The T-SQL ALTER TABLE statement is used to modify the structure of a table. Using the T-SQL ALTER TABLE statement you can add new columns, delete columns, change the data type of existing columns, or create indexes or constraints. ALTER TABLE can also reassign and rebuild partitions and/or disable and enable constraints and data compression....
SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) is a set of on-premises tools and services that enable you to create, deploy, and manage printed, web, email and mobile reports from SQL Server databases. Let’s look at its evolution and capabilities in more detail. When SQL Server was first released it was a simple relational database but as…
In this article we’ll cover the essential SQL Server data types and discuss their common usage. Data is at the core of all relational database systems and SQL Server supports many different types of data and each data type represents a specific category of data. Each of the different data types have different uses and…
Last Update: Dec 03, 2024
SQL Server’s T-SQL query language has a plethora of data retrieval options. That includes the ability to query a SQL database, as well as providing a sum function, a count aggregate function, and grouping columns. The SQL GROUP BY clause can make use of all of these capabilities. In this article, I’ll show you how…
Last Update: Dec 03, 2024
In this SQL Server Management Studio tutorial (SSMS), I will show you the primary database management and development capabilities provided by the tool. Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is the primary management and development tool for SQL Server and has been since its release back with SQL Server 2000. SSMS provides a graphical interface…
Last Update: Sep 30, 2024
In this article you’ll learn how to install SQL Server Reporting Services 2022 (SSRS) and configure it. It’s important to realize that you must have a previously installed instance of SQL Server running in order to install and use SSRS. Introduction to Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services, along with SQL…
Last Update: Nov 19, 2024
In this article, Michael Otey shows you how to use SQL Server Report Builder. SQL Server Report Builder and Reporting Services Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) enables you to create, deploy, and manage printed, web, email, and mobile reports using data from SQL Server databases and Analysis Services (SSAS) as well as other relational…
Last Update: Mar 12, 2024
SQL Server is a relational database management system (RDBM) developed by Microsoft that competes with Oracle, IBM DB2, MySQL, PostgreSQL, and other RDBMs. In this article, I’ll explain in detail what SQL Server is and go through its release history over the past three decades. I’ll also detail what are the different SQL Server versions…
SQL Server is a relational database. But what is a relational database exactly? Mike Otey, our resident SQL Server expert, explains in this article. What is a relational database? A relational database is a type of data storage mechanism that organizes data into tables where each table consists of rows and columns. It is typically…
Once you have created a user database, you can begin to create tables using the SQL CREATE TABLE statement. Databases typically have many different tables. If you haven’t yet created your first database in SQL Server, check out this article on Petri about how to create a SQL database using the SQL CREATE DATABASE statement. Tables are structures…
Last Update: Mar 13, 2025
Databases are the primary containers for your SQL Server relational database objects. Some of the main relational database objects that are contained in SQL Server databases include: tables, schema, indexes, views, logins, security and roles. You can create a SQL database plus there are a number of built-in SQL system databases including the master, model, msdb and tempdb databases. Technically, SQL Server supports a…
Last Update: Oct 04, 2023
Microsoft’s SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) is the primary tool for working with SQL Server databases. In this article, I’ll guide you through the steps you need to follow to download and install SQL Server Management Studio on your PC. What is SQL Server Management Studio? SQL Server Management Studio provides an integrated environment that…