Merge pull request #34815 from WilliamDAssafMSFT/20250728-string-concat-unistr-ga

AnnaMHuff · web-flow · commit cbdab70d468a · 2025-07-29T10:26:59.000-06:00
20250728 unistr and string concat GA
diff --git a/azure-sql/database/doc-changes-updates-release-notes-whats-new.md b/azure-sql/database/doc-changes-updates-release-notes-whats-new.md
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ description: Learn about the new features and documentation improvements for Azu
 author: WilliamDAssafMSFT
 ms.author: wiassaf
 ms.reviewer: mathoma, randolphwest
-ms.date: 07/09/2025
+ms.date: 07/28/2025
 ms.service: azure-sql-database
 ms.subservice: service-overview
 ms.topic: whats-new
@@ -55,16 +55,16 @@ The following table lists the features of Azure SQL Database that are currently
 | **Network Security Perimeter** | [Azure Network Security Perimeter](network-security-perimeter.md) allows organizations to define a logical network isolation boundary for PaaS resources (for example, Azure Storage and SQL Database) that are deployed outside your organization's virtual networks. It restricts public network access to PaaS resources outside of the perimeter, and access can be exempted by using explicit access rules for public inbound and outbound. |
 | **Query editor in the Azure portal** | The [query editor in the Azure portal](query-editor.md) allows you to run queries against your Azure SQL Database directly from a web browser. |
 | **Regular expression functions** | Regular expression (REGEX) functions return text based on values in a search pattern. [Regular expressions](/sql/relational-databases/regular-expressions/overview). |
-| **UNISTR (Transact-SQL)** | Azure SQL Database now supports the `UNISTR` T-SQL syntax for Unicode string literals. For more information, see [UNISTR (Transact-SQL)](/sql/t-sql/functions/unistr-transact-sql).|
 | **Vector data type and functions** | Working with vector data is now easier in Azure SQL Database with the introduction of a new [vector data type](/sql/t-sql/data-types/vector-data-type?view=azuresqldb-current&preserve-view=true) and [vector functions](/sql/t-sql/functions/vector-functions-transact-sql?view=azuresqldb-current&preserve-view=true). For more information, see [Intelligent applications with Azure SQL Database](ai-artificial-intelligence-intelligent-applications.md#vectors).|
-| **\|\| (String concatenation) and \|\|= (Compound assignment) syntax support** | Azure SQL Database now supports [\|\| (String concatenation)](/sql/t-sql/language-elements/string-concatenation-pipes-transact-sql?view=azuresqldb-current&preserve-view=true) and [\|\|= (Compound assignment)](/sql/t-sql/language-elements/compound-assignment-pipes-transact-sql?view=azuresqldb-current&preserve-view=true) Transact-SQL syntax.|
 
 ## General availability (GA)
 
 The following table lists features of Azure SQL Database that have been made generally available (GA) within the last 12 months:
 
 | Feature | GA Month | Details |
 | --- | --- | --- |
+| **UNISTR (Transact-SQL)** | July 2025 | Azure SQL Database now supports the `UNISTR` T-SQL syntax for Unicode string literals. For more information, see [UNISTR (Transact-SQL)](/sql/t-sql/functions/unistr-transact-sql).|
+| **\|\| (String concatenation) and \|\|= (Compound assignment) syntax support** | July 2025 | Azure SQL Database now supports [\|\| (String concatenation)](/sql/t-sql/language-elements/string-concatenation-pipes-transact-sql?view=azuresqldb-current&preserve-view=true) and [\|\|= (Compound assignment)](/sql/t-sql/language-elements/compound-assignment-pipes-transact-sql?view=azuresqldb-current&preserve-view=true) Transact-SQL syntax.|
 | **Degrees of Parallelism (DOP) feedback** | July 2025 | [DOP Feedback](/sql/relational-databases/performance/intelligent-query-processing-degree-parallelism-feedback?view=azuresqldb-current&preserve-view=true) is now generally available for Azure SQL Database. For more information, see [Smarter Parallelism: Degree of parallelism feedback in SQL Server 2025](https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/sqlserver/smarter-parallelism-degree-of-parallelism-feedback-in-sql-server-2025/4431318). |
 | **Audit re-architecture** | July 2025 | Increased availability and reliability of server audits through a re-architecture of auditing in Azure SQL Database that is closely aligned with SQL Server and Azure SQL Managed Instance. For more information, see [Auditing](auditing-overview.md#enhancements-to-performance-availability-and-reliability-in-server-auditing-for-azure-sql-database-july-2025-ga).|
 | **Hyperscale increased log generation rate** | May 2025 | The transaction log generation rate in Azure SQL Database Hyperscale single databases has been increased from 100 MiB/s to 150 MiB/s for premium-series and premium-series memory optimized hardware. For more information, read [Blog: Enhancements to Azure SQL Database Hyperscale](https://aka.ms/HSenhancements).|
@@ -102,6 +102,8 @@ Learn about significant changes to the Azure SQL Database documentation. For pre
 
