tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-126433602024-03-22T15:47:19.724+13:00Business Intelligence on SQL ServerMyles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.comBlogger60125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-37118927866425351532007-05-06T22:53:00.001+12:002007-05-06T22:53:35.494+12:00Microsoft BI Conference <span xmlns=''><p>Ok so I have not blogged in a long while. So time for an update!<br /></p><p> I have been very busy working on a few data warehouse projects and have not had the time to blog. So I am glad to get sometime out to go to Microsoft's first BI conference in Seattle next week. <br /></p><p>It's a Conference of many firsts, first time Microsoft has created a forum for BI using Microsoft products. Sure there has been many a 'TechEd Session' on SSRS, SSAS and SSIS. But this is the real deal best practices, case studies and the like. And I am not talking about project real either. The big difference with this conference is there is not mix bag of sessions. <br /></p><p>As a part of the trip I am going to blog every day of the conference to let you know what went to. <br /></p><p>It's very exciting. <br /></p></span>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-65842357027445430402007-01-19T19:46:00.000+13:002007-01-19T21:24:46.443+13:00Microsoft and Teradata Collaborate<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Microsoft and Teradata have formally announced a partnership. It looks like SSIS, AS2005 and RS2005 will be able to access Teradata enterprise warehouse. This will help Tetra data access Performance Point.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">check out: </span><p><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2007/jan07/01-15MSTeradataPR.mspx"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Microsoft and Teradata Collaborate to Offer Business Intelligence Solutions</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br /><a href="http://www.teradata.com/t/">http://www.teradata.com/t/</a></span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></p></span>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-81823394596083477322007-01-18T20:46:00.000+13:002007-01-18T21:23:53.693+13:00Business Intelligence with SQL Server 2005: Transform Data into Decisions<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;">Just came across a set of PerformancePoint webcasts on <a href="http://thesource.ofallevil.com/events/series/sqlserverbi.mspx">http://thesource.ofallevil.com/events/series/sqlserverbi.mspx</a>. Check out: </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"><a class="wcFeatureLink" onclick="javascript: wwe=window.open('http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/eventdetail.aspx?eventID=1032323901&Culture=en-US','wwe','toolbar=yes,location=yes,directories=no,status=no,menubar=yes,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,width=1020,height=600,left=0,top=0'); wwe.focus(); return false;" href="http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/eventdetail.aspx?eventID=1032323901&Culture=en-US">TechNet Webcast: Performance Management 101 with PerformancePoint Server 2007 (Level 200)</a><br />Thursday, January 18, 2007<br />1:00 P.M.–2:00 P.M. Pacific Time<br />Join us and learn how Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 enables businesses to deliver performance management capabilities broadly by providing an application that is easy to use and less costly to deploy than traditional solutions. </span><br /><p><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:78%;"><a class="wcFeatureLink" onclick="javascript: wwe=window.open('http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/eventdetail.aspx?eventID=1032323903&Culture=en-US','wwe','toolbar=yes,location=yes,directories=no,status=no,menubar=yes,scrollbars=yes,resizable=yes,width=1020,height=600,left=0,top=0'); wwe.focus(); return false;" href="http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/eventdetail.aspx?eventID=1032323903&Culture=en-US">TechNet Webcast: Microsoft Business Intelligence: Introduction to PerformancePoint Server 2007 (Level 200)</a><br />Friday, January 19, 2007<br />8:00 A.M.–9:00 A.M. Pacific Time<br />Discover how Office PerformancePoint Server 2007 provides you with critical visibility into the factors that affect your business, allowing you to make decisions and take actions that drive better business outcomes. </p></span>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-1168859406761202822007-01-16T00:08:00.000+13:002007-01-18T21:23:00.450+13:00Round up for 2006<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Happy New Year! I am sorry I have not blogged in awhile. It’s largely due to a house we are building in Auckland. Building a house is very similar to building a data warehouse, best left to the experts.<br /></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><p><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><img id="BLOGGER_PHOTO_ID_5020503056597424818" style="DISPLAY: block; MARGIN: 0px auto 10px; CURSOR: hand; TEXT-ALIGN: center" alt="" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEihblCRw6gobcvADKhXF9tRS_xnan2FkM5wd7I2xMfSeVVz9yZWGr1WNYH06JnlBro20e6hOwGV0Hp8kUsDw3AHajwVCDBCp0kgV5evuPPzUive1xhxi0BP8AVvVm4GxeWRufNWNQ/s320/House.jpg" border="0" /></span></p><p><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br />What a year 2006 it has been. I have to say Business Intelligence on SQL server has definitely seen some big changes this year. After the release of SQL Server 2005, big things had to happen to top the release and what a year it has been.