CHAR and NULL

CHAR fields always take up the space assigned to them. Now you may think that it wouldn't be the case if it was NULL because that is determined by a bitmask in the row data (this bit is always present in SQL Server 2000 even if your column is not nullable).

This was true in SQL Server 6.5 but not in SQL Server 2000. So if you really need a nullable CHAR field it may be better to define the field as VARCHAR.

Report Packs

If you are working with Reporting Services please don't forget to check here once in a while.
Microsoft provides some nice Report Packs from time to time.

Have fun

New computer - installed

Installed and man does it fly!
I am very pleased with the results although I had some trouble with XP64 and I had to install XP32 again :-(