 | Changes | Details |
 | --- | --- |
+| **UNISTR** | Azure SQL Database now supports the `UNISTR`. This syntax is now generally available. For more information, see [UNISTR (Transact-SQL)](/sql/t-sql/functions/unistr-transact-sql). |
+| **\| \| and \| \| = string concatenation support** | Azure SQL Database now supports \| \| and \| \| = compound assignment T-SQL syntax. This syntax is now generally available. For more information, see [&#124;&#124; (String concatenation)](/sql/t-sql/language-elements/string-concatenation-pipes-transact-sql) and [&#124;&#124;= (Compound assignment)](/sql/t-sql/language-elements/compound-assignment-pipes-transact-sql). |
 | **Degrees of Parallelism (DOP) feedback** | [DOP Feedback](/sql/relational-databases/performance/intelligent-query-processing-degree-parallelism-feedback?view=azuresqldb-current&preserve-view=true) is now generally available for Azure SQL Database. For more information, see [Smarter Parallelism: Degree of parallelism feedback in SQL Server 2025](https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/sqlserver/smarter-parallelism-degree-of-parallelism-feedback-in-sql-server-2025/4431318). |
 | **Convert to Hyperscale with geo-replicas (preview)** |The ability to [convert a geo-replicated database non-Hyperscale database to Hyperscale](convert-to-hyperscale.md) using T-SQL, REST API, PowerShell, or Azure CLI is currently a preview feature. For more information, see [Blog: Hyperscale conversion support for geo-replicas](https://aka.ms/hs-conversion-geodr-preview). |
 | **Audit re-architecture GA** | Enhancements to performance, availability, and reliability in server auditing for Azure SQL Database. For more information, see [Auditing](auditing-overview.md#enhancements-to-performance-availability-and-reliability-in-server-auditing-for-azure-sql-database-july-2025-ga). |
diff --git a/azure-sql/managed-instance/doc-changes-updates-release-notes-whats-new.md b/azure-sql/managed-instance/doc-changes-updates-release-notes-whats-new.md
@@ -5,7 +5,7 @@ description: Learn about the new features and documentation improvements for Azu
 author: MashaMSFT
 ms.author: mathoma
 ms.reviewer: wiassaf, mathoma
-ms.date: 07/16/2025
+ms.date: 07/28/2025
 ms.service: azure-sql-managed-instance
 ms.subservice: service-overview
 ms.topic: whats-new
@@ -48,9 +48,7 @@ The following table lists the features of Azure SQL Managed Instance that are cu
 |[SDK-style SQL project](/sql/azure-data-studio/extensions/sql-database-project-extension-sdk-style-projects) | Use [Microsoft.Build.Sql](https://www.nuget.org/packages/Microsoft.Build.Sql) for SDK-style SQL projects in the SQL Database Projects extension in Azure Data Studio or Visual Studio Code. SDK-style SQL projects are especially advantageous for applications shipped through pipelines or built in cross-platform environments.|
 |[Service Broker](/sql/database-engine/configure-windows/sql-server-service-broker) | Support for cross-instance message exchange using Service Broker between instances of Azure SQL Managed Instance, and between SQL Server and Azure SQL Managed Instance. |
 |[Threat detection](threat-detection-configure.md) | Threat detection notifies you of security threats detected to your database. |
-|[UNISTR (Transact-SQL)](/sql/t-sql/functions/unistr-transact-sql)| Azure SQL Managed Instance now supports the `UNISTR` T-SQL syntax for Unicode string literals.|
 |[Vector data type and functions](/sql/t-sql/data-types/vector-data-type?view=azuresqldb-current&preserve-view=true) | Working with vector data is now easier in Azure SQL Managed Instance with the [Always-up-to-date update policy](update-policy.md#always-up-to-date-update-policy) with the introduction of a new [vector data type](/sql/t-sql/data-types/vector-data-type?view=azuresqlmi-current&preserve-view=true) and [vector functions](/sql/t-sql/functions/vector-functions-transact-sql?view=azuresqlmi-current&preserve-view=true). For more information, see [Intelligent applications with Azure SQL Managed Instance](ai-artificial-intelligence-intelligent-applications.md#vectors). |
-|[\|\| (String concatenation)](/sql/t-sql/language-elements/string-concatenation-pipes-transact-sql?view=azuresqldb-current&preserve-view=true) and [\|\|= (Compound assignment)](/sql/t-sql/language-elements/compound-assignment-pipes-transact-sql?view=azuresqldb-current&preserve-view=true) syntax support | Azure SQL Managed Instance now supports [\|\| (String concatenation)](/sql/t-sql/language-elements/string-concatenation-pipes-transact-sql?view=azuresqldb-current&preserve-view=true) and [\|\|= (Compound assignment)](/sql/t-sql/language-elements/compound-assignment-pipes-transact-sql?view=azuresqldb-current&preserve-view=true) Transact-SQL syntax.|
 
