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November 02, 2005
SELECT * FROM work
I've spent the last few weeks hashing out some advanced (for me) T-SQL code. And actually, only T-SQL code. Which is odd for an Application Developer. Usually T-SQL code is written to read from or write to a database, which my apps, coded in another language (.NET-based usually) and targeted at another platform (Windows XP, Web, etc) will then call when they want to grab or put something in the database.
But this code is not such glue code, but instead a set of applications that live entirely in the database. Permit me an explanation.
My boss wrote a T-SQL email engine a couple of years ago that lets me construct and send an email entirely from T-SQL queries. I can also use plain-text or HTML or XML templates for the emails, and put the results of the T-SQL queries into them. The emails are constructed and sent using a pair of stored procedures, one for setting up the parameters of the email and the other for creating an email that uses those parameters. The email engine (a simple SQL Job) runs every five minutes, popping stuff off the incoming queue and sending it out.
The users get these emails courtesy of T-SQL, the humble behind-the-scenes workhorse of a language that just gets things done. Obviously they present a static view of the data, but I think it's interesting to deliver information, targeted and personalized to the highest possible degree using SQL cursors, directly to the user's inbox, which for most users is the single most watched and important node in their entire computer system. This is an interesting class of applications, ones who drop the usual Windows-based UI for one that is email-based and SQL-driven.
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Posted by Noel at 05:05 PM
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