I keep running into this annoying problem where SQL Server throws errors about too many tables in my queries. Has anyone else dealt with these messages before?
The errors look different depending on the version but they all say the same thing about hitting the 256 table limit. In older versions it says something about ancillary table allocation failing. Newer versions are more direct about the table count restriction.
My situation involves massive reports with hundreds of columns that need to get populated in one SELECT statement. The original design made sense when the reports were smaller but now they have grown way beyond what anyone expected.
I have tried everything I can think of to optimize these queries. Spent tons of time removing unnecessary joins and columns. The problem is not really with query performance or bad design choices. It is just that the business requirements genuinely need data from this many sources.
What approaches have worked for you when facing this limitation? Did you have to restructure the database schema or break apart the queries somehow?