 
 ## General availability (GA)
@@ -59,6 +57,8 @@ The following table lists features of Azure SQL Managed Instance that have been
 
 | Feature | GA Month | Details |
 | ---| --- |--- |
+|[UNISTR (Transact-SQL)](/sql/t-sql/functions/unistr-transact-sql) | July 2025 | Azure SQL Managed Instance now supports the `UNISTR` T-SQL syntax for Unicode string literals.|
+|[\|\| (String concatenation)](/sql/t-sql/language-elements/string-concatenation-pipes-transact-sql?view=azuresqldb-current&preserve-view=true) and [\|\|= (Compound assignment)](/sql/t-sql/language-elements/compound-assignment-pipes-transact-sql?view=azuresqldb-current&preserve-view=true) syntax support | July 2025 |Azure SQL Managed Instance now supports [\|\| (String concatenation)](/sql/t-sql/language-elements/string-concatenation-pipes-transact-sql?view=azuresqldb-current&preserve-view=true) and [\|\|= (Compound assignment)](/sql/t-sql/language-elements/compound-assignment-pipes-transact-sql?view=azuresqldb-current&preserve-view=true) Transact-SQL syntax.|
 | [Degrees of parallelism (DOP) feedback](/sql/relational-databases/performance/intelligent-query-processing-degree-parallelism-feedback?view=azuresqldb-mi-current&preserve-view=true) | July 2025|  DOP feedback improves query performance by identifying parallelism inefficiencies for repeating queries, based on elapsed time and waits. For more information, see the [Smarter Parallelism: Degree of parallelism feedback in SQL Server 2025](https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/sqlserver/smarter-parallelism-degree-of-parallelism-feedback-in-sql-server-2025/4431318) blog. |
 |[Zone redundancy for General Purpose](high-availability-sla-local-zone-redundancy.md#zone-redundant-availability) | June 2025|  Deploy your General Purpose SQL Managed Instance to multiple availability zones to improve the availability of your instance in the event of a disaster. | 
 |[Invoke an HTTPS REST endpoint SP](/sql/relational-databases/system-stored-procedures/sp-invoke-external-rest-endpoint-transact-sql) | June 2025 | Use the `sp_invoke_external_rest_endpoint` stored procedure to invoke an HTTPS REST endpoint provided as an input argument to the procedure. | 
@@ -84,6 +84,8 @@ Learn about significant changes to the Azure SQL Managed Instance documentation.
 
