With this short article, I will tell you about How to Fix Distribution setup SQL Server Agent error: "RegCreateKeyEx() returned error 5, 'Access is denied.'" on my SQL Server 2012 Hosting.

In the Configure Distribution Wizard, the step "Configuring SQL Server Agent to start automatically" errors with the following text:

TITLE: Configure Distribution Wizard
------------------------------
An error occurred configuring SQL Server Agent.
------------------------------
ADDITIONAL INFORMATION:
RegCreateKeyEx() returned error 5, 'Access is denied.' (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 22002)

This is a very minor error, and not difficult to work around at all. The wizard is making an attempt to alter the SQL Server Agent service "Start Mode" to Automatic. you'll be able to try this via the SQL Server Configuration Manager instead.

In the Sysinternals method Monitor, you'll see: Operation: RegCreateKey Result: ACCESS DENIED Path: "HKLM\System\CurrentControlSet\Services\SQLAgent$SQL2012"

If you encounter this error, choose "No" in the "SQL Server Agent Start" page in the configure Distribution Wizard (as shown below), so set your agent service to Automatic start Mode via the SQL Server Configuration Manager.

The third step of the wizard that failed before won't happen. Why the failure truly happens I didn't figure this out, and i am open to feedback, however this seems like a vestigial step to a wizard that otherwise has no negative impact. Running SSMS with "run as Administrator" doesn't seem to fix this error either. i would like to recognize why this error happens within the 1st place.

HostForLIFE.eu SQL Server 2012 Hosting
HostForLIFE.eu is European Windows Hosting Provider which focuses on Windows Platform only. We deliver on-demand hosting solutions including Shared hosting, Reseller Hosting, Cloud Hosting, Dedicated Servers, and IT as a Service for companies of all sizes. We have customers from around the globe, spread across every continent. We serve the hosting needs of the business and professional, government and nonprofit, entertainment and personal use market segments.

Instead of triggers are used to skip DML commands. They fire when you try to execute insert, update or delete statement but instead of executing these commands trigger actually works and trigger functionality executes.
 

Example
    create table approved_emp ( eid int identity(1,1), ename varchar(30)) 
    create table emp ( id int identity(1,1) , ename varchar(30), AddedBy varchar(30)) 
      
    Create trigger instead_of on approved_emp 
    instead of insert 
    as 
    begin 
    declare @name varchar(30) 
    select @name=ename from inserted 
    insert into temp_audit values(@name, USER ) 
    end 

So, basically, trigger will work as, when we will try to add new record in approved_emp table, instead of inserting new records it will add ename into emp table. No data will reflect in approved_emp table as trigger is fired on the table every time while adding data into that table.
 
You can also create instead of triggers for update and delete as well.
 

Database Administrators usually use the sp_renamedb system stored procedure to quickly rename a SQL Server Database. However, the drawback of using sp_renamedb is that it doesn't rename the Logical and Physical names of the underlying database files. It's a best practice to make sure the Logical Name and Physical File Name of the database is also renamed to reflect the actual name of the database to avoid any confusion with backup, restore or detach/attach operations.

Let's first create a new database named CoreDB using the T-SQL below:

USE master
GO
IF EXISTS (SELECT name FROM sys.databases WHERE name = N'CoreDB')
DROP DATABASE CoreDB
GO
USE master
GO
CREATE DATABASE [CoreDB]
ON PRIMARY
(
NAME = N'CoreDB',
FILENAME = N'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.SQL2008\MSSQL\DATA\CoreDB.mdf' ,
SIZE = 2048KB ,
FILEGROWTH = 1024KB
)
LOG ON
(
NAME = N'CoreDB_log',
FILENAME = N'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.SQL2008\MSSQL\DATA\CoreDB_log.ldf' ,
SIZE = 1024KB ,
FILEGROWTH = 10%
)
GO
Rename CoreDB Database Using sp_renamedb System Stored Procedure

Now let's rename the CoreDB database to ProductsDB by executing the below T-SQL code.

