    getdate() 

is the direct equivalent, _but you should always use UTC datetimes_

    getutcdate()

whether your app operates across timezones or not - otherwise you run the risk of screwing up date math at the spring/fall transitions

[`SYSDATETIME()`](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb630353.aspx) and [`SYSUTCDATETIME()`](https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb630387.aspx)

are the [DateTime2](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb677335.aspx) equivalents of

[`GetDate()`](http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms188383.aspx) and [`GetUTCDate()`](http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms178635.aspx) 

which return a [DateTime](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms187819.aspx).

[DateTime2](http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb677335.aspx) is now the preferred method for storing the date and time in SQL Server 2008+. See the following [StackOverflow Post](https://stackoverflow.com/questions/1334143/sql-server-datetime2-vs-datetime).

You can also use `CURRENT_TIMESTAMP`, if you feel like being more ANSI compliant (though if you&#39;re porting code between database vendors, that&#39;ll be the least of your worries). It&#39;s exactly the same as `GetDate()` under the covers (see [this question][1] for more on that).

There&#39;s no ANSI equivalent for `GetUTCDate()`, however, which is probably the one you should be using if your app operates in more than a single time zone ...

  [1]: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/186572/retriving-date-in-sql-server-currenttimestamp-vs-getdate

Should I use `exit()` or just `return` statements in `main()`? Personally I favor the `return` statements because I feel it&#39;s like reading any other function and the flow control when I&#39;m reading the code is smooth (in my opinion). And even if I want to refactor the `main()` function, having `return` seems like a better choice than `exit()`.

Does `exit()` do anything special that `return` doesn&#39;t?

return statement vs exit() in main()

The typical ConfigParser generated file looks like:

    [Section]
    bar=foo
    [Section 2]
    bar2= baz

Now, is there a way to index lists like, for instance:

    [Section 3]
    barList={
        item1,
        item2
    }

Related question: [Python’s ConfigParser unique keys per section][1]


  [1]: https://stackoverflow.com/questions/287757/pythons-configparser-unique-keys-per-section

Lists in ConfigParser

I&#39;m a MySQL guy working on a SQL Server project, trying to get a datetime field to show the current time.  In MySQL I&#39;d use NOW() but it isn&#39;t accepting that.

    INSERT INTO timelog (datetime_filed) VALUES (NOW())

SQL Server equivalent of MySQL&#39;s NOW()?

I'm a MySQL guy working on a SQL Server project, trying to get a datetime field to show the current time. In MySQL I'd use NOW() but it isn't accepting that.
<pre><code class="hljs language-sql">INSERT INTO timelog (datetime_filed) VALUES (NOW())
</code></pre>

Does anyone know of a program, a utility, or some programmatic library, preferably for Linux, that takes an unformatted SQL string and pretty prints it?

For example I would like the following

    select * from users where name = &#39;Paul&#39;

be changed to something like this

    select * 
    from users
    where
       name = &#39;Paul&#39;

The exact formatting is not important.
I just need something to take a large SQL string and break it up into something more readable.

SQL string formatter

I am wondering if there is away (possibly a better way) to order by the order of the values in an IN() clause.

The problem is that I have 2 queries, one that gets all of the IDs and the second that retrieves all the information. The first creates the order of the IDs which I want the second to order by. The IDs are put in an IN() clause in the correct order.

So it&#39;d be something like (extremely simplified):

    SELECT id FROM table1 WHERE ... ORDER BY display_order, name

    SELECT name, description, ... WHERE id IN ([id&#39;s from first])

The issue is that the second query does not return the results in the same order that the IDs are put into the IN() clause.

One solution I have found is to put all of the IDs into a temp table with an auto incrementing field which is then joined into the second query.

Is there a better option?

**Note:** As the first query is run &quot;by the user&quot; and the second is run in a background process, there is no way to combine the 2 into 1 query using sub queries.

I am using MySQL, but I&#39;m thinking it might be useful to have it noted what options there are for other DBs as well.

Ordering by the order of values in a SQL IN() clause

Not a SQL person at all.  Have the following code a consultant wrote.  

First, it makes sure only an elementary school has been chosen - then, after the BEGIN,  if the variable @Term equals a 3 we want to do the stuff under that IF statement.  Here&#39;s the problem.  When @Term is not = 3 we still want to drop down and do the SECOND INSERT INTO @Classes part.  FYI - the Term is = 3 when this is being run, but it&#39;s not doing both INSERT&#39;s - should there be an END IF at the end of that &quot;IF @Term = 3&quot; section instead of just a plain END?

    IF @SchoolCategoryCode = &#39;Elem&#39; 
    
    --- We now have determined we are processing an elementary school...
    
    BEGIN
    
    ---- Only do the following if the variable @Term equals a 3 - if it does not, skip just this first part
    
    	IF @Term = 3
    
    	BEGIN
    
    	    INSERT INTO @Classes
    
    	    SELECT 		
    		XXXXXX	
    	    FROM XXXX blah blah blah
    
    	END   &lt;----(Should this be ENDIF?)
    
