In today's cloud era, Azure SQL is usually first with new functionality, while on-premises SQL Server follows. One of the new things is the JSON data type and accompanying JSON index. Because I had to learn how JSON works in SQL Server for my DP-800 exam, I decided to see how the JSON index works … Continue reading SQL Server 2025: Testing the JSON Index
Category: Code
T-SQL Tuesday 200: When I Look at a Query …
First up, congrats to Adam Machanic and Steve Jones on reaching 200 episodes of T-SQL Tuesday; you can be proud of yourselves! I've always loved the variety of topics, the different views of the bloggers, and the learning that can be gained from all the posts. I've even had the honour of hosting. Anyway, Brent … Continue reading T-SQL Tuesday 200: When I Look at a Query …
Attending a Level 400 training at Microsoft.
This week, I was invited to the Microsoft office in London. The reason was a Level 400 training for Microsoft partners on Real-Time Intelligence. As I've been working with RTI on a large project for the last year, it felt natural to join this training. My objectives were not listed, but I wanted to see … Continue reading Attending a Level 400 training at Microsoft.
SSMS 22.6: Custom Copilot instructions
When you start using SSMS with GitHub Copilot, there is no default set of instructions in place. The agent will just sort of do what it thinks is best. But you can make sure the agent has more knowledge of your local environment (yes, it can be a cloud database as well), how it should … Continue reading SSMS 22.6: Custom Copilot instructions
DP-700 training: Configure Dataflow Gen2 workspace settings (Apache Airflow)
Welcome to another instalment in the DP-700 learn series. This time we're going to talk about Apache Airflow settings. It's a little bit of a misnomer in the header, maybe, but we have to follow the titles Microsoft offers in the official curriculum. Now, before we dig into the fun techy stuff, let's familiarise ourselves … Continue reading DP-700 training: Configure Dataflow Gen2 workspace settings (Apache Airflow)
DP-800: First Microsoft Learn experiences
The DP-800 training is new and was released to GA a few weeks ago. It now sits in the same family as DP-600 (Data Analytics using Microsoft Fabric), 700 (Data Engineering using Microsoft Fabric) and 750 (Data Engineering using Databricks). The full name of this training is "Develop AI-Enabled Database Solutions". This one sparked my … Continue reading DP-800: First Microsoft Learn experiences
SSMS 22.5 and Copilot: generate code in the query window
A lot of you may probably know that I like the GitHub Copilot sidecar chat in SSMS, and that it can really help develop code faster. Even though you have to be aware of how the integration now handles your prompts, it remains a great help to quickly generate code. But did you know that … Continue reading SSMS 22.5 and Copilot: generate code in the query window
Chocolatey, and how to quickly set up your new laptop
Last month, my company got me a new laptop. I have very little choice in which one I get, and I have to reinstall a lot of software. So, what to do next? Option one: download and install This is something I see a lot of people do: make a list of the software they … Continue reading Chocolatey, and how to quickly set up your new laptop
Microsoft Realtime Intelligence: the array that wasn’t
In a previous blog, I wrote about processing XML and that it's actually JSON after the first pass. So far, so good. But then I found out that not all data was returned. That's weird because it's really there. So, what's happening here? Follow me, and let's find out! The previous blog had this JSON … Continue reading Microsoft Realtime Intelligence: the array that wasn’t
Microsoft Fabric Realtime Intelligence: Processing XML, or are you?
I've been working for quite some time on a fun solution in Fabric Realtime Intelligence. We're processing XML files into a structured table. As you're probably aware, XML has its own... well, let's be nice and call them challenges. One thing I ran into was that an element contained several other elements. Usually, you'll see … Continue reading Microsoft Fabric Realtime Intelligence: Processing XML, or are you?