USE master
GO
ALTER DATABASE CoreDB
SET SINGLE_USER
WITH ROLLBACK IMMEDIATE
GO
EXEC master..sp_renamedb 'CoreDB','ProductsDB'
GO
ALTER DATABASE ProductsDB
SET MULTI_USER
GO
Once the above T-SQL has executed successfully the database name will change however the Logical Name and File Name will not change. You can verify this by executing the T-SQL below:

USE master
GO
/* Identify Database File Names */
SELECT
name AS [Logical Name],
physical_name AS [DB File Path],
type_desc AS [File Type],
state_desc AS [State]
FROM sys.master_files
WHERE database_id = DB_ID(N'ProductsDB')
GO
Your output should look something like this from the above query.

You can see in the above snippet that the Logical Name and File Name in the DB File Path column for ProductsDB are still reflecting the old name of CoreDB. This is not a good practice to follow in a Production Environment. Below you will see the steps which a DBA can follow to rename the database and its respective files.

Steps to Rename a SQL Server Database

DBAs should follow the below steps which will not only rename the database, but at the same time will also rename the Logical Name and File Name of the database.

This first set of commands put the database in single user mode and also modifies the logical names.


/* Set Database as a Single User */
ALTER DATABASE CoreDB SET SINGLE_USER WITH ROLLBACK IMMEDIATE
/* Change Logical File Name */
ALTER DATABASE [CoreDB] MODIFY FILE (NAME=N'CoreDB', NEWNAME=N'ProductsDB')
GO
ALTER DATABASE [CoreDB] MODIFY FILE (NAME=N'CoreDB_log', NEWNAME=N'ProductsDB_log')
GO
This is the output from the above code.

Now we need to detach the database, so we can rename the physical files.  If the database files are open you will not be able to rename the files.

/* Detach Current Database */
USE [master]
GO
EXEC master.dbo.sp_detach_db @dbname = N'CoreDB'
GO
Once the CoreDB database is detached successfully then the next step will be to rename the Physical Files. This can be done either manually or by using the xp_cmdshell system stored procedure. You can enable xp_cmdshell feature using the sp_configure system stored procedure.

USE master
GO
sp_configure 'show advanced options'
GO
/* 0 = Disabled , 1 = Enabled */
sp_configure 'xp_cmdshell', 1
GO
RECONFIGURE WITH OVERRIDE
GO
Once xp_cmdshell is enabled you can use the below script to rename the physical files of the database.

/* Rename Physical Files */
USE [master]
GO
EXEC xp_cmdshell 'RENAME "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL ServerMSSQL10.SQL2008\
MSSQL\DATA\CoreDB.mdf", "ProductsDB.mdf"'
GO
EXEC xp_cmdshell 'RENAME "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL ServerMSSQL10.SQL2008\
MSSQL\DATA\CoreDB_log.ldf", "ProductsDB_log.ldf"'
GO
Once the above step has successfully executed then the next step will be to attach the database, this can be done by executing the T-SQL below:

/* Attach Renamed ProductsDB Database Online */
USE [master]
GO
CREATE DATABASE ProductsDB ON
( FILENAME = N'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.SQL2008\MSSQL\DATA\ProductsDB.mdf' ),
( FILENAME = N'C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL10.SQL2008\MSSQL\DATA\ProductsDB_log.ldf' )
FOR ATTACH
GO
Once the above step has successfully executed then the final step will be to allow multi user access for the user database by executing the below T-SQL:

/* Set Database to Multi User*/
ALTER DATABASE ProductsDB SET MULTI_USER
GO
You can verify the Logical and File Names for the ProductsDB database by executing the T-SQL below:

USE master
GO
/* Identify Database File Names */
SELECT
name AS [Logical Name],
physical_name AS [DB File Path],
type_desc AS [File Type],
state_desc AS [State]
FROM sys.master_files
WHERE database_id = DB_ID(N'ProductsDB')

HostForLIFE.eu SQL Server 2012 Hosting
HostForLIFE.eu is European Windows Hosting Provider which focuses on Windows Platform only. We deliver on-demand hosting solutions including Shared hosting, Reseller Hosting, Cloud Hosting, Dedicated Servers, and IT as a Service for companies of all sizes. We have customers from around the globe, spread across every continent. We serve the hosting needs of the business and professional, government and nonprofit, entertainment and personal use market segments.

