A frustrated administrator friend just messaged me, asking how he can, in VBScript, "run a simple batch file using a simple command line without defining a billion vars and initting a bunch of bullshit." Apparently, this isn't well documented on the web, so I'm taking a stab at it.

Set WshShell = …

Recently, a friend of mine asked to write a script to compare two SQL Server tables using mostly VBScript. The very thought made me shudder; I wanted desperately to compare the tables in SQL Server but ultimately, the company's requirements prevented us from doing so. Here were the stipulations:

• First, the script …

The other day, I was texting a friend and some guy looked at me and said "Oh hey, 2002 called, it wants its T9 back." Haha, slightly cliche but I laughed anyway. Then I went and bought myself a Blackberry.

I totally love it, I won't lie. So I imported my contacts into Outlook from a Sony Ericsson mobile phone …

Looking for the T-SQL (somewhat) equivalent to VBScript's FormatDateTime function? I've been too, for years. I finally found it within the CONVERT() function. As stated in SQL Server Books Online:

In CONVERT ( data_type [ ( length ) ] , expression [ , style ] ), style is the style of the date format used to convert …

Someone recently asked why I don't use SQL Mail on my SQL Servers (2000 and below). The answer is: I don't want to install Outlook on my SQL Servers. Sure, there are ways around it but I prefer just using "net send" to alert the Operator (moi) then forwarding those messages on to my inbox and phone.

Although …