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Feature Proposal: Ability to Exclude a column/subset of Columns in Select.
Summary I would like to propose a new T-SQL feature that allows developers to select all columns from a table while explicitly excluding a small subset of columns. Currently, when a table contains many columns and only one or two need to be omitted, developers are forced to mention every remaining column manually in the "Select" SQL. This leads to verbose queries, reduced maintainability, and a higher chance of mistakes when the schema evolves. Motivation Consider a table with 20 or more columns. Current approach, SELECT EmployeeId, FirstName, LastName, Department, Designation, Email, PhoneNumber, DateOfBirth, Address, City, State, Country, PostalCode, ManagerId, JoiningDate, LastModifiedDate, Status, IsActive, CreatedDate FROM Employees; If the intention is simply to exclude a single sensitive column such as Salary, the query becomes unnecessarily long. A more concise alternative could be: SELECT * FROM Employees EXCLUDE (Salary); The engine would expand * internally and remove the specified columns before execution. Benefits 1. Reduces boilerplate code. 2. Improves readability for wide tables. 3. Makes queries easier to maintain as schemas evolve. 4. Reduces the likelihood of accidentally omitting newly added columns. 5. Makes it simpler to exclude sensitive or internal-use columns from result sets. Expected Behavior Single column exclusion SELECT * FROM Employees EXCLUDE (Salary); Returns all columns except Salary. Multiple column exclusion SELECT * FROM Employees EXCLUDE (Salary, PasswordHash); Returns all columns except Salary and PasswordHash. Suggested Validation Rules 1. Every excluded column must exist in the projected result set. If an excluded column does not exist, compilation should fail with an appropriate error. 2. Duplicate column names in the exclusion list should either: be ignored, or produce a validation error. 3. If the exclusion list removes every projected column, the statement should fail. Example: SELECT * FROM Employees EXCLUDE (Employee, Name, Salary); If these are the only columns in the table, an error could be raised such as: The EXCLUDE clause cannot eliminate all columns from the SELECT list. Returning a zero-column result set would likely be confusing and less useful. Additional Considerations This syntax could also be valuable when selecting from joins, views, or derived tables, where developers frequently want "everything except a few fields." Closing Thoughts I believe this would be a practical quality-of-life enhancement for T-SQL that addresses a common developer pain point while remaining simple to understand and implement. It would reduce repetitive code and improve maintainability without affecting existing queries.
SSRS reports not working
Hi Microsoft team, We are looking for tech support on an issue with SSRS reports that are used in one of our applications. The details of the issue are as foll: When Trying to access an SSRS ReportServer instance (either through the SOAP Service, or directly from the browser) does not work. There are Errors observed in the log files as well as the user interface . The error message is An error occurred within the report server database. This may be due to a connection failure, timeout or low disk condition within the database. The user interface fails to load Report as a result Attached are the SSRS log files from the last month from one of the servers. The last time reports were successfully accessed was on Friday, June 15th. Starting this Monday all functionality stopped working. This environment has 4 SSRS servers under an High Availability AGL. RSManagement log files indicate that the ReportServer schemas may be in an inconsistent state |FATAL|8|Database upgrade failed!! The database may now be in an inconsistent state. Further research indicates that this may be corrected by the following procedure… Stop SSRS services Backup and delete ReportServer and ReportServerTempDB databases Start the SSRS services Use the wizard to create a new ReportServer set of databases Stop the SSRS services Delete the new (empty ReportServer) database Restore the backup of the ReportServer (from step 2 - do not restore the temp database) Fix schema of ReportServer.dbo.Catalog.PropertyField and ReportServer.dbo.Segment.Content (change columns from ntext to nvarchar(max)) Start the SSRS services (Monitor the RSManagement log file) Verify Backout if fail: (Stop Services, Restore the databases, Restart Services) This may also include refreshing of encryption keys and removing servers from the AGL prior to this procedure Can you please help identify what could be a possible root cause for this issue, confirm if the steps listed below present a plausible solution, and advise on any additional triaging steps or corrective procedures? Thanks in Advance
SQL Server 2022 Database Engine Crash During Startup on Intel Core Ultra 5 / Windows 11 25H2
SQL Server Database Engine crashes during startup on HP OmniBook X Flip 14-fm0xxx (Intel Core Ultra 5 226V, Windows 11 25H2 Build 26200.8655). Reproduced on SQL Server 2019 RTM, SQL Server 2022 RTM, and SQL Server 2022 CU25 (16.0.4255.1). Installation completes successfully, but MSSQLSERVER fails to start with Error 1067 and "Wait on the Database Engine recovery handle failed." Event Viewer shows sqlservr.exe crashing in ntdll.dll (0xc0000005). Crash occurs after master database and CLR initialization.SQL Server FCI CSV storage flips multiple times into Online (No Access) state and eventually fails
Dear Team, I'm encountering an issue with our SQL Server multi‑instance failover cluster after applying the OS security patches and restarting the second node. Once the second node comes back online, the Cluster Shared Volume (CSV) briefly flips multiple times into Online (No Access) state and eventually fails.(we can make it online manually, but again flips and failed after sometime). To make the SQL cluster available, we either need to shut down the VM or revert the patch. Before the patching, all cluster roles and SQL instances were moved off the node, and the cluster appeared healthy. The issue only occurs after the reboot of the second node. (first node patched and restarted and everything working fine) OS : Windows Server 2025 Standard Patch tried: KB5075899 (February,2026 ) KB5078740 (March,2026) KB5082063 (April 2026 ) KB5087539 (May 2026) Could you please advise if there are any specific checks or steps we should follow during OS patching to prevent CSV access loss? Is it an issue with the patch or something else? Any insights or recommended actions would be really helpful to perform the security OS patch in the server Thanks you!
