All Questions
827
questions
97
votes
12
answers
3k
views
It has been a great privilege to serve this amazing community as moderator. Thank you
Today I'm handing back the diamond you gave me in 2011. Some of you will not understand or agree with my reasons for doing so, but the nature of the community we have on this exceptional site leaves ...
- 40.1k
77
votes
50
answers
4k
views
A new fiddle for dba.se
Update Jan 2020:
Please note, the place for reporting db<>fiddle bugs and feature requests is now on this TopAnswers post pending a future move to a GitHub issue tracker!.
SQLFiddle has been an ...
- 40.1k
70
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Please can we have markdown tables on dba.se
Several sites have MathJax enabled, so there is obviously some room for site-specific markdown.
Therefore please can we have markdown tables here on dba.se? There is an open feature-request for this ...
- 40.1k
66
votes
1
answer
5k
views
Help me write this query in SQL
I'm trying to get help writing a query from scratch using Structured Query Language, or SQL.
What information do you need from me to get my boss to stop screaming? I've asked all my co-workers for ...
41
votes
7
answers
1k
views
Let's burninate the SQL tag!
The sql tag was discussed most recently in Is the [sql] tag useful for DBA.SE? (May 2015). Things have changed, and it is time to revisit this discussion.
The most popular views last time were that ...
Paul WhiteMod
- 88.3k
40
votes
4
answers
989
views
Should basic SQL questions be allowed?
I’m going to buck the pervasive mentality here and ask the question:
Why shouldn’t dba.stackexchange.com include basic SQL questions?
Previous related discussions:
How do we ...
- 23.9k
40
votes
1
answer
2k
views
Canonical Answers
After discovering the pot of gold that is ServerFault's What are the canonical answers we've discovered over the years?, I'm inclined to think dba.se could do with the same.
If agreeable to ...
34
votes
3
answers
470
views
Whether we should be CAP COPs
A certain user has suggested a boatload of edits recently. The changes have been either largely or completely revolving around the upper-casing of Transact-SQL keywords. For example, a post that ...
Aaron BertrandStaff
- 181k
34
votes
18
answers
1k
views
We need to formalize a site title/name. Does "Database Administrators" still ring true? [closed]
We had some original thoughts here: Why Database Administrators? but that seems to read more of a "why is this site named this way" and not so much of a "we need this name". So I'm ...
32
votes
0
answers
372
views
SQL Snippets on DBA.SE?
Stack Snippets arrived on SO last September and they are great - I love this demo which shows off what you can do with them.
They basically bring a subset of JSFiddle into the site, and something ...
- 40.1k
31
votes
3
answers
5k
views
Asking query performance questions
What information should be provided when asking how to improve the performance of a query?
30
votes
4
answers
1k
views
Are licensing questions within our scope?
I noticed Server Fault preemptively posted a dummy question explaining that they don't give licensing advice, as you really need to figure out licensing with the company granting the license. They use ...
- 2,063
30
votes
4
answers
413
views
Can We / Should We Strongly Encourage Users to Specify RDBMS on the "Ask" page?
More than most other sites, the majority of our questions require a specific piece of information:
What RDBMS and what version is the asker using?
If it's possible, would it be a benefit to add this ...
- 18k
29
votes
11
answers
2k
views
What other databases would you like to see on SQL Fiddle?
Updated
We have the opportunity to expand upon the database options found in SQL Fiddle. Which database (including version) would be the most useful for the community? Some thoughts I've had:
DB/...
- 607
29
votes
8
answers
479
views
Why Database Administrators?
When I comited to this site, the title was Database.
It suddenly became Database Administrators, why that ?
Talking about database is not only the administration side it's all the task around also.
...
- 2,248
29
votes
4
answers
866
views
"Database Administrators" needs to die [duplicate]
Every few weeks another sharp poster asks:
Why are you asking DBAs about source control?
Why are you asking DBAs about performance?
Why are you asking DBAs about database design or data warehousing?
...
- 14.7k
28
votes
2
answers
757
views
How do I include tables with Ascii art lines in my answer?
Some answers on the site like this one and this one include tables drawn with ascii art. Is this done by hand or is there a tool I can use to help me?