<br /><br />Service Pack 1 Was not long in coming after the November release of SQL, helped a lot of companies to get of over the ‘not until SP1’ issue. The release was not without controversy. The removal of the ‘Select All Parameter’ caused some developers concern. Microsoft removed it due to performance issues. At the same time MS released the feature pack with a series of great free add-ons. Such as a SAP .Net OLE DB driver and data mining viewer controls. Check out:<br /><br /></span><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/bwelcker/archive/2006/08/14/700189.aspx"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Rather Ripped (Select All in Service Pack 1)</span></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=D09C1D60-A13C-4479-9B91-9E8B9D835CDC&displaylang=en"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Feature Pack for Microsoft SQL Server 2005</span></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br /><br />The acquisition of Proclarity has shown Microsoft continued commitment to build its BI platform. Seeing the direction and integration of Proclarity, Balance Scorecard Manager, etc into Performance Point is very exciting and will start to give some of the Analytical BI vendors a run for their money. Check Out:<br /><br /></span><a href="http://charliem.wordpress.com/2006/06/07/performance-point-screenshots/"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Performance-Point-Screenshots</span></a><br /><br /><a href="http://office.microsoft.com/en-us/performancepoint/FX101680481033.aspx"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Performance Point Home</span></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br />Office 2007 was shown off at TechEd and is very exciting from a BI point of view. The new excel features are going to continue Excels front-end dominance. Although the new Excel front-end may take some getting use to for some users the new BI features are well worth the upgrade. Check out:<br /><a href="http://channel9.msdn.com/showpost.aspx?postid=164396"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Business Intelligence in Excel 2007</span></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br />Service pack 2 CTP is going to continue to enhance the BI features of SQL 2005. Report builder will now support Oracle as a data source. The ‘Select All’ parameter is now back in en-vogue. Of course there will be the standard bug fixes. So best get to testing and seeing the new fixes/enhancements. Check out:<br /><br /></span><a href="http://support.microsoft.com/kb/921896"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">A list of the bugs that are fixed in SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 Community Technology Preview (CTP)</span></a><br /></p></span>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-1163066349141215552006-11-09T22:59:00.000+13:002006-12-20T14:12:10.836+13:00How to obtain the latest service pack for SQL Server 2005<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Microsoft have just release SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 CTP. Check out: </span><a href="http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913089"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">How to obtain the latest service pack for SQL Server 2005</span></a>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-1159599878036456302006-09-30T19:04:00.000+12:002006-09-30T19:29:56.606+12:00MCITP: Business Intelligence Developer<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Microsoft has just released an update to the Microsoft Certified IT Professional (MCITP) with the creation of Business Intelligence Developer credential. It looks like you only need to sit two exams to become a Business Intelligence Developer.<br /><br />This qualification is a step up from the Microsoft Certified Technology Specialists in Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence (MCTS: SQL Server 2005 BI).<br /><br />The training material is available but the exams are not available until early 2007. It might be a good time to start looking into getting this certification.<br /><br />Check out:</span><br /><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcitp/bid/default.mspx"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">MCITP: Business Intelligence Developer</span></a><br /><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/learning/mcp/mcts/bi/default.mspx"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">MCTS: SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence</span></a>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-1158120879669165082006-09-16T22:56:00.000+12:002006-09-16T23:03:31.236+12:00Tips, Tricks, and Advice from the SQL Server Query Optimization Team<p><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">A colleague of mine has just introduced me to one of the best blogs I have seen in along while. The </span><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/queryoptteam/"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Tips, Tricks, and Advice</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"> is brought to you by the SQL Server Query Optimization Team.<br /><br />Here are some of my favourite posts on the performance features of SQL 2005 Query Optimizer. Check out the following:<br /><br /></p></span><ul><li><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/queryoptteam/archive/2006/04/06/570176.aspx"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Why should I create an index?</span></a><br /></li><li><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/queryoptteam/archive/2006/03/31/565991.aspx"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">I Smell a Parameter!</span></a><br /></li><li><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/queryoptteam/archive/2006/06/01/613516.aspx"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Fun for the day - Automated Auto-Indexing!</span></a> </li></ul>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-1158051805138401592006-09-12T20:27:00.000+12:002006-09-15T14:22:36.190+12:00SQL Server 2005 Skill Assessments<p><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Microsoft has released a series of free skill tests that are well worth trying. There are tests covering most Microsoft products. There are two categories that I have given a go.</span></p><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><ul><li>Introduction to SQL Server 2005 (DBA, Developer, BI): <a href="http://assessment.learning.microsoft.com/test/home.asp#14">SQL 2005</a> </li><li>Introduction to SQL Server 2000 Reporting Services: <a href="http://assessment.learning.microsoft.com/test/home.asp#10">RS 2000</a> </span></li></ul>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-1157285269958432612006-09-04T00:05:00.000+12:002006-09-04T00:11:40.420+12:00This Months Book Recommendation: Microsoft Data Warehouse Toolkit<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">After TechEd I realised that in my slide deck I did not recommend The Microsoft Data Warehouse ToolKit by Joy Mundy and Warren Thornthwaite as required reading before starting a BI project.<br /><br />If you are new to BI or new to the SQL Server 2005 BI platform this book is a great starting point. This book covers an end to end BI solution on the SQL server 2005 platform. The book covers a Reference Architecture for implementing a Microsoft BI Solution.