To get the most out of this book

1. In order to run all of the demo code in this book, you will need SQL Server 2017 Developer or Enterprise Edition. In addition, you will extensively use SQL Server Management Studio.
2. You will also need the RStudio IDE and/or SQL Server Data Tools with R Tools for Visual Studio plug-in

Download the example code files

You can download the example code files for this book from your account at www.packtpub.com. If you purchased this book elsewhere, you can visit www.packtpub.com/support and register to have the files emailed directly to you.

You can download the code files by following these steps:

1. Log in or register at www.packtpub.com.
2. Select the SUPPORT tab.
3. Click on Code Downloads & Errata.
4. Enter the name of the book in the Search box and follow the onscreen instructions.

Once the file is downloaded, please make sure that you unzip or extract the folder using the latest version of:

• WinRAR/7-Zip for Windows
• Zipeg/iZip/UnRarX for Mac
• 7-Zip/PeaZip for Linux

The code bundle for the book is also hosted on GitHub at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/SQL-Server2017-Developer-s-Guide. In case there's an update to the code, it will be updated on the existing GitHub repository.

We also have other code bundles from our rich catalog of books and videos available at https://github.com/PacktPublishing/. Check them out!

Download the color images

We also provide a PDF file that has color images of the screenshots/diagrams used in this book. You can download it here: https://www.packtpub.com/sites/default/files/downloads/SQLServer2017DevelopersGuide_ColorImages.pdf.

Conventions used

There are a number of text conventions used throughout this book.

CodeInText: Indicates code words in text, database table names, folder names, filenames, file extensions, pathnames, dummy URLs, user input, and Twitter handles. Here is an example: "The simplest query to retrieve the data that you can write includes the SELECT and the FROM clauses. In the SELECT clause, you can use the star character (*), literally SELECT *, to denote that you need all columns from a table in the result set."

A block of code is set as follows:

USE WideWorldImportersDW; 
SELECT * 
FROM Dimension.Customer;

When we wish to draw your attention to a particular part of a code block, the relevant lines or items are set in bold:

USE WideWorldImporters; 
CREATE TABLE dbo.Product 
( 
   ProductId INT NOT NULL CONSTRAINT PK_Product PRIMARY KEY, 
   ProductName NVARCHAR(50) NOT NULL, 
   Price MONEY NOT NULL, 
   ValidFrom DATETIME2 GENERATED ALWAYS AS ROW START NOT NULL, 
   ValidTo DATETIME2 GENERATED ALWAYS AS ROW END NOT NULL, 
   PERIOD FOR SYSTEM_TIME (ValidFrom, ValidTo) 
) 
WITH (SYSTEM_VERSIONING = ON); 

Any command-line input or output is written as follows:

 Customer                       SaleKey  Quantity
 ------------------------------ -------- -----------
 Tailspin Toys (Aceitunas, PR)  36964    288
 Tailspin Toys (Aceitunas, PR)  126253   250
 Tailspin Toys (Aceitunas, PR)  79272    250

Bold: Indicates a new term, an important word, or words that you see onscreen. For example, words in menus or dialog boxes appear in the text like this. Here is an example: "Go to Tools | Options and you are then able to type your search string in the textbox in the top-left of the Options window."

Warnings or important notes appear like this.

Tips and tricks appear like this.