In this article, we will see about fixed database roles in SQL Server. As the name suggests, fixed database roles cannot be removed or modified and performs specific administrative tasks as it has pre-defined set of permissions. You need to be very careful while assigning these roles and assign these roles only when there is a serious requirements. You can execute the sp_helpdbfixedrole system procedure to get the list of fixed database roles.

EXEC sp_helpdbfixedrole
GO

• db_owner
• db_accessadmin
• db_securityadmin
• db_ddladmin
• db_backupoperator
• db_datareader
• db_datawriter
• db_denydatareader
• db_denydatawriter

You can navigate to Database Roles from Object Explorer –> Expand Databases Node –> Select Database –> Navigate to Security –> Roles –> Database Roles

db_owner

All the members of db_owner fixed database roles can perform all the maintenance activities and setting configurations. This role should not be given to regular users and should be assigned very carefully as it can perform almost all the operations in a database.

db_accessadmin

As the name suggests, all the members of db_accessadmin can handle access related issues. This role controls security, grants access, revokes access for logins to enter database. This role is rarely used as these operations are performed by DBAs as he has relevant fixed server role.

db_securityadmin

Members of db_securityadmin role manages all the permissions and security related activities. As database administrators usually manages security, permissions, role membership etc. so this role is hardly assigned and used. You should not assign this role to regular users.

db_ddladmin

If any member is assigned with db_ddladmin role then he can perform all DDL operations and can execute, create, drop and alter any objects. Normally this role is assigned to developers to perform the related operations in application. This role is usually not assigned to regular users as he can misuse the DDL operations.

db_backupoperator

db_backupoperator role can perform the database backup operations. This role is rarely used as backup activity is a role of database administrator and he has much higher permissions rather than using this specific fixed database role.

db_datareader

If any user is requesting for SELECT permission on database tables then you can tag him with db_datareader fixed database role as this role allows a member to perform SELECT operations on database tables and views and tagged member will not be able to modify any object. This role is mostly assigned to developers and regular users who need table access on production database.

db_datawriter

All the members of db_datawriter fixed database role can perform INSERT, UPDATE, DELETE operations on all tables and views in respective database. This role is basically assigned to developers to perform operations on QA servers. Testing applications sometimes require this role.

db_denydatareader

As the name suggests this role doesn’t allow to read data from tables in a database. So user will not be able to perform SELECT operations on a table or views. I haven’t used this role any time and also never seen members assigned with this role.

db_denydatawriter

This role is basically opposing db_datawriter role which means members with this role will not be able to perform INSERT, UPDATE or DELETE operations on tables and views. Again as a DBA I have not used this role yet and never seen anyone using this role.

HostForLIFE.eu SQL Server 2012 Hosting
HostForLIFE.eu is European Windows Hosting Provider which focuses on Windows Platform only. We deliver on-demand hosting solutions including Shared hosting, Reseller Hosting, Cloud Hosting, Dedicated Servers, and IT as a Service for companies of all sizes. We have customers from around the globe, spread across every continent. We serve the hosting needs of the business and professional, government and nonprofit, entertainment and personal use market segments.

A Recovery Model is property of a database that control how transaction log is maintained. SQL Server supports simple, FULL and BULK-LOGGED recovery models. There are multiple ways in which to check recovery model of a database in SQL Server.

1. Using SQL Server Management Studio:
Right click on database in Object explorer -> Go to Properties dialog box -> Options page -> Recovery model

2. Using Metadata function – DATABASEPROPERTYEX():
SELECT [RecoveryModel] = DATABASEPROPERTYEX('SqlAndMe','Recovery')
GO 

Result Set: 
RecoveryModel
SIMPLE 

3. Using catalog view – sys.databases:
SELECT [DatabaseName] = name,
       [RecoveryModel] = recovery_model_desc
FROM   sys.databases
GO  

Result Set:
DatabaseName   RecoveryModel
master         SIMPLE
tempdb         SIMPLE
model          FULL
msdb           SIMPLE
Pubs           SIMPLE
EuWindows      SIMPLE
TestDB         SIMPLE
ProductCatalog SIMPLE
ReportDemo     SIMPLE
ReportServer   FULL
ReportServerTempDB  SIMPLE

(11 row(s) affected)

Using sys.databases catalog view is easier as it returns information of all databases on server. Hope this tutorial works for you!