- 40.1k
28
votes
1
answer
237
views
2015 Moderator Election Results
Database Administrators' fourth moderator election has come to a close, the votes have been tallied, and the new moderator is:
He'll be joining the existing crew shortly — please thank him for ...
- 9,706
28
votes
1
answer
277
views
Can we have <!-- language-all: sql --> applied by default
I mean can we have <!-- language-all: sql --> applied by default to all posts where no highlighting is specified of course.
I note this would make us different from the rest of SE [edit: or ...
- 40.1k
28
votes
0
answers
587
views
Database Administrators Top User Swag
As a thank you for being awesome, if you are on page 1 or page 2 of …
https://dba.stackexchange.com/users?tab=reputation&filter=all
… we'll be sending you a little care package ...
- 101
26
votes
25
answers
898
views
What kind of questions are allowed on Database Administrators ?
When I first committed to DBA, it was generically named as "Databases". Now that we have the private beta up and running - what questions are allowed in here ?
The site name indicates that the ...
- 1,534
26
votes
4
answers
806
views
How do I provide an execution plan to someone for analysis?
I have been asked in another dba.stackexchange.com question to provide an actual execution plan. What is the best way to acquire this in order provide all the information required for analysis?
...
- 121
25
votes
2
answers
264
views
Do we accept database comparison questions or are they offtopic?
This is not the same as: Should we allow, even encourage, "feature comparison style" questions?
Do we want to support questions such as:
MySQL vs MariaDB
Postgres vs MySQL
Oracle vs MSSQL
...
jcolebrandMod
- 6,356
25
votes
2
answers
256
views
Chat and the SE toolbar
I quite often spend plenty of time in chat without ever navigating back to DBA.se.
Is there any way of making the Stack Exchange toolbar (as it appears on DBA.se) appear at the top of the chat page ...
- 31.9k
25
votes
1
answer
824
views
Ongoing Moderation Strike
Since Monday, June 5th, 2023, moderators and content curators (that's you, dear reader) from across the Stack Exchange Network, including the moderation team on this site, have decided to protest ...
- 70.3k
24
votes
3
answers
181
views
2020 Community Moderator Election Results
Database Administrators's fifth moderator election has come to a close, the votes have been tallied and the new moderator is:
They'll be joining the existing crew shortly—please thank them for ...
- 101
24
votes
1
answer
142
views
Move tags to below title instead of at end of question
Ever had this feeling that you're missing some information when you're reading through a question?
Well I do too. You start reading this really long question only to find out that some specific ...
- 18.1k
23
votes
3
answers
233
views
Burninate the [dba] and [database-administration] tags?
The database-administration and dba tags are used on 1039 and 148 questions respectively.
They seem useless to me (on a site called Database Administrators) but I am curious as to how others feel.
...
Paul WhiteMod
- 88.3k
23
votes
1
answer
262
views
Why is dba.stackexchange so...welcoming?
Perhaps this is but my first impression of DBA, but it's surely a pleasant one.
I recently asked a fairly basic question about Postgres's indexing abilities. I was greeted with AMAZINGLY cordial and ...
- 203
22
votes
3
answers
793
views
Why are users correcting my British English answers to the American spelling?
Why are users accepting revisions to old answers, where the revision is simply converting my British spelling to the American spelling?
Is there a rule where the spelling of answers has to be in "...
- 15k
22
votes
4
answers
312
views
Is the [sql] tag useful for DBA.SE?
Both DBA.SE and Stack Overflow suffer from a similar problem, when users post sql related questions there is a tendency to solely tag the question with sql but exclude the RDBMS.
This is great if ...
- 9,706
22
votes
4
answers
585
views
Policy Change : Disallow unregistered users from asking/answering questions?
I'm just wondering why unregistered users are allowed to ask questions?
And then I keep on wondering and think: Why are unregistered users allowed to answer questions?
IMHO it might be more adequate ...
- 18.1k
22
votes
2
answers
221
views
Where to draw the DBA/DB developer line?
I'm a developer with DBA experience.
Sometimes I have questions about indexing, sometimes SQL and sometimes how a C# applications interacts with the database.
Where is the line drawn between what ...
