New T-SQL features

in SQL Server 2012

Richie Rump
@Jorriss
http://jorriss.net

Who is this dude?

New Features in 2012

Sequences
Data Paging
Analytic Window Functions
Conversion Functions
Logical Functions
Date/Time Functions
String Functions

Sequence
New construct to generate numeric
sequences.
Ability to set min and max values
Cycle will set the current value to
the min value when the max value
is reached
Future values can be cached
minimizing disk IO.

sp_describe_first_result_set
Returns metadata for the
supplied SQL statement.
Useful for determining
column/database information for
a SQL statement or Stored
Procedure.

@browse_information_mode
If set to 0, no information is returned.
If set to 1, each query is analyzed as if it
includes a FOR BROWSE option on the
query. This will return base table names
as the source column information.
If set to 2, each query is analyzed as if it
would be used in preparing or executing
a cursor. This will return view names as
source column information.

EXEC Stored Procedure WITH

RESULTS

Allows the changing of column

names and data types in the
resultset of a stored procedure.
Yes, you can change column
names when you call a stored
procedure.

OFFSET and FETCH

Allows for server side paging.
Not data pages (8K of awesome)
but paging like on a web page.
OFFSET AND FETCH are arguments
of the ORDER BY clause
OFFSET Number of rows to skip
FETCH Number of rows to return

Analytic Windows Functions

LAG
LEAD
FIRST_VALUE
LAST_VALUE
PERCENT_RANK
CUME_DIST
PERCENTILE_CONT
PERCENTILE_DISC

But Firstan OVER Review

The OVER clause determines the
partitions and order of a rowset
before the window function is
applied.
WHAT CHU TALKING ABOUT
WILLIS?

OVER
PARTITON BY Similar to GROUP
BY but only applies to the
window function and not the
entire query.
ORDER BY Specifies the order
of the rows in the partition

LAG and LEAD

No longer need to use a self-join
or CTE.
LAG: Access data from previous
rows in the result set.
LEAD: Access data from future
rows in the result set.

FIRST_VALUE and
LAST_VALUE
FIRST_VALUE: Retrieves the first
value in a partition.
LAST_VALUE: Retrieves the last
value in a partition.

PERCENT_RANK
Calculates a relative rank of a
row.
(RANK() 1) / (Total Rows 1)

CUME_DIST
Calculates the percentage of
values less than or equal to the
current value in the group.
COUNT(*) OVER (ORDER BY Col1)
/ Total Count

PERCENTILE_CONT
Calculates a percentile value
Will interpolate the appropriate
value
Can use to find the median
PERCENTILE_CONT(0.5)

CONT stands for continuous

PERCENTILE_DISC
Calculates a percentile value
Like PERCENTILE_CONT but will
select a value that exists in the
set.
Can use to find the median
PERCENTILE_CONT(0.5)

DISC stands fordiscrete

distribution

Conversion Functions PARSE

Attempts to parse a string and
convert it to a specified
datatype.
Can only convert to a number or
datetime
Uses the .Net CLR

Conversion Functions
TRY_PARSE
Like PARSE but if an error occurs
returns a NULL.
Still uses the .Net CLR.

Conversion Functions
TRY_CONVERT

Attempts to cast a value into a

specified data type. Returns
NULL if CONVERT fails.

Logical Functions - IIF

Immediate If aka Inline If
Takes a boolean expression and
returns one of two values.
Shorthand for CASE.
Has the same limitations as
CASE
Can only be nested to 10 levels

Logical Functions - CHOOSE

Returns a value from a list based
on a specified index.
If the specified index is not in the
list NULL is returned.
Returns the data type based on
data type precedence.

EOMONTH
Returns last date of a specified
month.
Can specify a month_to_add
argument to increment or
decrement result.

FROMPARTS Functions
DATEFROMPARTS ( year, month, day)
DATETIME2FROMPARTS ( year, month, day, hour,
minute, seconds, fractions, precision )
DATETIMEFROMPARTS ( year, month, day, hour,
minute, seconds, milliseconds )
DATETIMEOFFSETFROMPARTS ( year, month, day,
hour, minute, seconds, fractions, hour_offset,
minute_offset, precision )
SMALLDATETIMEFROMPARTS ( year, month, day, hour,
minute )
TIMEFROMPARTS ( hour, minute, seconds, fractions,
precision )

CONCAT
Does what it saysconcatenates
strings together.
NULLs are automatically
converted to empty strings.
Can pass other data types for
concatenation.

FORMAT
Simplifies the string formatting
of dates and other data types.
No more memorizing numeric
predefined format values.
Returns a string.
Uses .Net CLR

THROW
Reduces the need to use
RAISERROR in TRY/CATCH blocks.
Can provide custom error
messages.
Always uses severity level 16.

Recommended Books

Thank You!!