In SQL Server there is not any inherent capacity accessible for discovering the number of words in a String. Here I reveal to both of you diverse methodologies for doing this, the first is the most simpleone, and is applicable only of these words are separated by a single space.

DECLARE @String VARCHAR(4000)
SELECT @String = 'SQL Server 2005'
SELECT LEN(@String) - LEN(REPLACE(@String, ' ', '')) + 1

As I said prior, the above query will provides for you the right result, just if the words are differentiated with a solitary space. Presently on the off chance that they are differentiated by more than one space, this will provide for you off base results as the results are basically relied on upon  Length of the original string. Along these lines, what will be the arrangement, simply compose a function  to do this.

CREATE FUNCTION dbo.udfWordCount(
@OriginalText VARCHAR(8000)
)
RETURNS int
as
/*
SELECT dbo.udfWordCount ('hello   world')
*/
BEGIN
    DECLARE @i int ,@j INT, @Words int
    SELECT     @i = 1, @Words = 0
    WHILE @i <= DATALENGTH(@OriginalText)
    BEGIN
        SELECT    @j = CHARINDEX(' ', @OriginalText, @i)
       if @j = 0
        BEGIN
            SELECT    @j = DATALENGTH(@OriginalText) + 1
        END
        IF SUBSTRING(@OriginalText, @i, @j - @i) <>' '
              SELECT @Words = @Words +1
        SELECT    @i = @j +1
    END
    RETURN(@Words)
END
GO
SELECT dbo.udfWordCount ('SQL Server2012')
SELECT dbo.udfWordCount ('SQL Server 2012 ')

Today, I am going to tell you how to replace the special characters in a string with spaces. In this case, I need to use PATINDEX.

PATINDEX
It will returns the starting position of the first occurrence of a pattern in a specified expression, or zeros if the pattern is not found, on all valid text and character data types. And this is the code that I used:
PATINDEX ( '%pattern%' , expression )

Example:
DECLARE @Str varchar(100)
SET @Str='Welcome!@+to+#$%SQL+^&*(SERVER)_+'
SELECT PATINDEX('%SQL%', @Str)

Here is the result from that code:

Remove Special Characters from String in SQL Server DECLARE @regexp INT
DECLARE @Str varchar(100)
SET @Str='Welcome!@+to+#$%SQL+^&*(SERVER)_+   '
SET @regexp = PATINDEX('%[^a-zA-Z0-9 ]%', @Str)
WHILE @regexp > 0
BEGIN
SET @Str = STUFF(@Str, @regexp, 1, ' ' )
SET @regexp = PATINDEX('%[^a-zA-Z0-9 ]%', @Str)
Print @regexp
END
SELECT @Str

Result:

STUFF
This STUFF function inserts a string into another string. It deletes a specified length of characters in the first string at the start position and then inserts the second string into the first string at the start position. This is the code:
STUFF ( character_expression , start , length , replaceWith_expression )

Example:
DECLARE @regexp INT
DECLARE @Str varchar(100)
SET @Str='welcome to sql server'
SET @Str = STUFF(@Str, 1, 1, '@' )
Select @str 

From SQL Server 2005, all tables are grouped into schemas. Even though making a table in case the schema name isn't specified it's developed inside the default schema from the user making it. You are able to use ALTER SCHEMA command to move tables in among schemas. For instance, in case I develop a table using below script it is going to be developed below my default schema that is dbo:
USE [hostsql]
GO
CREATE TABLE Employee
(
       ID     INT,
       Name VARCHAR(20)
)
GO
SELECT name, [schema] = SCHEMA_NAME(schema_id)
FROM   sys.tables
WHERE  name = 'Employee'
GO

