Dirk.Net

Transact-SQL doesn’t have arrays or nifty string functions like the C# System.String.Split () or java’s String.split() returning arrays in one swoop. Then again, SQL knows the SELECT … IN statement like

SELECT * FROM table1 WHERE id in (1,2,3,526) 

so why no looping through comma-delimited strings?

A “Table-valued User-defined Function” returning a table variable is a handy and versatile workaround letting you query and loop through the values with near array-like ease.

The code could look like this:

CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[StringToTable]
(
@inputString nvarchar(max),
@separator char (1)
)
RETURNS @ResultTable TABLE ( [String] nvarchar(max) )
AS
BEGIN

    DECLARE @stringToInsert nvarchar (max) 

    WHILE LEN(@inputString) > 0
    BEGIN
        SET @StringToInsert      = LEFT(
                                @inputString,
                                ISNULL(NULLIF(CHARINDEX(@separator, @inputString) - 1, -1),
                                LEN(@inputString)
                                )
                                )
        SET @InputString = SUBSTRING(@InputString,

                                     ISNULL
                                     (NULLIF
                                     (CHARINDEX(@separator, @InputString),
                                     0),
                                     LEN(@InputString)) + 1,
                                     LEN(@InputString))

        INSERT INTO @ResultTable
        (
        [String]
        )
        VALUES
        (
        @StringToInsert
        )

        END

    RETURN
END

Again, the Transact-SQL string functions seem clumsy and inadequate compared with high-level languages. Short of using CLR functions in the database table-valued functions can put custom string operations at your immediate disposal.

Compiled HTML help for Perl is here, well written and easy to read. The very useful link contains much other stuff too.

Yes, Microsofts web site has some interesting content, such as this article. As I like to print stuff to PDF to read on my PDA, I will usually search all over for a “printer-friendly” link immediately. Alas, while MS pages have one in IE (Internet Explorer),

no such luck in Firefox:

nor the weirdo of browsers, Opera:

So, to print the page, simply add “?pf=true” to the end of the URL so http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/gps.mspx becomes http://www.microsoft.com/windowsxp/using/digitalphotography/prophoto/gps.mspx?pf=true
Beat MS at their own game. Hope it helps.

Goheer has created a very nifty utility to greatly improve on the windows task switcher (Ctrl + T) with clickable icons and thumbnails of the open windows. There is also a power toy doing something similar but why use MS when you can avoid it? One more reason not to upgrade to Vista. 

More soon on flickr.