- 141
22
votes
0
answers
220
views
2013 Moderator Election Results
Database Administrators' third moderator election has come to a close, the votes have been tallied, and the new moderator is:
He'll be joining the existing crew shortly — please thank him for ...
- 101
20
votes
22
answers
779
views
DBA.SE Xmas caption competition - 'tis the season to be jolly
DBA.SE Christmas caption competition
In the spirit of the festive season, hats and all such matters, we proudly present the DBA.SE caption competition.
The rules are simple: Answer this meta ...
20
votes
3
answers
476
views
Should we change the formatting of backtick markdown elements?
At the moment, backtick markdown elements are rendered with a grey background. This can get a little jarring when used frequently, for example:
I have a table Widgets with columns, WidgetID, Name, ...
Paul WhiteMod
- 88.3k
20
votes
2
answers
248
views
Are two answers by a single person on one question A Good Thing™?
I know there is an "official" StackExchange meta-post already concerning this question, however I think it would be suitable to have our own post that reflects our position.
This really excellent ...
- 70.3k
20
votes
2
answers
435
views
My reviewing of questions is declared "blatantly bad"; why, and how can I improve?
I've started seeing this strongly worded message recently when clicking the Review link:
You have approved numerous edits or first posts that were blatantly bad and needed editing or should not ...
- 26.6k
19
votes
4
answers
477
views
Design for Database Administrators
I'm Jin, and I'll be working on the designs for the Stack Exchange sites as they graduate from the beta phase. Each site will have its own unique theme that will reflect its topic. However, all sites ...
- 101
18
votes
6
answers
437
views
Is MS Access on-topic?
I thought about asking a question regarding triggers in MS Access but wasn't sure if that belonged here or not.
- 4,903
18
votes
4
answers
539
views
Opinions about merging the Business Intelligence proposal into this site
Now officially included The scope of DBA.SE has been adjusted to include Business Intelligence and the B.I. proposal has now been closed. Thanks to all concerned.
Edit from JColeBrand - current ...
18
votes
1
answer
135
views
Can we have an Off-Topic > Belongs on StackOverflow option?
I'd like for our users to have the ability to vote to close as off-topic > belongs on Stack Overflow. Almost all of our migrations have gone there and, unfortunately, the current process is confusing. ...
Aaron BertrandStaff
- 181k
18
votes
2
answers
162
views
What about business intelligence?
I was wondering if business intelligence has a place on this website. In business intelligence, we can see three or four domains that relate to database expertise:
ETL
Data warehousing
Data modeling
...
- 2,248
18
votes
1
answer
1k
views
Minimal, Complete, and Verifiable Example
How can I best ask my question so people will be able to understand it and reproduce the problem if necessary?
- 70.3k
18
votes
0
answers
141
views
Remove tag [tag:access] and blacklist it
The tag access has no description and I've seen it used in at least three different contexts:
Microsoft Access, but there's already a tag ms-access for this.
privileges a user has on an object, but ...
- 9,354
17
votes
3
answers
379
views
I don't think the votes on my answer are merited
I assisted somebody with a problem in a chat session that went a lot further than just the question and I don't think my answer to the original question is all that great.
The OP went on and asked ...
- 15.7k
17
votes
2
answers
245
views
If an answer has more upvotes than my chosen answer should I change my chosen answer for the sake of readers in the future?
I have a question HERE which has more up-votes for an answer I have not chosen than the answer I have.
What I want to know is if an answer has more up-votes than my chosen answer should I change my ...
- 447
17
votes
2
answers
488
views
Do We Want Hats™?
In 2011, the Gaming Stack Exchange hosted an event called Hat Dash, where users earned "hats" for their gravatars by completing certain tasks (analogous to badges):
Certain actions would ...
- 18k
17
votes
4
answers
212
views
Should we tag with all terms in a tree?
I've noticed a couple of questions that have all of the tags:
oracle
oracle-11g
oracle-11g-r2
Ideally, the tagging would support hierarchies, and know that 'oracle' is a broader term of 'oracle-11g-...
- 5,159
17
votes
2
answers
185
views
Which site is best for code reviews of queries?
Imagine a junior database developer / DBA that may not have an avenue to get their SQL code reviewed for best practices and such as they are learning the ropes. There is of course the Code Review ...
- 1,320