Using ChatGPT with SQL Server

By bradyupton in Artificial Intelligence - AI, Azure, Development 0 Comment

If you’re in the tech field you’ve probably heard the buzz around ChatGPT and Artificial Intelligence.

ChatGPT is a pre-trained language model developed by OpenAI. It uses deep learning techniques, specifically a transformer neural network architecture, to generate human-like text. It can be fine-tuned on specific tasks such as language translation, question answering, and text summarization. ChatGPT can be used to generate a wide range of text, including conversation, news articles, stories, and more. Because it is pre-trained on a large corpus of text, it can generate text that is often indistinguishable from text written by a human.

To preview ChatGPT, shoot over to https://openai.com, create a login and you can try it for free (at the time this post was written).

For this post, since I’m a DBA, I want to test how it performs when I give it questions about SQL statements.

So let’s start! I asked the following question:

“How can ChatGPT be used to learn TSQL?”

And here’s a great response:

ChatGPT can be used to learn TSQL in several ways:

  1. You can use ChatGPT to generate TSQL code snippets and queries based on natural language prompts. For example, you can ask ChatGPT to "generate a TSQL query to select all columns from a table named 'customers'" and it will respond with the appropriate TSQL code.
  2. You can also use ChatGPT to explain TSQL concepts and provide examples. For example, you can ask ChatGPT to "explain how to use the JOIN clause in TSQL" and it will provide a detailed explanation and examples of how to use the JOIN clause in TSQL.
  3. You can also train ChatGPT model on TSQL text data and fine-tune the model for generating TSQL queries, this way you can generate more accurate and complex TSQL queries.
  4. You can use ChatGPT as a code completion tool to assist you in writing TSQL code.

 

Not a bad start. Let’s see if it can create a database.

“Can you write SQL code to create a SQL database named AI?”

Look correct. Let’s test in SQL Management Studio.

OK, OK, that was too easy ChatGPT. Let’s see if it can create a table in our new database and insert some dummy data.

“Can you write SQL code to create a table called Orders in my AI database and populate with some test data?”

Let’s test the code.

Looks good. How about a basic SELECT statement?

“Can you write SQL code to give me all data from my Orders table?”

Again, looks good. It even goes as far as explaining it and giving an example by only selecting specific rows. This is great for learning.

Let’s see if it can create an aggregate query.

“Can you write SQL code to give me the Customer that has the highest TotalAmount from the Orders table?”

From my question, I was hoping for something a little different, but I can’t get mad at the results. The query uses LIMIT 1 instead of SELECT TOP 1 which would work in MySQL, but doesn’t exist in SQL Server. It was really close though and it even gives me an example and explanation of how this would be used in a JOIN.

Let’s be more specific. If I change the question to specify SQL Server:

“Can you write SQL code to give me the Customer that has the highest TotalAmount from the Orders table in SQL Server?”

Again, not really what I was looking for, but it works. ChatGPT ended up writing more code than it needed and even wrote this statement in a common table expression (CTE). I was looking for something more along the lines of this:

SELECT TOP 1 CustomerID, MAX(TotalAmount) as MaxAmount
FROM Orders
GROUP BY CustomerID
ORDER BY MaxAmount DESC

Either way, both statements work and produce the same results.

How about something a little more difficult such as creating a partition. Partitions are heavily used in other database platforms so I’m going to specify SQL Server again in this question.

“Can you write T-SQL code to partition my Orders table, OrderDate column by year on SQL Server?”

This was a little more challenging and it wrote out the Partition Function and Partition Scheme statements correctly, but it added a OrderDateRange column as an integer and then it tries to create a clustered index where OrderDate is datetime and OrderDateRange is int so the end result is a failure.

All in all, I think this is a great tool for learning basic (and even some advanced) SQL, but it still has some bugs to work out before it tries to replace me. 😉

 

Passing Multiple Values into a Variable

By bradyupton in Development 0 Comment

Passing multiple values into a variable is a little more difficult than it should be. In other languages you can use functions such as Lists or Arrays, but SQL makes it a bit more complicated. To show you what I mean, let’s look at an example.