<br /><br />The book also includes a case study using the Adventure works example database as the source for an end to end BI solution. All the sample code can be downloaded from <a href="http://www.msftdwtoolkit.com">www.msftdwtoolkit.com</a> </span><br /><br /><iframe style="WIDTH: 120px; HEIGHT: 240px" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=businessint0f-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0471267155&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&amp;amp;amp;amp;lc1=0000ff&bc1=ffffff&bg1=ffffff&f=ifr" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-1157017193322871482006-08-31T21:06:00.000+12:002006-08-31T21:39:54.046+12:00My TechEd session Ready for download<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">My TechEd session on Delivering an End to End Business Intelligence is now up on Microsoft for download.<br /><br />Check out: </span><a href="http://download.microsoft.com/download/5/5/5/5552dff1-4854-411a-b0f6-d102d77371c0/BIN213.ppt"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">BIN213.ppt<br /></span></a>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-1156414650357953242006-08-24T22:17:00.000+12:002006-08-30T08:09:35.363+12:00Project REAL Reference Implementation<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">I have just come across a new download from project real. It’s a complete business intelligence reference implementation. I am currently downloading the 238.2 mb sample. It looks like it a good example of an end to end solution.<br /><br />Check out: </span><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b61a37b6-5852-4018-bba9-795a34123ed0&DisplayLang=en"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Reference Implementation</span></a>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-1155097328733095382006-08-09T16:21:00.000+12:002006-08-23T12:39:59.993+12:00New Zealand TechEd Is Finally Here!<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">TechEd 06 has been a sold out event for a number of weeks now. It sold out in record time. For those you that are not aware, Microsoft NZ TechEd is the largest annual IT conference in New Zealand with over 2000 delegates attending.<br /><br />This year I am presenting again. I am lucky enough to have one very comprehensive session on Business Intelligence.<br /><br /><strong>BIN213</strong> - Delivering an End to End Business Intelligence Solution on Monday 21st Aug 2:00:00 p.m. to 3:15:00 p.m.<br /><br />My session is going to cover a detailed overview of implementing Microsoft Business Intelligence solutions. I am covering topics such as SQL Server 2005, SSIS, Analysis Services 2005, Reporting Services 2005, Office 2007 and </span><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/presspass/press/2006/apr06/04-03ProClarityPR.mspx"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">ProClarity</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">.<br /><br />I am also looking at the business reasons behind BI projects. In the demonstrations I will show an integrated architecture for a Microsoft BI platform.<br /><br />Ok it’s a lot to cover. So I will also be about on the HP stand this year to go through any questions or demos you would like to discuss in detail.<br /><br />If you have registered for TechEd you need to login to </span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><a href="https://www.msteched.com/nz/Default.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fnz%2fnz%2fDefault.aspx">CommNet</a> </span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">and book your session schedule.<br /><br />For complete schedule information see </span><a href="http://blogs.msdn.com/nigel/archive/2006/08/09/692840.aspx"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Nigel Parkers Blog</span></a>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-1154520508514863732006-08-03T00:08:00.000+12:002007-01-18T21:21:54.963+13:00SQL Server Versions<span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">I have lost count the number of times I go searching for the patch level or version number in SQL.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">This was something I did all the time with SQL 2000. It all started when SP 2 came out. We started to get issues with dts packages that were developed on SP1 and then run SP2. The problem was the package format changed between versions. Hence the question what version I am really running?</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Why have I brought this up you may ask? Because now that we have SP1 for SQL Server 2005 and the rollup hotfix. We now have three versions of SQL Server 2005 that are in support by Microsoft.</span><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">How Do I get the Version of SQL Server?</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">The easiest and most reliable is the T-SQL Statement below:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Courier New;"><span style="color:#000066;"><strong>SELECT</strong></span> <span style="color:#cc33cc;"><strong>@@Version</strong></span></span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">There are of course lots of other methods but I prefer T-SQL. This works for SQL 7 and above. The statement returns the SQL Server edition, version, OS and OS Patch number, and the most important the SQL Build Number for Sqlservr.exe.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">The build number will tell you the patch level of your SQL Server.</span><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Build Numbers for SQL Server 2005</span></strong><br /><br /><ul><li><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">2005.90.1399 - </span></strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">RTM first commercial release of SQL Server 2005</span></li><br /><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">2005.90.2047 - </span></strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Service Pack 1 for SQL Server 2005 see: </span></span><a href="http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913089/"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">How to obtain the latest service pack for SQL Server 2005</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br /></span></li><li><span style="font-size:85%;"><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">2005.9.0.2153 - </span></strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;">Rollup hotfix for SQL Server 2005 see: </span></span><a href="http://support.microsoft.com/?id=918222"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Cumulative hotfix package (build 2153) for SQL Server 2005</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"> </span></li></ul><p><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Other Build versions</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">There are heaps of sources for this information. Listed below are some helpful links for earlier versions of SQL Server and software update naming conventions.