>>I have been spending a lot of time in stored procedures lately. More than once in a while its limitations make me chafe. It reminds me -- and this is not a warm memory -- of COBOL. I hope major improvements to both T-SQL and the SSMS IDE are somewhere in the pipeline.
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>>Which version of SQL Server were you using, and what limitations were you encountering?
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>I have used SQL Server 2000, 2005, and 2008. Currently 2008. The T-SQL language has seemed like tinker toys in all of them compared to real computer languages. Likewise the lame IDE.
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>You don't have to blindly defend SS just because you are an expert in it. Which I agree you are. Maybe this is an example of that establishment thing we were discussing <g>.

Which is why I am glad that I use PL/SQL. Too bad MS doesn't copy it for SQL Server like they have just about everything else that they sell.