It, of course, depends on the SELECT statement in the NOT EXISTS but, I'd have to say "Yes", in most cases (was going to say ALWAYS but, sure-as-shootin', somebody would...

Just a note... The IDENTITY function can only be used when the INTO clause (as Figaro did) is also present or you will get the following error...

Server: Msg...

Haven't tested this but should work just fine.  Notice how DATEADD was used to subtract 4 months from the current date... not a job for DATEDIFF as many would think...

It won't actually report what constraint was violated but it will reject any record to the "error log" that either violates a constraint, key, foreign key, data-type, or column width. ...

Thought I'd clarify my statement about using an Outer Join as a replacement for a "Where Not In"...

About outer joins... I'm sure you've heard all sorts of horror...

If you are using an outer join as a replacement for a "WHERE NOT IN", then the filter must be in the WHERE clause as in Gary's second example above.

Use CASE as a substitute for DECODE.  Of course, "equivalent keywords" usually are not "equivalent" and will require a bit of rework.

Don't know what DISTINCTROW is... and don't want to...

Howdy,

It is and always has been a "bug" with Enterprise Manager.  I don't think you'll find a fix for it even on the Microsoft site (I've look for this fix...

Steve,

To answer your first question, I've found that PatIndex is a wee bit faster than LIKE.  In either case, both take a toll on speed when it comes to large data...

My thoughts are that if you are trying to import data that is either delimited, fixed field, or a combo of both, you should probably take the time to use...

Sometimes ya just gotta do with the data ya got... The REPLACE answer is a good one.  Thanks.

SELECT * FROM DBO.pt_vCheckSupport

 WHERE supp_startdt>='07-MAR-2004' AND supp_startdt<'20-MAR-2004'

The PATINDEX example works.  Try it.

Using your stored procedure...

 

ALTER PROCEDURE sp_RevByGeo

@mon varchar(255),

@year int

AS

/* SET NOCOUNT ON */

SELECT GEO , CustomerType,