 | Changes | Details |
 | --- | --- |
+| **UNISTR (Transact-SQL)** | Azure SQL Managed Instance now supports the `UNISTR` T-SQL syntax for Unicode string literals. This capability is now generally available in an Azure SQL Managed Instance configured with the [Always-up-to-date](/azure/azure-sql/managed-instance/update-policy#always-up-to-date-update-policy) update policy. For more information, see [UNISTR (Transact-SQL)](/sql/t-sql/functions/unistr-transact-sql).|
+| **\|\| (String concatenation) and \|\|= (Compound assignment) syntax support** | Azure SQL Managed Instance now supports [\|\| (String concatenation)](/sql/t-sql/language-elements/string-concatenation-pipes-transact-sql) and [\|\|= (Compound assignment)](/sql/t-sql/language-elements/compound-assignment-pipes-transact-sql) Transact-SQL syntax. This capability is now generally available in an Azure SQL Managed Instance configured with the [Always-up-to-date](/azure/azure-sql/managed-instance/update-policy#always-up-to-date-update-policy) update policy.|
 | **Degrees of parallelism (DOP) feedback GA** |  DOP feedback improves query performance by identifying parallelism inefficiencies for repeating queries, based on elapsed time and waits. DOP feedback is now generally available for Azure SQL Managed Instance with the [Always-up-to-date update policy](update-policy.md#always-up-to-date-update-policy). To learn more, see [Degrees of parallelism (DOP) feedback](/sql/relational-databases/performance/intelligent-query-processing-degree-parallelism-feedback?view=azuresqldbmi-current&preserve-view=true). For additional information, see the [Smarter Parallelism: Degree of parallelism feedback in SQL Server 2025](https://techcommunity.microsoft.com/blog/sqlserver/smarter-parallelism-degree-of-parallelism-feedback-in-sql-server-2025/4431318) blog. |
 |**Migrate SQL Server instance to Azure preview** | Migrate your SQL Server instance enabled by Azure Arc to Azure SQL Managed Instance through the Azure portal. This feature is currently in preview. Review [Migrate SQL Server instance to Azure SQL Managed Instance](/sql/sql-server/azure-arc/migrate-to-azure-sql-managed-instance) to learn more. |
 
diff --git a/docs/includes/fabric-sqldb.md b/docs/includes/fabric-sqldb.md
@@ -1,8 +1,8 @@
 ---
 author: WilliamDAssafMSFT
 ms.author: wiassaf
-ms.date: 04/03/2024
+ms.date: 07/28/2025
 ms.service: sql
 ms.topic: include
 ---
-SQL database in [!INCLUDE [fabric](fabric.md)]
+SQL database in [!INCLUDE [fabric](fabric.md)] Preview
diff --git a/docs/t-sql/functions/unistr-transact-sql.md b/docs/t-sql/functions/unistr-transact-sql.md
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 ---
 title: "UNISTR (Transact-SQL)"
 description: The UNISTR function provides support for Unicode string literals and returns the Unicode output for the input expression.
-author: abhimantiwari
-ms.author: abhtiwar
-ms.reviewer: randolphwest, wiassaf, umajay
-ms.date: 05/19/2025
+author: WilliamDAssafMSFT
+ms.author: wiassaf
+ms.reviewer: abhtiwar, umajay, randolphwest
+ms.date: 07/28/2025
 ms.service: sql
 ms.subservice: t-sql
 ms.topic: reference
@@ -17,14 +17,12 @@ helpviewer_keywords:
   - "unistr [SQL Server], UNISTR function"
 dev_langs:
   - "TSQL"
-monikerRange: "=azuresqldb-current || =azuresqldb-mi-current || =fabric"
+monikerRange: "=sql-server-ver17 || =azuresqldb-current || =fabric || =azuresqldb-mi-current"
 ---
-# UNISTR (Transact-SQL) preview
+# UNISTR (Transact-SQL)
 
 [!INCLUDE [sqlserver2025-asdb-asmi-fabric](../../includes/applies-to-version/sqlserver2025-asdb-asmi-fabricsqldb.md)]
 
-[!INCLUDE [preview](../../includes/preview.md)]
-
 `UNISTR` provides support for Unicode string literals by letting you specify the Unicode encoding value of characters in the string. `UNISTR` returns the Unicode characters corresponding to the input expression, as defined by the Unicode standard.
 