</span><br /><br /><a href="http://support.microsoft.com/kb/321185/"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">How to identify your SQL Server version and edition</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://support.microsoft.com/kb/822499/"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">New naming schema for Microsoft SQL Server software update packages</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br /></span></p>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-1153727619988675112006-07-24T19:49:00.000+12:002006-07-25T23:47:07.106+12:00New Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence Example<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">I have just come across a new set of sample databases for SQL Server 2005. Some of the examples are based on Project Real Business Intelligence best practices project. Based on a real world implementation of SQL Server 2005 by Microsoft.<br /><br />Check out: </span><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=E719ECF7-9F46-4312-AF89-6AD8702E4E6E&displaylang=en"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">SQL Server 2005 Samples and Sample Databases (July 2006)</span></a>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-1153384642717943302006-07-20T20:35:00.000+12:002006-12-06T01:00:25.816+13:00Installation of SQL Server Service Pack 1 by Windows Update???<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">The other day something happened to my laptop that took me completely by surprise. Windows Update decided SQL2005 SP1 was a critical patch. And proceeded to download and install SP1.<br /><br />Although this isn’t an issue for me at then moment as I was going to install the Service Pack. I was taken a back with Windows Update installing it in the first place.<br /><br />Like most DB pros I prefer to manage the database patch level on my own. I can see this kind of service pack roll out causing problems for IT Administrators and DBAs a like. Particularly with SQL express instances that are managed by business users.</span>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-1153123185445030762006-07-17T19:59:00.000+12:002006-07-17T19:59:45.750+12:00Kimball Group Webcasts<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">I have just come across a series of must see webcasts by the Kimball Group consultants that wrote <a href="http://www.amazon.com/exec/obidos/ASIN/0471267155/businessint0f-20/102-5877743-1484122?creative=329585&camp=14573&adid=1ZRDH7901AD2AD6V316V&link_code=as1">The Microsoft Data Warehouse Toolkit</a>. I have not viewed them all yet. I am currently viewing the </span><a href="http://msevents.microsoft.com/cui/WebCastEventDetails.aspx?EventID=1032297072&EventCategory=4&culture=en-US&CountryCode=US"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">MSDN Architecture Webcast: Using SQL Server 2005 Integration Services to Populate a Kimball Method Data Warehouse (Level 200)</span></a>. <span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Which I highly recomend. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /><span style="font-size:85%;">Check out the other Kimball Group Webcasts at:</span></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/sql/solutions/bi/kimballwebcasts.mspx">http://www.microsoft.com/sql/solutions/bi/kimballwebcasts.mspx</a></span>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-1151999257148296522006-07-04T19:41:00.000+12:002006-07-05T10:38:19.810+12:00Free Tools that have made my SQL life a bit better<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">I normally don’t recommend tools on this blog. But over last month I have been working with couple of tools that are worth a mention.<br /><br />The first tool on the list is SQL Prompt by Red-Gate. I have been a fan of red gate bloggers for a while now at </span><a href="http://www.simple-talk.com/"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">http://www.simple-talk.com/</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">. SQL Prompt is without a doubt one of the most useful ad-ins for SQL Management Studio and Query Analyzer. This little tool is Intellisense for SQL Server. This tool dynamically looks up common functions and syntax as you type. It’s a free download until September 2006.<br /><br />Check out: </span><a href="http://www.red-gate.com/products/SQL_Prompt/index.htm?gclid=CNKx2rDluoUCFUWJJAodawYfrw"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">SQL Prompt </span></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br />The second tool was recommended to me by </span><a href="http://cwebbbi.spaces.msn.com/PersonalSpace.aspx"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Chris Webb</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">. It’s a replacement for SQL Manager for stoping and starting all of SQL Server 2000/2005 services created by Jasper Smith at SQLDBA.com<br /><br />Check out: </span><a href="http://www.sqldbatips.com/showarticle.asp?ID=46"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">SQL Manager</span></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br />The last tool on my list is a new migration script by Marco Russo. If you were like me and followed the DTS best practices guide that MS put out and used UDL data sources. You will find that are unable to migrate your DTS packages. Marco has put together a great tool for converting UDL and other DTS objects that do not migrate.<br /><br />Check out: </span><a href="http://www.sqljunkies.com/WebLog/sqlbi/archive/2006/06/25/22017.aspx"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">A tool to improve DTS to SSIS migration</span></a>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-1149155041704557262006-06-01T21:44:00.000+12:002007-01-18T21:21:02.575+13:00SQL Management Studio Short Cuts<span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">I have been working with SQL Management Studio (SMS) a fair bit lately. Like most developers I always look for the standard short cuts that I used on Query Analyser. Below are a few of my favourites.