    ---- **always** &quot;fall thru&quot; to here, no matter what @Term is equal to - always do the following INSERT for all elementary schools
    
        INSERT INTO @Classes	
        SELECT
    	XXXXXXXX	
        FROM XXXXXX (more code)	
    
    END

SQL &quot;IF&quot;, &quot;BEGIN&quot;, &quot;END&quot;, &quot;END IF&quot;?

Ok, here is my dilemma I have a database set up with about 5 tables all with the exact same data structure. The data is separated in this manner for localization purposes and to split up a total of about 4.5 million records.

A majority of the time only one table is needed and all is well. However, sometimes data is needed from 2 or more of the tables and it needs to be sorted by a user defined column. This is where I am having problems.

data columns:

    id, band_name, song_name, album_name, genre

MySQL statment:

    SELECT * from us_music, de_music where `genre` = &#39;punk&#39;

MySQL spits out this error:

    #1052 - Column &#39;genre&#39; in where clause is ambiguous

Obviously, I am doing this wrong. Anyone care to shed some light on this for me?

MySQL - Selecting data from multiple tables all with same structure but different data

In SQL you can run a ISNULL(null,&#39;&#39;) how would you do this in a linq query?

I have a join in this query:

    var hht = from x in db.HandheldAssets
            join a in db.HandheldDevInfos on x.AssetID equals a.DevName into DevInfo
            from aa in DevInfo.DefaultIfEmpty()
            select new
            {
            AssetID = x.AssetID,
            Status = xx.Online
            };

but I have a column that has a bit type that is non nullable (xx.online) how can I set this to false if it is null?

Equivalent of SQL ISNULL in LINQ?

I&#39;ve got a sproc (MSSQL 2k5) that will take a variable for a LIKE claus like so:

    DECLARE @SearchLetter2 char(1)
    SET @SearchLetter = &#39;t&#39;
    SET @SearchLetter2 = @SearchLetter + &#39;%&#39;
    SELECT *
        FROM BrandNames 
        WHERE [Name] LIKE @SearchLetter2 and IsVisible = 1 
        --WHERE [Name] LIKE &#39;t%&#39; and IsVisible = 1 
        ORDER BY [Name]

Unfortunately, the line currently running throws a syntax error, while the commented where clause runs just fine.  Can anyone help me get the un-commented line working?

Using variable in SQL LIKE statement

In Visual Studio &amp; other IDEs, you can easily auto format your code with a keyboard shortcut, through the menu, or automatically as you type.

I was wondering if there is yet a way to enable this standard feature in SQL Server Management Studio?

I&#39;m working with some large-ish stored procs that are a mangled mess of poorly formatted SQL and it&#39;d be nice if I could just go &quot;Select All -&gt; Format SQL&quot;

Format SQL in SQL Server Management Studio

What is the difference between `LEFT JOIN` and `LEFT OUTER JOIN`?

LEFT JOIN vs. LEFT OUTER JOIN in SQL Server

The application I want to build using MS Visual C# Express (I&#39;m willing to upgrade to Standard if that becomes required) that needs a database.

I was all psyched about the SQL Server Compact - because I don&#39;t want the folks who would be installing my application on their computers to have to install the whole of SQL Server or something like that.  I want this to be as easy as possible for the end user to install.

So I was all psyched until it seems that there are limitations to what I can do with the columns in my tables.  I created a new database, created a table and when I went to create columns it seems that there isn&#39;t a &quot;text&quot; datatype - just something called &quot;ntext&quot; that seems to be limited to 255 characters.  &quot;int&quot; seems to be limited to 4 (I wanted 11).  And there doesn&#39;t seem to be an &quot;auto_increment&quot; feature.

Are these the real limitations I would have to live with?  (Or is it because I&#39;m using &quot;Express&quot; and not &quot;Standard&quot;).  If these are the real limitations, what are my other database options that meet my requirements?  (easy installation for user being the biggie - I&#39;m assuming that my end user is just an average user of computers and if it&#39;s complicated would get frustrated with my application)

-Adeena

PS:  I also want my database data to be encrypted to the end user.  I don&#39;t want them to be able to access the database tables directly.

PPS.  I did read:  http://www.microsoft.com/Sqlserver/2005/en/us/compact.aspx  and didn&#39;t see a discussion on these particular limitations

What are the limitations to SQL Server Compact? (Or - how does one choose a database to use on MS platforms?)

I have a column which has a datatype : datetime. But now i want to convert it to datatype varchar. Can i alter the datatype without droppping the column? If yes, then please explain how?

Content Type	Original Author	Original Content on Stackoverflow
Question	Andrew G. Johnson	View Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - Sql	Daniel Schaffer	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 2 - Sql	Steven A. Lowe	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 3 - Sql	DMK	View Answer on Stackoverflow
Solution 4 - Sql	Ian Varley	View Answer on Stackoverflow

SQL Server equivalent of MySQL's NOW()?

Sql Problem Overview

Sql Solutions

Solution 1 - Sql

Solution 2 - Sql

Solution 3 - Sql

Solution 4 - Sql

Lists in ConfigParser

return statement vs exit() in main()

Attributions