semi/signal

Something pretty cool in MSSQL Server Management Studio: for columns with the geography data type, Management Studio will plot the points on a map. Here’s a map of all locations tagged from all dotspott users.

If you want a specify a blank string in the Column Properties table (instead of writing a query) for something like the Default Value or Binding property, enter (”)

Just having ” will not work as that will actually insert 2 apostrophes.

h/t to Dhowe from this thread on bigresource.com

The issue occurs when saving changes that would require dropping and recreating a table (e.g. messing around with columns). I would think a warning would be sufficient instead of a restriction that requires digging through the app options window (which is not even hinted at in the popup). I also can’t imagine how effective this would be; unless you design your schema perfectly the first time around you’d always encounter this issue and need to disable this “feature” as you made changes.

The fix is to go to Tools » Options » Designers and uncheck “Prevent saving changes that require table re-creation”

h/t to Deems’ Weblog for the solution.