First, let’s create a Demo table:

CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Demo](
[ID] [int] NULL,
[Name] [varchar](50) NULL,
[Address] [varchar](50) NULL,
[State] [varchar](50) NULL,
[Zip] [int] NULL
)

Next, populate it with some data:

INSERT INTO [dbo].[Demo]
VALUES (1, 'Brady', '123 Main Street', 'TN', 12345)

 

INSERT INTO [dbo].[Demo]
VALUES (2, 'Tommy', '124 Main Street', 'TN', 12345)

 

INSERT INTO [dbo].[Demo]
VALUES (3, 'Jonny', '125 Main Street', 'TN', 12345)

Now that we have some data, let’s try a query using variables. I want to define a variable on the column ID.

DECLARE @MultipleValue varchar(200)
SET @MultipleValue = '1,2'

SELECT * FROM Demo WHERE ID IN (@MultipleValue)

After running this query, I get 0 results and an error:

Msg 245, Level 16, State 1, Line 24
Conversion failed when converting the varchar value ‘1,2’ to data type int.

Why? I know the ID’s 1 and 2 are in the table, but SQL is looking at this variable as one string. So unless I have 1,2 in the same ID column, it will show 0 results.

One way to get around this is to use a UDF, user defined function. In this function, we’re going to convert the comma separated values (1,2) into a table, then query from that.

CREATE FUNCTION [dbo].[MultipleValues] (@InStr VARCHAR(MAX))
RETURNS @TempTable TABLE
(id int not null)
AS
BEGIN

SET @InStr = REPLACE(@InStr + ',', ',,', ',')
DECLARE @SP INT
DECLARE @VALUE VARCHAR(1000)
WHILE PATINDEX('%,%', @INSTR ) <> 0

BEGIN

SELECT @SP = PATINDEX('%,%',@INSTR)
SELECT @VALUE = LEFT(@INSTR , @SP - 1)
SELECT @INSTR = STUFF(@INSTR, 1, @SP, '')
INSERT INTO @TempTable(id) VALUES (@VALUE)
END
RETURN
END
GO

Now that we have a UDF, let’s use this in the query:

DECLARE @MultipleValue varchar(200)
SET @MultipleValue = '1,2'

SELECT * FROM Demo WHERE ID IN (SELECT * FROM dbo.MultipleValues(@MultipleValue))

Ta da!

We now have two results. ID 1 and 2:

Passing multiple values into a variable

Restore SQL Server Databases using DateTime functions

By bradyupton in Backup/Restore 0 Comment

If you take full backups using SQL Server maintenance plans and let SQL Server use the default naming convention, you have probably noticed that usually you’ll have file name in the format of “database name + backup + date + time + .bak”. For example, a backup from the master database may look like this: “master_backup_2012_10_02_220558_8601773.bak”.  It can be a challenge to script out automatic restores because the numbers on the end of the backup name constantly change. In this tip I will explain how to script out RESTORE DATABASE statements using DateTime functions.

Let’s say we have a folder full of backups like this:

SQL Freelancer SQL Server Backup Restore Datetime Functions

Let’s say our boss wants us to restore Monday’s production backup (Alabama) every Friday afternoon to our development database (Tide). To accomplish this task, we can use the built-in SQL Server DateTime functions.

The below script will restore from the backup created on the first day of the current week.  I’ve added comments to explain the code.

-- Declare variables
DECLARE @backup nvarchar(200) 
DECLARE @datebegin datetime
DECLARE @dateend datetime

-- Initalize variables
-- Set @datebegin equal to the first day of the current week
SELECT @datebegin = DATEADD(wk,DATEDIFF(wk,0,GETDATE()),0)
-- Set @dateend equal to the second day of the current week 
SELECT @dateend = DATEADD(wk,DATEDIFF(wk,0,GETDATE()),1) 

-- Set @backup equal to query dependent on datebegin and dateend 
SELECT TOP 1 @backup = name + '.bak' 
FROM msdb..backupset 
WHERE database_name = 'Alabama' 
AND backup_start_date BETWEEN @datebegin AND @dateend 
AND type = 'D' -- D is for full backups
ORDER BY backup_start_date ASC 

USE [master]

-- Put DB in Single_User Mode
ALTER DATABASE [Tide] SET SINGLE_USER WITH ROLLBACK IMMEDIATE 

-- Restore DB using query from @backup variable
RESTORE DATABASE [Tide] FROM  DISK = @backup WITH FILE = 1, NOUNLOAD, REPLACE, STATS = 5 
GO

Below is a table of useful DateTime functions that you can use for the @datebegin and @dateend variables.

