My motivation for writing this summary was an interaction with a project owner that didn’t understand why we couldn’t use feature flags directly in Power BI to control the user interface. This was different from our other deployments, so it took a few rounds of explanations to convince them that our use case didn’t support … Read more
How to make conditional decisions in a package It may seems strange the lack of a decision task for the control flow. However, there is a work around to allow us achieve the same effect we would have with a “decision task”. The precedence control between tasks can be based on an expression. Building the … Read more
With database deployments, not all script-based processes are equal. Some use change scripts in a free-and-easy way, and some, which are normally called 'migrations-based approaches', have more discipline around them. In this article, Redgate Product Manager Elizabeth Ayer covers 'migrations', and shows some of the benefits that have come with new tooling which is specifically designed to assist the change script processes.… Read more
Whereas it is easy to provide inline documentation for a normal scripted
PowerShell cmdlet or function so as to provide comprehensive help at the command-line or IDE, the same isn't true of binary cmdlets written in C#. At last, there is an open-source utility to assist with this that is being actively
maintained and updated. At last, binary cmdlets need no longer be the poor cousins of scripted cmdlets in their documentation… Read more
SQL Server batch processes are usually run from SQL Agent in background. They can take significant time and resources, especially if they are ETL tasks. Quite often, the responsibility for creating these tasks belongs entirely to the developer. Dennes demonstrates that DBAs can advise and assist with this type of batch job by bringing their expertise to bear on the problem of reducing their impact on the working system to a minimum.… Read more
ETL ( Extract, transform, load) doesn't have to be like a spell on hell. To make a success of ETL systems, you need the freedom and ability to make graceful U-turns when you detect a mistake in architecture or configuration: to fix the root problem rather than to merely tackle the symptoms. Feodor lists the eight most common root causes of failure in ETL systems, and how to fix them.… Read more
For data to be usefully analyzed, it must be consistent, accurate, and trustworthy. When incoming data is non-uniform, duplicated records are created and the data starts losing its value. In order counteract this issue, SQL Server's Data Quality Services (DQS) helps monitor and maintain incoming data, and deduplicates existing data using rules-based matching. Feodor Georgiev provides a thorough walkthrough on setting up DQS and creating the rules it uses to function as a first step towards data cleansing.… Read more
The Project Deployment Model introduced in SSIS 2012, which was explained in the first part of this series, speeds up the deployment of database projects in which there may be hundreds of SSIS packages per project. Not only that, but deployments can be configured differently for each environments such as test and staging, and there are now ways of monitoring the status and performance of packages and of versioning the SSIS Catalog.… Read more
It used to be that SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) packages had to be deployed individually. Now, they can be all deployed together from a single file by means of the Project Deployment Model introduced in SSIS 2012. Where there are tens or even hundreds of SSIS packages to deploy, this system is essential. Feodor Georgiev talks us through the basics in the first of a three-part series.… Read more
The job of retrieving data from Excel, and importing it into SQL Server hasn't the same appeal or glamour as, for example, performing heroics with ill-performing queries. This could be why one hesitates before asking questions about how to do it. Rob Sheldon calms your private doubts and fears by answering those embarrassing questions.… Read more
SSIS was designed to be extensible. Although you can create tasks that will take data from a wide variety of sources, transform the data is a number of ways and write the results a wide choice of destinations, using the components provided, there will always be occasions when you need to customise your own SSIS component. Yes, it is time to hone up your C# skills and cut some code, as Saurabh explains.… Read more
If you want to learn how to optimize and troubleshoot Hyper-V, then this book, written by Microsoft people whose day job is to assist customers with precisely with these issues, is a safe bet. It is not, however, a book for anyone struggling to come to grips with the basics of Hyper-V… Read more
If you have a number of SQL Server instances with versions ranging from 2005 upwards, with a whole host of databases, and you want to be alerted about a number of diverse events that are useful for first-line problem-diagnosis and auditing, then Feodor's homebrew solution, using SSIS and Robocopy is likely to be what you're looking for.… Read more
SSIS is able to take sorted data from more than one OLE DB data source and merge them into one table which can then be sent to an OLE DB destination. This 'Merge Join' transformation works in a similar way to a SQL join by specifying a 'join key' relationship. This transformation can save a great deal of processing on the destination. Annette Allen, as usual, gives clear guidance on how to do it.… Read more
SQL Server Integration Services provide a versatile way of reading Excel files into SQL Server. A task like this illustrates the advantages of the graphical approach of SSIS. Andy Brown explains.… Read more
CSS is still a valuable way of specifying the rendered style of HTML objects. By using a preprocessor to assist in generating the CSS, it can make it much simpler to develop and maintain a consistent style in a web development, despite the increasing complexity of the CSS standard. Sass and Compass, for example, can deliver clean, organized, and efficient CSS code, as Edward demonstrates.… Read more
There are several frameworks for assisting with the testing of SQL Server databases, but tSQLt is popular because it is written in TSQL and is simple for a database developer to set up and use. It doesn't get in the way. Rob Sheldon shows you how to get started. … Read more
The Conditional Split can route data rows to different outputs depending on whatever criteria of the data that you wish. It works rather like the SWITCH block in a procedural language. Annette shows how to add a conditional split to your data flow.… Read more
Bill Baker had a considerable influence on the way that SQL Server evolved to deliver reporting services and business intelligence. Until 2008, Bill Baker headed the Data Warehouse Product Unit within the SQL Server product development group. His team designed Analysis Services, Integration services, Data Transformation Services and the Admin tools that ship with SQL Server. … Read more
