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Wise Owl blogs written in 2013 (page 1 of 3)
Showing blogs 1-20 (out of 44)
Posted by Andrew Gould on 27 November 2013
Triggers are special stored procedures that execute automatically in response to certain events in a database. This blog explains how to create three types of trigger in SQL Server: DML, DDL and Logon triggers.
How to use environment variables like USERNAME in VBA
Posted by Andy Brown on 25 November 2013
You can get at all sorts of system information within Visual Basic for Applications by using environment variables - this blog shows you how to get at your user's name, computer name and much more besides.
How to loop over enumerations in VBA
Posted by Andy Brown on 07 November 2013
A short blog explaining how to use Visual Basic for Applications to loop over enumerations.
Using the RANKX function in PowerPivot DAX measures
Posted by Andy Brown on 04 November 2013
The RANKX function works out where a measure lies in order for any dimension, but it has a couple of gotchas to watch out for, as this blog explains.
How to refer to range names with worksheet and workbook scope
Posted by Andy Brown on 01 November 2013
Range names can have either worksheet or workbook scope - this blog shows how to make sure that you're referring to the right range names!
How to get row labels for a pivot table group to repeat
Posted by Andy Brown on 01 November 2013
A short blog showing how to stop Excel hiding duplicate values for pivot table groups.
A blog showing how to use the SUMPRODUCT function
Posted by Andy Brown on 01 November 2013
The SUMPRODUCT function is one of the hardest ones to understand in Excel, but it's also pretty useful. This blog gives clear examples of how to use SUMPRODUCT for conditional sums, weighted averages and the like.
Posted by Andrew Gould on 11 October 2013
This blog examines how to use Transactions in Microsoft SQL Server to allow you to control when data changes are committed to the database. You'll also discover how you can rollback transactions, effectively giving you the chance to undo changes to your data.
How to use the LAG and LEAD functions included in SQL Server 2012
Posted by Andy Brown on 20 September 2013
SQL Server 2012 introduces new functions to find the previous or subsequent value for a row, without using a complicated self-join. This blog explains how to use LAG and LEAD, including partitioning row sets.
Wise Owl suggestions for new features for SQL Server Management Studio
Posted by Andy Brown on 09 September 2013
Writing SQL in Management Studio could, Wise Owl feel, be made a little easier: here are 10 practical suggestions for how!
How to get Excel to speak to you in a female voice, or slower/faster!
Posted by Andy Brown on 13 August 2013
A previous blog showed how to get Excel to speak to you; this one shows how to change the voice in which it does it!
How to get Excel to speak to you - reading out the contents of cells
Posted by Andy Brown on 12 August 2013
Deep within its bowels Excel contains a feature allowing it to read out the contents of cells (you can also get your VBA macros to talk to users). This blog goes to those deep places hidden within Excel!
Differences between SSRS 2008 R2 and 2012 for Excel render format
Posted by Andy Brown on 17 June 2013
This blog shows how to conditionally hide, display or format parts of a report according to its render format (ie whether you're viewing it in Excel or not). The method used is slightly different between 2008 R2 and 2012.
How to debug T-SQL queries and stored procedures
Posted by Andy Brown on 06 June 2013
This blog gives the low-down on how to start and use the debugger included in SQL Server Management Studio 2008 R2 and SSMS 2012.
Drop Lines in Excel Charts: Ah, that's what I needed!
Posted by Michael Allsop on 24 May 2013
Ever had the feeling that you're missing something obvious? This blog highlights one particular chart option that you may well have overlooked.
Want to wind up your neighbour? Try this annoying Excel VBA code!
Posted by Andy Brown on 14 May 2013
If you have a colleague who trusts you, you could always betray this trust by sending them a workbook which misbehaves: it won't close and you can't leave it!
Deleting and Updating Records in SQL
Posted by Andrew Gould on 08 May 2013
This blog teaches you how to modify existing data in your database by either deleting records or updating them.
How error messages work in SQL (including TRY, CATCH, RAISERROR and THROW)
Posted by Andy Brown on 03 May 2013
You can use BEGIN TRY to trap errors from SQL Server 2005 onwards, and also raise your own errors using RAISERROR or THROW - this blog explains all!
Using OUTER and CROSS APPLY joins to link to table-valued functions
Posted by Andy Brown on 03 May 2013
For the sake of completeness, this blog explains how to join to the results of table-valued functions (like a correlated subquery on steroids).
Output Parameters and Return Codes in SQL Server
Posted by Andrew Gould on 26 April 2013
This blog teaches you how to return values from your SQL stored procedures using two different techniques: return codes, and output parameters.