do deploy database (sql server) and ssis package using Gitlab , but the problem i don't know how can i start and also i didn't fount any tuto on the internet. Can someone help me how can i start to do that ? and also if possible to do […] Integration Services [Transfer SQL Table Data into Excel]( - Hi everyone, I have designed a SSIS package that transfers SQL table data into an excel file. I am fetching data via this query: /****** Script for SelectTopNRows command from SSMS ******/ SELECT CONVERT(NVARCHAR(4000),[LIST_TYPE]) AS LIST_TYPE ,CONVERT(NVARCHAR(4000),[LIST_CATEGORY]) AS LIST_CATEGORY ,CONVERT(NVARCHAR(4000),[LIST_SUBCATEGORY]) AS LIST_SUBCATEGORY ,CONVERT(NVARCHAR(4000),[LIST_DESCRIPTION]) AS LIST_DESCRIPTION ,CONVERT(NVARCHAR(4000),[LIST_VERSION]) AS LIST_VERSION ,CONVERT(NVARCHAR(4000),[T2_CODE]) AS T2_CODE ,CONVERT(NVARCHAR(4000),[T2_TYPE]) AS T2_TYPE ,CONVERT(NVARCHAR(4000),[T2_NAME]) […]   [RSS Feed]([Twitter]( This email has been sent to {EMAIL}. To be removed from this list, please click [here](. If you have any problems leaving the list, please contact the webmaster@sqlservercentral.com. 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