Day SQL
Today SELECT GETDATE()
Yesterday SELECT DATEADD(d, -1, GETDATE())
First Day of Current Week SELECT DATEADD(wk, DATEDIFF(wk, 0, GETDATE()), 0)
Last Day of the Current Week SELECT DATEADD(wk, DATEDIFF(wk, 0, GETDATE()), 6)
First Day of the Current Month SELECT DATEADD(mm,DATEDIFF(mm,0,GETDATE()),0)
Last Day of the Current Month SELECT DATEADD(ms,- 3,DATEADD(mm,0,DATEADD(mm,DATEDIFF(mm,0,GETDATE())+1,0)))
First Day of the Current Year SELECT DATEADD(yy,DATEDIFF(yy,0,GETDATE()),0)
Last Day of the Current Year SELECT DATEADD(ms,-3,DATEADD(yy,0,DATEADD(yy,DATEDIFF(yy,0,GETDATE())+1,0)))

Another example may include where you need to take a backup from the first of the month of the production database and restore it weekly to the development database. In this situation you can edit the @datebegin and @dateend variables:

--Set @datebegin equal to the first day of the current month
SELECT @datebegin = DATEADD(mm,DATEDIFF(mm,0,GETDATE()),0) 

--Set @dateend equal to the second day of the current month
SELECT @dateend = SELECT DATEADD(mm,DATEDIFF(mm,0,GETDATE()),1)

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SQL Server User Defined Server Roles

By bradyupton in Security 0 Comment

A new feature to SQL Server 2012 is the ability to create user defined server roles and assign server level/scope permissions to these roles. DBA’s have always had the ability to create user defined database roles which act as a security layer at the database level, but we’ve never been able to create roles at the server level until SQL Server 2012.

In this post I will show you how to create user defined server roles using T-SQL and SQL Server Management Studio.

What Permissions Can Be Assigned

First, to view the list of permissions that can be assigned to a user defined server role run the following query:

USE master 
GO
SELECT * FROM sys.fn_builtin_permissions(DEFAULT) 
WHERE class_desc IN ('ENDPOINT','LOGIN','SERVER','AVAILABILITY GROUP','SERVER ROLE') 
ORDER BY class_desc, permission_name
GO

Create a Server Role in T-SQL

To create a server role called “juniordba” use the following:

USE master
GO
CREATE SERVER ROLE juniordba

Next we will create a login called Brady and then add it to the new juniordba role that was created:

USE master 
GO
ALTER SERVER ROLE juniordba ADD MEMBER Brady

We haven’t added any permissions to the server role, so Brady shouldn’t have access. To test this we can login as Brady and run the following query:

SELECT * FROM sys.dm_exec_connections

As you can see we get the following error message:

Msg 297, Level 16, State 1, Line 1 The user does not have permission to perform this action.

Click here to view the rest of this post.

Querying Active Directory Data from SQL Server

By bradyupton in Linked Servers 0 Comment

In this post I’ll show you how to query Active Directory using linked servers and the OPENQUERY command.

Create Linked Server

First thing we’ll do is create our linked server, Active Directory Service Interface also known as ASDI, to Active Directory using the code below:

