SPFun

Or what I learned about Service Packs.

A SQL Maintenance Plan job had been running fine on my SQL 2005 RTM machine for months: until I joined the company, and made the mistake of having a look at it and doing some tidying. Next thing I know?

"Unable to start execution of step 1 (reason: line(1): Syntax error). The step failed.".

"But, but, but, but!" I cried "I've just stopped it faffing about with Adventureworks, and removed that database from the server. I haven't touched the syntax directly, I dealt with this in SQL Management Studio. The syntax, surely, should be fine?"

I shrugged, recreated the job... and the same thing happened the next time it ran.

Hmmm.

It would seem that this particular error happens when SP2 is not yet installed on one's SQL box, and one edits a job via a newer version of SSMS. If one plays about with the job on the box, the problem is solved. Or, if one does the sensible thing, and installs the service packs.

I foresee some out of hours work for us here.