</span><br /><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span></em><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Commenting </span></strong><br /><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span></em><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">I use these short cuts all the time to comment large sections of code. The comment style I prefer the most is dash form which I prefer too the slash style. </span><span style="font-family:Courier New;font-size:85%;">-- Dash Comment /* Slash Comment */</span><br /><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span></em><br /><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">To comment in SQL management studio you must now do </span><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Ctrl+K, Ctrl+C </span></strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">instead of </span><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Ctrl+Shift+C in Query Analyzer.</span></em><br /></li><li><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">To uncomment in SQL management studio you must now do </span><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Ctrl+K, Ctrl+U </span></strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">instead of </span><em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Ctrl+Shift+R in Query Analyzer. </span></em></li></ul><p><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Formatting </span></strong><br /></p><ul><li><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">To indent a block of code Select the code you would like to indent and press </span><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">TAB </span></strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">to indent</span><br /></li><li><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Shift+TAB </span></strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">to un-indent your code </span><br /></li><li><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Word Warp long strings with </span><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Ctrl+E, Ctrl+W</span></strong><br /></li><li><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Make Uppercase </span><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Ctrl+Shift+U</span></strong><br /></li><li><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Make Lowercase </span><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Ctrl+Shift+L</span></strong></li></ul><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Bookmarks</span></strong><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Ok so you are working on a massive script that travels for miles. Well then you better be using book marks to navigate that code. Bookmarks are great for moving through scripts and trouble shooting. Try out the following the next time you are working on a big script.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><br /><ul><li><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Toggle Book Mark on/off and </span><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Crtl+K, Ctrl+K </span></strong><br /></li><li><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Enable all book marks </span><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Crtl+K, Ctrl+A</span></strong><br /></li><li><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Move to next bookmark </span><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Ctrl+K, Ctrl+N </span></strong><br /></li><li><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Move to previous bookmark </span><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Crtl+K, Ctrl+P</span></strong><br /></li><li><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Move to next bookmark folder </span><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Ctrl+Shift+K, Ctrl+Shift+N</span></strong><br /></li><li><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Move to previous bookmark folder </span><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Ctrl+Shift+K, Ctrl+Shift+P</span></strong><br /></li><li><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Clear book marks </span><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Ctrl+K, Ctrl+L</span></strong></li></ul>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-1147346884863661752006-05-11T22:49:00.000+12:002006-05-16T00:57:55.936+12:00This Months Book Recommendation: SQL in a Nutshell<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Ok I haven’t recommended a book in a while, and it’s not from the lack of reading them. I thought its time I recommend one of the books I always use on most of the projects I work on. SQL in a Nutshell from O'Reilly Press is my universal translator between database engines.<br /><br />It’s the one book I take onsite with me, when I am working in multiple database environments. SQL In a Nutshell allows me to look at functions and syntax across database platforms. For instance ever wondered what CASE is in Oracle? Or what date functions are supported in MySQL? SQL In a Nutshell will give an overview of each SQL function and what is supported across database platforms.<br /><br />This book also gives a great overview of the ANSI standard for SQL. The Second edition is well worth getting as it is updated with the SQL language definitions for Microsoft SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, and PostgreSQL.<br /><br />BTW: CASE in Oracle is DECODE go figure. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><br /><iframe style="WIDTH: 120px; HEIGHT: 240px" marginwidth="0" marginheight="0" src="http://rcm.amazon.com/e/cm?t=businessint0f-20&o=1&p=8&l=as1&asins=0596004818&fc1=000000&IS2=1<1=_blank&lc1=0000ff&bc1=ffffff&bg1=ffffff&f=ifr" frameborder="0" scrolling="no"></iframe>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-1146311515456873492006-04-29T23:38:00.000+12:002006-04-29T23:52:58.840+12:00Blog Neglect and SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Ok, it’s been a really long time since I posted, well over a month. Work commitments have taken a bit more of my time this month. If you missed it this may have been the biggest month for SQL Server since RTM release.<br /><br />April saw the release of Service Pack 1 for SQL Server 2005 and Microsoft making another tool acquisition in the BI space.<br /><br />SP1 was the most interactive service pack I have seen. The CTP access allowed SQL users to work with the beta product and provide feed back to MS on any possible issues. Creating what should be a solid service pack.