USE [master]
GO 
EXEC master.dbo.sp_addlinkedserver @server = N'ADSI', @srvproduct=N'Active Directory Service Interfaces', @provider=N'ADSDSOObject', @datasrc=N'adsdatasource'
EXEC master.dbo.sp_addlinkedsrvlogin @rmtsrvname=N'ADSI',@useself=N'False',@locallogin=NULL,@rmtuser=N'DOMAIN\USER',@rmtpassword='*********'
GO 
EXEC master.dbo.sp_serveroption @server=N'ADSI', @optname=N'collation compatible',  @optvalue=N'false'
GO 
EXEC master.dbo.sp_serveroption @server=N'ADSI', @optname=N'data access', @optvalue=N'true'
GO 
EXEC master.dbo.sp_serveroption @server=N'ADSI', @optname=N'dist', @optvalue=N'false'
GO 
EXEC master.dbo.sp_serveroption @server=N'ADSI', @optname=N'pub', @optvalue=N'false'
GO 
EXEC master.dbo.sp_serveroption @server=N'ADSI', @optname=N'rpc', @optvalue=N'false'
GO 
EXEC master.dbo.sp_serveroption @server=N'ADSI', @optname=N'rpc out', @optvalue=N'false'
GO 
EXEC master.dbo.sp_serveroption @server=N'ADSI', @optname=N'sub', @optvalue=N'false'
GO 
EXEC master.dbo.sp_serveroption @server=N'ADSI', @optname=N'connect timeout', @optvalue=N'0'
GO 
EXEC master.dbo.sp_serveroption @server=N'ADSI', @optname=N'collation name', @optvalue=null
GO 
EXEC master.dbo.sp_serveroption @server=N'ADSI', @optname=N'lazy schema validation',  @optvalue=N'false'
GO 
EXEC master.dbo.sp_serveroption @server=N'ADSI', @optname=N'query timeout', @optvalue=N'0'
GO 
EXEC master.dbo.sp_serveroption @server=N'ADSI', @optname=N'use remote collation',  @optvalue=N'true'
GO 
EXEC master.dbo.sp_serveroption @server=N'ADSI', @optname=N'remote proc transaction promotion', @optvalue=N'true'
GO

Make sure you change the @rmtuser and @rmtpassword variables to a login and password that has access to your Active Directory.

Querying Active Directory

Once the linked server is created we can now setup our query to return the information we need.

First, you’ll need to ask your Network/Systems Administrator for your LDAP info then we can continue to the query.

Here is how the LDAP connection is broken down:

  • For our example it looks like this: LDAP://DOMAIN.com/OU=Players,DC=DOMAIN,DC=com
  • LDAP://Domain.com – is the name of a domain controller
  • /OU=Players – this is the Organization Unit, in our case (Players)
  • ,DC – this is the Domain Name broken up by domain and extension name
  • So….LDAP://DomainControllerName.com/OU=OrganizationalUnit,DC=DOMAIN,DC=NAME

According to the problem, this user needs to return the companies email addresses and phone numbers. To do this we can use the code below:

(note – you will need to change your domain information for this to work)

SELECT * FROM OpenQuery ( 
  ADSI,  
  'SELECT displayName, telephoneNumber, mail, mobile, facsimileTelephoneNumber 
  FROM  ''LDAP://DOMAIN.com/OU=Players,DC=DOMAIN,DC=com'' 
  WHERE objectClass =  ''User'' 
  ') AS tblADSI
ORDORDER BY displayname

As you can see this query will return Active Directory’s Display Name, Telephone Number, Email Address, Mobile Number, and Fax Number. Also note, that when you query Active Directory it actually creates the SELECT statement backwards. I started the SELECT statement with SELECT displayname… but in the results pane it displayed displayName last as shown below.

SQL Freelancer SQL Server Query Active DirectoryIf you wanted to view more columns for each user we can use the below code to display fields such as: FirstName, Office, Department, Fax, Mobile, Email, Login, Telephone, Display Name, Title, Company, Pager, Street Address, and more.

SELECT * FROM OpenQuery
  ( 
  ADSI,  
  'SELECT streetaddress, pager, company, title, displayName, telephoneNumber, sAMAccountName, 
  mail, mobile, facsimileTelephoneNumber, department, physicalDeliveryOfficeName, givenname 
  FROM  ''LDAP://DOMAIN.com/OU=Players,DC=DOMAIN,DC=com''
  WHERE objectClass =  ''User'' 
  ') AS tblADSI
ORDER BY displayname

SQL Freelancer SQL Server Query Active Directory

You can also filter out columns using a WHERE clause. In this example I only want to return results where users have a fax number.

SELECT * FROM OpenQuery
  ( 
  ADSI,  
   'SELECT streetaddress, pager, company, title, displayName, telephoneNumber, sAMAccountName, mail,  
  mobile, facsimileTelephoneNumber, department, physicalDeliveryOfficeName, givenname
  FROM  ''LDAP://DOMAIN.com/OU=Players,DC=DOMAIN,DC=com''   
  WHERE objectClass =  ''User'' 
  ') AS tblADSI
WHERE facsimileTelephoneNumber IS NOT NULL
ORDER BY displayname

SQL Freelancer SQL Server Query Active Directory