T-SQL Tuesday #46 Rube Goldberg Machine

Consider Yourself Officially Invited

It’s time to start digging through the skeletons in your career closet for the September 10th edition of T-SQL Tuesday, because it’s only a week away now. In case you are a newcomer, T-SQL Tuesday was started by Adam Machanic (@AdamMachanic | blog) back in 2009. It’s a monthly blog party with a rotating host, who is responsible for providing a new topic each month. If you are a history buff, Steve Jones (@way0utwest | blog ) has done a great job keeping tabs on all of the action.

Building a Better Mouse Trap (Rube Goldberg Machine)

My first exposure to Rube Goldberg Machines was playing the game Mouse Trap as a child. I work almost exclusively on the SQL development side of the house, where we sometimes build crazy creative solutions to solve business problems. We generally know the ‘right’ way to do things, but pesky issue like budgets, personnel, and deadlines get in the way. So, we channel our inner MacGyver, grab a handful paper clips and some duct tape, and then do things with SQL Server that we know shouldn’t be done (in an ideal world). And we hope nobody ever finds out how we bent the rules, because we know they will judge us (as we would judge them) and call our work a <gasp>HACK</gasp>.

So, if you would please, dust off one of those skeletons and tell us how you got really creative with SQL Server, instead of doing it ‘the right way’. In other words, tell us about your ugly SQL baby. If you’re worried about saving face, feel free to describe how you would have implemented the solution if you lived in that ideal world.

Rules

• Your post must be published between 00:00 GMT Tuesday September 10th, 2013, and 00:00 GMT Wednesday September 11th, 2013.
• Your post must contain the T-SQL Tuesday logo from above and the image should link back to this blog post.
• Trackbacks should work, but if you don’t see one please link to your post in the comments section below so everyone can see your work.

For Extra Credit

• Include a reference to T-SQL Tuesday in the title of your post.
• Tweet about your post using the hash tag #TSQL2sDay.
• Volunteer to host a future T-SQL Tuesday. Adam Machanic keeps the list.