<br /><br />If you have not downloaded SP1 yet check out: </span><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=cb6c71ea-d649-47ff-9176-e7cac58fd4bc&DisplayLang=en"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Download SQL Server 2005 SP1</span></a>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-1143171378091789132006-03-24T15:36:00.000+12:002006-03-25T23:33:18.680+12:00A list of the bugs that have been fixed in SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1 - Community Technology Preview (CTP) March 2006<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">I came across an interesting KB post on Microsoft support today. A complete list of bugs fixed in SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1 CTP. There is a list of 19 fixes at the time of this post. This CTP service pack fixes a fair amount of Analysis services issues. The list will be updated as Microsoft document other fixes.<br /><br />Check out: </span><a href="http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913090"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">A list of the bugs that have been fixed in SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1 CTP March 2006</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br /></span><p><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">If you have not downloaded SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1 CTP check out:</span></p><p><a href="http://support.microsoft.com/kb/913089/"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">How to obtain the latest service pack for SQL Server 2005</span></a></p>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-1142734143433391502006-03-19T14:09:00.000+12:002006-03-19T14:25:54.093+12:00Microsoft SQL Server: SQL Server 2005 SP1 CTP<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Good News,<br /><br />The service pack 1 for SQL Server 2005 has now gone public. If you have been waiting for Database mirroring then this is the service pack you should be testing.<br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Also Books online has been updated for this CTP. The services pack has been in private beta for a while now and it’s great to see Microsoft following through with the same level of beta testing as was done for SQL 2005.<br /><br />Remember the CTP is not a supported release and is for testing purposes only. So the same rules apply to the use of any beta product. Bearing that in mind I would get into testing the CTP soon as possible </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Check out: </span><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/sql/ctp_sp1.mspx"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Microsoft SQL Server: SQL Server 2005 SP1 CTP</span></a>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-1142417097845562322006-03-15T23:04:00.000+13:002006-03-15T23:10:31.646+13:00SQL Server SSIS Sample Component: UnpackDecimal<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Microsoft have just release another SSIS Sample Component for Packed Decimals. </span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Packed Decimals are generally converted using the OLE DB provider.<br /><br /><strong>SQL Server SSIS Sample Component: UnpackDecimal</strong><br />UnpackDecimal takes an input column formatted in packed decimal (comp-3), and generates the corresponding Decimal value.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=0E4BBA52-CC52-4D89-8590-CDA297FF7FBD&displaylang=en"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Download details: SQL Server SSIS Sample Component: UnpackDecimal</span></a>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-1139999429701781322006-03-13T21:24:00.000+13:002006-03-15T09:36:14.486+13:00Beginners Guide to Business Intelligence – What is a Data Warehouse?<em><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">This is the second instalment of my blog feature on Beginners Guide to Business Intelligence. This time I am looking at: What is a Data Warehouse exactly?</span></em><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Business Intelligence Context</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">First Business Intelligence in my opinion is not just architecture. It is a strategy of information within an organization. All organizations report on the performance of their business processes, services and sales. How they manage and organize information is maintained by a Business Intelligence Architecture, which is made up of several components. A data warehouse is just one such component. The data warehouse is sometimes seen as the corporate repository. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Before we get into the detail of data warehouse definitions lets have a flash back for a bit of data warehouse history. </span><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Birth of Data warehousing</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">In a sense, companies have been reporting on information since the dawn of computing systems. Data warehousing is really a collection of technologies that have evolved within information systems. Listed below are some of the legacy terms that you may come across when talking about data warehouses.</span><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Executive Information System (EIS)</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">One of the first attempts at giving executive managers a high level view of business activities, this kind of system was widely adopted in the late 70s and early 80s. Usually these systems would be summary tables built on top of transactional tables. EIS focused solely on the financial view of the organisation with limited information other than budget vs. actual. The tables would be maintained within the source system and loaded once a month and reports would be generated on top of them, almost always printed on line-flow paper. </span><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Management Information System (MIS)</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">An extension of EIS, the MIS gave business users a wider view of information in the form of Balance Scorecards and other summarised views of information. The term Key Performance Indicators (KPI) was widely adopted for measures that were just not financial based. For the first time summary tables would be maintained independently of the transactional source system. This kind of system was widely adopted in the late 80’s early 90’s. In fact entire departments were named after MIS systems, hence the term MIS Department.