Windows server 2025 SQL patching cluster problem.
Dear Team, I have a problem when I am patching upgrade windows server 2025 with KB5091157. After patching is the clustering is not able to join back; it shows the error with credentials. The log error is "Cannot connect sqlxxxxxxx." you do not have administrative privileges on the cluster. Contact your network administrator to request access. Note: The server is not in a different VLAN network.
SQL Server 2025 Log Shipping Fails with Missing Assembly (sqllogship.exe) on Split-Drive Install
Hello, I am testing SQL Server 2025 in a lab environment and have encountered an issue with log shipping that appears to be related to assembly resolution. Environment: SQL Server 2025 (fresh install, both unattended and manual tested) Windows Server 2022 and Windows Server 2025 (issue occurs on both) SQL binaries installed on E:\ Default system drive is C:\ Issue: When log shipping runs (via SQL Agent job or manually invoking sqllogship.exe), it fails with the following error: Unhandled Exception: System.IO.FileNotFoundException: Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.SqlServer.ConnectionInfo, Version=17.100.0.0... Observed Behavior: sqllogship.exe is located at:E:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\170\Tools\Binn\ The required assemblies (e.g., Microsoft.SqlServer.ConnectionInfo.dll) are installed at:C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\170\Shared\MDS5xSMO\ The sqllogship.exe.config file in SQL Server 2025 includes explicit codeBase entries using relative paths:..\..\Shared\MDS5xSMO\Microsoft.SqlServer.ConnectionInfo.dll Because of this, the application attempts to resolve assemblies at:E:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\170\Shared\MDS5xSMO\which does not exist by default. Workaround: Manually copying the shared SMO directory from C: to E: resolves the issue: C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\170\Shared\MDS5xSMO → E:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\170\Shared\MDS5xSMO After doing this, log shipping works as expected. Comparison with SQL Server 2022: SQL Server 2022 sqllogship.exe.config is empty It does not rely on explicit codeBase paths Log shipping works without requiring any manual file copies Question: Is this expected behavior in SQL Server 2025, or a potential issue with how sqllogship.exe resolves shared assemblies when SQL is installed on a non-system drive? Specifically: Should Shared\MDS5xSMO also be installed on the same drive as the SQL binaries? Or should sqllogship.exe.config be updated to use absolute paths instead of relative ones? Would appreciate any confirmation or guidance from others who may have encountered this. Thanks!Documentation contradictory
Hi, ALL, Page https://learn.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/t-sql/statements/create-database-transact-sql?view=sql-server-ver17&tabs=sqlpool states [quote] SIZE, MAXSIZE, and FILEGROWTH parameters can be set when a UNC path is specified for the file. [/quote] However later on that same page it states [quote] SIZE can't be specified when the os_file_name is specified as a UNC path. [/quote] I think those 2 sentences contradicts each other.....Failure to run SSMS
Hi, ALL, For sometime I had both MSVC 2010 and 2017 installed on my laptop. Recently I needed space and decided to remove the old version. Unfortunately I thin I killed one of the SSMS libraries, because while it successfully starts, trying to go to the "New Query" window, Im getting the error "Library not registered". The server itself operates just fine as I can connect to it. Is there anyway to make it work again? Than you.Extended Event with app_name doesn't work properly
Hello, When I create an extended event to capture all the SELECT on the instance, it works : CREATE EVENT SESSION [YourSession] ON SERVER ADD EVENT sqlserver.sql_statement_completed( ACTION(sqlserver.client_hostname,sqlserver.database_name,sqlserver.nt_username,sqlserver.session_id,sqlserver.session_nt_username,sqlserver.sql_text,sqlserver.username) WHERE ([sqlserver].[like_i_sql_unicode_string]([sqlserver].[sql_text],N'%SELECT%'))) ADD TARGET package0.event_file(SET filename=N'S:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL16.FORMATIONMSSQL\MSSQL\Backup\YourSession_Target.xel',max_file_size=(2),max_rollover_files=(2)) WITH (MAX_MEMORY=2048 KB,EVENT_RETENTION_MODE=ALLOW_MULTIPLE_EVENT_LOSS,MAX_DISPATCH_LATENCY=3 SECONDS,MAX_EVENT_SIZE=0 KB,MEMORY_PARTITION_MODE=NONE,TRACK_CAUSALITY=OFF,STARTUP_STATE=OFF) GO I can see all the SELECT that I execute on SSMS, but, when I use the app_name ACTION, it doesn't work anymore : CREATE EVENT SESSION [YourSession] ON SERVER ADD EVENT sqlserver.sql_statement_completed( ACTION(SQLSatellite.AppName,sqlserver.client_hostname,sqlserver.database_name,sqlserver.nt_username,sqlserver.session_id,sqlserver.session_nt_username,sqlserver.sql_text,sqlserver.username) WHERE ([sqlserver].[like_i_sql_unicode_string]([sqlserver].[sql_text],N'%SELECT%'))) ADD TARGET package0.event_file(SET filename=N'S:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL16.FORMATIONMSSQL\MSSQL\Backup\YourSession_Target.xel',max_file_size=(2),max_rollover_files=(2)) WITH (MAX_MEMORY=2048 KB,EVENT_RETENTION_MODE=ALLOW_MULTIPLE_EVENT_LOSS,MAX_DISPATCH_LATENCY=3 SECONDS,MAX_EVENT_SIZE=0 KB,MEMORY_PARTITION_MODE=NONE,TRACK_CAUSALITY=OFF,STARTUP_STATE=OFF) GO Do you have any clue about why the extended event doesn't capture the SELECT when the action AppName is selected ? It is a bug ? It is because like I select the AppName field, if my session doesn't have any "app name" it doesn't capture it ? Regards, Alktor