Richie Rump
@Jorriss
jorriss@gmail.com
http://jorriss.net
http://dotnetmiami.com

T-SQL 2012 Links

Denali T-SQL at a Glance - New and Enhanced Functions
http://www.sqlmag.com/blog/puzzled-by-t-sql-blog-15/tsql/denali-tsql-glanceenhanced-functions-140785
T-SQL Improvements in SQL Server 2012
http://www.infoq.com/news/2012/03/T-SQL-2012
SQL SERVER Denali 14 New Functions A Quick Guide
http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2011/09/21/sql-server-denali-14-new-functions-aquick-guide/
Performance Test of New Date Manipulation Functions (SQL Spackle)
http://www.sqlservercentral.com/articles/Performance/89505/
Keyboard Shortcuts in Visual Studio 2012. Need to import settings.
http://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/2625/improvement-to-keyboard-shortcutsin-sql-server-2012-management-studio/

Sequence
MSDN: http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/ff878091.aspx
Sequence: Why they arent just for surrogate keys:
http://blog.infoadvisors.com/index.php/2012/02/16/
new-in-sql-server-2012-sequences-why-they-arentjust-for-surrogate-keys/
Sequence in 2012: http://www.sql-serverperformance.com/2011/sequence-sql-server-2011/
Create Sequence: http://www.dbadiaries.com/newt-sql-features-in-sql-server-2012-create-sequence/

sp_describe_first_result_set
MSDN:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/ff878602.aspx
http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2012/
03/31/sql-serversp_describe_first_result_set-newsystem-stored-procedure-in-sqlserver-2012/

stored procedure WITH

RESULTS
MSDN:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/ms188332.aspx
WITH RESULT SETS
http://www.dbadiaries.com/newt-sql-features-in-sql-server-2012with-result-sets/

OFFSET and FETCH

MSDN: http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/ms188385.aspx
TSQL 2012 OFFSET and FETCH:
http://stevestedman.com/2012/04/ts
ql-2012-offset-and-fetch/
OFFSET and FETCH:
http://www.dbadiaries.com/new-t-sqlfeatures-in-sql-server-2012-offsetand-fetch/

LAG and LEAD

LAG - MSDN:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/hh231256
LEAD - MSDN:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/hh213125

FIRST_VALUE, LAST_VALUE
FIRST_VALUE - MSDN:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/hh213018
LAST_VALUE - MSDN:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/hh231517

PERCENT_RANK
MSDN: http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/hh213573.aspx
Introduction to PERCENT_RANK():
http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2011/11/
18/sql-server-introduction-topercent_rank-analytic-functionsintroduced-in-sql-server-2012/

CUME_DIST
MSDN:
http://technet.microsoft.com/enus/library/hh231078.aspx
Introduction to CUME_DIST:
http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2011/11/
08/sql-server-introduction-tocume_dist-analytic-functionsintroduced-in-sql-server-2012/

PERCENTILE_CONT
PERCENTILE_CONT - MSDN:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/hh231473.aspx
Introduction to PERCENTILE_CONT:
http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2011/11/20/sqlserver-introduction-to-percentile_cont-analyticfunctions-introduced-in-sql-server-2012/
What exactly does PERCENTILE_CONT do?
http://www.sqlskills.com/BLOGS/BOBB/post/Whatexactly-does-PERCENTILE_CONT-do-anyhow.aspx

PERCENTILE_DISC
PERCENTILE_DISC - MSDN:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/hh231327
Introduction to PERCENTILE_DISC:
http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2011/11/
22/sql-server-introduction-topercentile_disc-analytic-functionsintroduced-in-sql-server-2012/

Conversion Functions
Difference between PARSE(), TRY_PARSE(),
TRY_CONVERT():
http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2011/09/09/sql-serverdenali-conversion-function-difference-betweenparse-try_parse-try_convert/
PARSE - MSDN: http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/hh213316.aspx
TRY_PARSE - MSDN: http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/hh974669
TRY_CONVERT - MSDN:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/hh230993

IIF
MSDN: http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/hh213574.aspx

CHOOSE
MSDN: http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/hh213019
CHOOSE() A QuickIntroduction:
http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2011/09/
11/sql-server-denali-logical-functionchoose-a-quick-introduction/

EOMONTH
MSDN: http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/hh213020.aspx
EOMONTH() A QuickIntroduction:
http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2011/09/
20/sql-server-denali-date-and-timefunctions-eomonth-a-quickintroduction/

FROMPARTS Functions
A Quick Introduction:
http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2011/09/
19/sql-server-denali-date-and-timefunctions-datefrompartsdatetimefrompartsdatetime2fromparts-timefrompartssmalldatetimefrompartsdatetimeoffsetfromparts-a-quickintroduc/

CONCAT
MSDN: http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/hh231515.aspx

FORMAT
MSDN: http://msdn.microsoft.com/enus/library/hh213505.aspx
New SQL Server Function to Format Dates:
http://www.mssqltips.com/sqlservertip/2655/ne
w-sql-server-function-to-format-dates/?
utm_source=dailynewsletter&utm_medium=e
mail&utm_content=headline&utm_campaign=
2012427
Custom Numeric Formats http://msdn.microsoft.com/enUS/library/0c899ak8.aspx#SpecifierD

THROW
http://www.dbadiaries.com/new-t-sqlfeatures-in-sql-server-2012-throw/