</span><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Decision Support Systems (DSS)</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">The next evolutionary step was the creation of the DSS. A term widely used when discussing OLAP solutions. In the 90’s you were more than likely building a DSS system to support OLAP reporting. This was the era of creating reporting systems for areas of the business no longer just focusing on Financial and Sales reporting. It has to be noted that if is was not for products like Essbase, Cognos and front-end tools like Lotus 1-2-3 and Microsoft Excel; DSS systems may not have been so successful. It was the first time that information was delivered to operational roles outside of transactional systems. </span><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Data Warehouse</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">The data warehouse really is a central repository combining all of these earlier systems. The early data warehouses were third normal form 3NF databases, taking incredible amounts of time to develop. Due to the large nature of early data warehouse, data integration was heavily used in the creation of data warehouses, requiring special ETL (Extract, Transform, and Load) tools and skills - even worse to develop and create reports against. At this time two distinct trains of thought appeared when it came to defining what a data warehouse should be. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">The first general definition was that the existing third normal form system, was the only solution to the eternal business questions that a drive a company. Bill Inmon was the main proponent of this concept stating that data warehouse architects could never predict all possible business questions just using summary tables alone. A data warehouse by its very definition should store data at the lowest level possible providing an Ad-hoc query environment. This created the need to store large amounts of data in a structure, which could never be fully tuned for all possible queries. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Many organisations had invested heavily in a data warehouse without fully realizing all the potential benefits. The original goals of data warehouse systems were to create an environment with the easy access, and usability too large amounts of data. Early data warehouses were too complex in nature and as a result fell well short of this goal. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Something had to change. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">That happened to be Ralph Kimball and the concept of de-normalisation. Ralph proposed an ingenious way of data retrieval using existing RBMS systems. The main idea was to create low level transactional (facts) tables with attribute (Dimensions) tables relating to each transaction using an integer surrogate key system.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">This allowed the database optimizers to summarize large amounts of data more efficiently. Due to the reduction in the number of tables required for a similar query in a traditional data warehouse. This definition describes the Star schema concept from a high-level technical view. Besides the query performance improvement there was a huge business benefit, for the first time business users had a view of data from an information context.</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Another benefit of Star schemas was the business context or subject area. Business users were presented a view of transactional data from a business context. Instead of having to join multiple tables with complex joins to produce a query that only DBAs understood. Users where able to write queries that answered business questions for example, how many products did the company sell for this year compared to last year? </span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Third Normal Form vs. Star schemas</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Kimball vs. Inmon is the most common discussion between Data Warehouse Architects, next to which database engine is the best for data warehousing, It maybe one of the few arguments that will never truly die down. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Proponents of 3NF push the robust nature of data warehouses as the corporate repository/information factory that will move with the business and insulate against change with in source systems. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">On the other hand Star schemas provide a high performance user friendly reporting environment, which is the ultimate goal of any data warehouse. Even within the star schema approach there are differing views on whether the star should be snowflake (Relational dimensions with de-normalized fact table) or just solely the de-normalized. </span><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">The Next Step: Data Marts</span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Data warehouses became victims of their own success. Organisations started to realize the benefits but could not wait necessarily for a large system to be put in place, hence the data mart. </span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Although data warehouses were and still are a successful approach to the corporate data repository, the length of time, cost and complexity to develop and deliver data warehouse projects reduce some of the benefits. This was due to the fact that most organizations would change during the course of long projects.</span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">A data mart tends not to suffer from such issues. As the data mart is a focused repository on one area of the business. Organisations are able to see a quick turn around and delivery of a high value repository that a data mart has to offer. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">The most common form of a data warehouse will more than likely be a collection of data marts. This is sometimes called a federated data warehouse. Often this is the most successful form of data warehousing. </span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">No matter what kind of system you are building the goals always the same: the delivery of information. Ultimately this kind of system undertaking should always support the business decision making process.