Result Set:
name            schema
Employee      dbo
(1 row(s) affected)

As you are able to notice coming from the output the table is currently in dbo schema. Currently to move this table to another schema utilizing ALTER SCHEMA command, first we have to create the schema in case it doesn't exist by now. When that many of us can move table to new schema.
USE [SqlAndMe]
GO CREATE SCHEMA Staff
GO 
ALTER SCHEMA Staff
TRANSFER dbo.Employee
GO 
SELECT name, [schema] = SCHEMA_NAME(schema_id)
FROM   sys.tables
WHERE  name = 'Employee'
GO

Result Set:
name            schema
Employee      Staff 
(1 row(s) affected)

As you can see from the result, the table of Employee is now moved to Staff schema.

Today, I will write about How to fix Error:  “The specified instance of SQL Server is hosted by a system that is not a Windows Server Failover Cluster(WSFC) node" on SQL Server 2012. And this is the error message:

The specified instance of SQL Server is hosted by a system that is not a Windows Server Failover Cluster(WSFC) node. (Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.HadrTasks)

The local node is not part of quorum and is therefore unable to process this operation. This may be due to one of the following reasons:

• The local node is not able to communicate with the WSFC cluster.
• No quorum set across the WSFC cluster.

The local node isn’t part of quorum and so unable to process that operation.This prompt me that perhaps the second instance doesn't understand itself its HADR enable. thus I qery sys.dm_hadr_cluster_members and sys.dm_hadr_cluster for both nodes.

On node1, it will come correct information. On node2, the result's empty.
SELECT *
FROM sys.dm_hadr_cluster_members;
Go
select * from sys.dm_hadr_cluster

The way to fix it's disable the HADR from SQL Server configuration manager . Bounce SQL Server and SQL agent. rentable HADR and bounce SQL server and SQL agent. The issue was resolved after second bounce

.

Today I had a problem with a table that has around 5 million records on my SQL Server 2012. The table has as primary key “Header No.”,”Transaction No.”. In the table is a field “Order No.” that at the moment is blank for all records. I also had an index on that field, because I will need to search for it. I think that in the future only 1 in several 1000 records will have an order no. So the index will be highly selective because I will have only 1 record per order no.

The code is like this:
Table.RESET;
Table.SETCURRENTKEY(“Order No.”);
Table.SETRANGE(“Order No.”,TheOrderNo);
IF Table.FINDFIRST THEN BEGIN

It should go lightening fast but it takes almost 1 second for each FINDFIRST.

Why?
The SQL plan gave me this:

Top[2,1];Nested Loops[3,2];Index Seek($2)[4,3];Clustered Index Seek(Company Name$Table$0)[6,3]
WHAT? A CLUSTERED index Seek?????
it should have been an index seek.
The select was what I expected:
SELECT TOP 1 * FROM “Company Name$Table” WITH (READUNCOMMITTED)  
HERE ((”Order No_”=?)) ORDER BY “Order No_”,”Header No_”,”Transaction No_” OPTION (OPTIMIZE FOR UNKNOWN)

But because SQL knows that the Field “Order No.” contained only blanks, it decided to do a clustered index seek because of the ORDER BY (at least this is what I think SQL decided). So how to fix it NOW (I don’t want to wait that it goes into production and it takes days or months before the problem fixes itself.

What is the code for?
The FINDFIRST serves because I want the Invoice No. of that record and it has to be a non-blank value.
So, I changed the index from “Order No.” to “Order No.”,”Invoice No.”. It makes the index a little bigger, but it shouldn’t be a big problem (or at least I hope so).
The C/AL code I changed like this:

Table.RESET;
Table.SETCURRENTKEY(“Order No.”,”Invoice No.”);”
Table.SETRANGE(“Order No.”,TheOrderNo);
Table.SETFILTER(“Invoice No.”,’<>%1’,’’);
IF Table.FINDFIRST THEN BEGIN

Even with all blank values in “Order No.”,”Invoice No.” at the moment, SQL has changed its plan to an index seek and the code has become very fast.