 The escape sequence for a Unicode character can be specified in the form of `\xxxx` or `\+xxxxxx`, where `xxxx` is a valid UTF-16 codepoint value, and `xxxxxx` is a valid Unicode codepoint value. You can look up Unicode codepoint values in the [Unicode Code Charts](https://www.unicode.org/charts).
@@ -52,6 +50,8 @@ Key benefits of `UNISTR` include:
 
 - **Custom escape characters**: You can define a custom escape character to perform the necessary conversion of Unicode values into a string character set.
 
+The `||` pipes operator is available in Azure SQL Managed Instance configured with the [Always-up-to-date](/azure/azure-sql/managed-instance/update-policy#always-up-to-date-update-policy) update policy. 
+
 ### Code page support
 
 The `UNISTR` function isn't compatible with legacy code pages, meaning it doesn't support collations that use non-Unicode character sets. These collations with legacy code pages can be identified using the following query.
diff --git a/docs/t-sql/language-elements/compound-assignment-pipes-transact-sql.md b/docs/t-sql/language-elements/compound-assignment-pipes-transact-sql.md
@@ -1,10 +1,10 @@
 ---
 title: "||= (Compound assignment) (Transact-SQL)"
 description: "Use ||= to concatenate an expression with the value of a character or binary string variable, and assign the resulting expression to the variable."
-author: abhimantiwari
-ms.author: abhtiwar
-ms.reviewer: randolphwest, wiassaf, umajay
-ms.date: 05/19/2025
+author: WilliamDAssafMSFT
+ms.author: wiassaf
+ms.reviewer: abhtiwar, randolphwest, umajay
+ms.date: 07/28/2025
 ms.service: sql
 ms.subservice: t-sql
 ms.topic: reference
@@ -18,22 +18,17 @@ helpviewer_keywords:
   - "||= (string concatenation with compound assignment)"
 dev_langs:
   - "TSQL"
-monikerRange: "=azuresqldb-current || =fabric || =azuresqldb-mi-current"
+monikerRange: "=sql-server-ver17 || =azuresqldb-current || =fabric || =azuresqldb-mi-current"
 ---
 
-# ||= (Compound assignment) (Transact-SQL) preview
+# ||= (Compound assignment) (Transact-SQL)
 
 [!INCLUDE [sqlserver2025-asdb-asmi-fabric](../../includes/applies-to-version/sqlserver2025-asdb-asmi-fabricsqldb.md)]
 
-[!INCLUDE [preview](../../includes/preview.md)]
-
 The `||=` concatenation with compound assignment operator can be used to [concatenate an expression](string-concatenation-pipes-transact-sql.md) with the value of a character or binary string variable, and then assign the resulting expression to the variable.
 
 The `||=` operator supports the same behavior as the [+= operator](string-concatenation-equal-transact-sql.md) for character and binary strings.
 
-> [!NOTE]
-> The `||=` pipes operator is available in Azure SQL Managed Instance configured with the [Always-up-to-date](/azure/azure-sql/managed-instance/update-policy#always-up-to-date-update-policy) update policy.
-
 :::image type="icon" source="../../includes/media/topic-link-icon.svg" border="false"::: [Transact-SQL syntax conventions](../../t-sql/language-elements/transact-sql-syntax-conventions-transact-sql.md)
 
 ## Syntax
@@ -67,6 +62,9 @@ If the result of the concatenation of strings exceeds the limit of 8,000 bytes,
 
 An explicit conversion to character data must be used when concatenating binary strings and any characters between the binary strings.
 
+The `||=` pipes operator is available in Azure SQL Managed Instance configured with the [Always-up-to-date](/azure/azure-sql/managed-instance/update-policy#always-up-to-date-update-policy) update policy.
+
+
 ### Zero-length strings and characters
 
 The `||=` (string concatenation) operator behaves differently when it works with an empty, zero-length string than when it works with `NULL`, or unknown values. A zero-length character string can be specified as two single quotation marks without any characters inside the quotation marks. A zero-length binary string can be specified as `0x` without any byte values specified in the hexadecimal constant. Concatenating a zero-length string always concatenates the two specified strings.
diff --git a/docs/t-sql/language-elements/string-concatenation-pipes-transact-sql.md b/docs/t-sql/language-elements/string-concatenation-pipes-transact-sql.md