</span><br /><br /><strong><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">References </span></strong><br /><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;">Want to know more about Data Warehouses? Check out the following references:</span><br /><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Bill Inmon </span><a href="http://www.inmongif.com/"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">http://www.inmongif.com/</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br /><br />Ralph Kimball </span><a href="http://www.ralphkimball.com/"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">http://www.ralphkimball.com/</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br /><br />Great Resources and Articles about Data Warehousing:<br /><br /></span><a href="http://www.intelligententerprise.com/"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">http://www.intelligententerprise.com/</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br /><br /></span><a href="http://www.dmreview.com/"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">http://www.DMReview.com/</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br /><br />Beginners Guide to Business Intelligence: What is Business Intelligence About?<br /></span><a href="http://bi-on-sql-server.blogspot.com/2005/08/beginners-guide-to-business.html"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">What is Business Intelligence About? </span></a>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-12643360.post-1139140966281953592006-02-06T00:57:00.000+13:002006-02-06T21:36:03.976+13:00SSIS Sample Components<span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">Well is seems the flow of add-ins for SSIS is starting. Microsoft has just release a lot of usefuls add-ins for SSIS. I am a big fan of the Regex component as it is often the hardest to code. Check out the links below.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=E603BDE7-44BB-409A-890F-ED94A20B6710&displaylang=en"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">SQL Server SSIS Sample Component: CalendarTransform</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br />CalendarTransform is an SSIS dataflow transform component that generates standard calendar attributes.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=91E24D1D-ACF0-45B1-A9A5-9EA1C7BD0463&displaylang=en"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">SQL Server SSIS Sample Component: UnDoubleOut</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br />UnDoubleOut is an SSIS dataflow component that removes qualifiers from quoted text, either in place, or via the creation of a new output column.</span><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=C16F11AD-150A-4091-B3A2-83D21D3E0973&displaylang=en"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">SQL Server SSIS Sample Component: Regex</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br />Regex is an SSIS dataflow component that applies a configured regular expression against an incoming column, matching, extracting, or splitting, as configured by the user.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=0E4BBA52-CC52-4D89-8590-CDA297FF7FBD&displaylang=en"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">SQL Server SSIS Sample Component: UnpackDecimal</span></a><span style="font-size:85%;"><span style="font-family:verdana;"><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;">UnpackDecimal takes an input column formatted in packed decimal (comp-3), and generates the corresponding Decimal value.</span></span><br /></span><span style="font-family:Verdana;font-size:85%;"></span><br /><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=19DF22A2-7A5E-4E09-B447-B9DC503D407A&displaylang=en"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">SQL Server SSIS Sample Component: RTrimPlus</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br />RTrimPlus takes a string or unicode column, and removes trailing spaces, whether ASCII, or Japanese.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=FC4DE21D-9C5B-4B1D-AEEF-CE43AADAB4E4&displaylang=en"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">SQL Server SSIS Sample Component: SeeBuffer</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"> </span><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">SeeBuffer is an SSIS dataflow component that sits in a data flow and is provided a look at each buffer that is presented to it.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=2A1686D7-2EAC-4CA3-8F5F-AE78D86C0D8F&displaylang=en"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">SQL Server SSIS Sample Component: NullDetector</span></a><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">NullDetector is an SSIS dataflow component that sits astride a data flow, and, depending on whether the value of a user-indicated column is null or not, routes rows to one or the other of its outputs.<br /><br /></span><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?familyid=9E56417E-23D1-4FD3-8D6D-61314FAA2DE3&displaylang=en"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">SQL Server SSIS Sample Component: CodePageConvert</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br />CodePageConvert is an SSIS dataflow component that translates from and to any code page or unicode character representations.</span><br /><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=9c624eab-6893-4734-b5dd-f80d0d487aa1&DisplayLang=en"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">SQL Server SSIS Sample Component: ConfigureUnDouble</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br />ConfigureUnDouble takes a text column, and, removes bracketing quotes if present, plus places double quotes inside the text with sinqle quotes.</span><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br /></span><a href="http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyID=b51463e9-2907-4b82-a353-e15016486e1d&DisplayLang=en"><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;">SQL Server SSIS Sample Component: UnDouble</span></a><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"><br />UnDouble takes a text column, and, removes bracketing quotes if present, plus replaces double quotes inside the text with sinqle quotes.<br /><br /></span><span style="font-family:verdana;font-size:85%;"></span>Myles Mathesonhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/09496361627407287278noreply@blogger.com0