[snap] Unicode values in varbinary(max) columns

When storing Unicode data in varbinary columns the binary stream must begin with the appropriate marker (0xFFFE), otherwise the iFilter will not be able to properly parse the content when building a full-text index. I've learned this the hard way. Well, it didn't actually hurt, but it took a day or two to get cleared up. The interesting bit is the fact that when Unicode data is cast to XML prior to storing it in a varbinary(max) column, the stream is properly marked automatically. This made me think the whole thing was a bug, now it proves to be "by design". One new lesson learned: Need to construct unicode file properly.

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SP1 CTP

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1 Community Technology Preview has been announced yesterday and is now publicly available for download. Of course there's also SQL Server 2005 Books Online SP1 CTP, but more importantly SQL Server Express with Advanced Services CTP! SQL Server Express with Advanced Services CTP includes:

• SQL Server Management Studio Express (SSMSE);
• support for full-text catalogs;
• support for viewing reports via report server; and
• SP1.

The SQL Server Express Edition Toolkit is also available, and includes management tools and resources, and even allows creating reports by using SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services. Sounds very promissing. It may, however, take a while to download... ;) ML p.s. Quoted from the publisher: "These packages have been made available for general testing purposes only. Do not deploy the CTP software in production."