This past weekend I was a presenter in two sessions at the SQL Saturday in Tampa. First, I just want to say what an event. The lunch that was served set a new precedence for all of the upcoming SQL Lunches. We had a sit down meal with silverware and plates. Well over and beyond the sandwich, chips and cookie you will get when attending SQL Saturday in Baton Rouge, but I digress. Thanks to everyone that helped to put on such a successful event.
My first session was IRON Chef America SQL. I acted as the chairman or MC of the presentation. I provided the color commentary and kept the show going. In most cases I acted as an instigator between the two competitors, Brian Knight and Adam Jorgensen. The session was great and so far I have only received great comments. I can’t wait to do it again.
My second session was SQL Server Compression 101, which was an introductory session to Backup and Data compression. I had a couple of technical difficulties, but overall I think the presentation was well received. One of the attendees asked about compressed data and its state on disk and in-memory, which was a great question. Simply put, she wanted to know if the data was compressed or decompressed in-memory. Ironically, part of my research addressed this specific question. Data in-memory is compressed. Since decompressing data consumes CPU, data is only decompressed when it is updated or queried as a result (joining, filtering, etc…). Even further, only the data requested is decompressed not the entire page. You can read about this and more about data compression in a great White Paper titled, Data Compression: Strategy, Capacity Planning and Best Practices. The paper was written by Sanjay Mishra of the SQLCat team.
Thanks to everyone that attended my sessions. If you have any questions about either please feel free to email me at pleblanc@pragmaticworks.com. My next stop is Richmond, VA for SQL Saturday #30.
Talk to you soon
Patrick LeBlanc, founder SQLLunch.com and TSQLScripts.com
Visit www.BIDN.com, Bringing Business Intelligence to your company
PASS Virtual MeetingSpeaker: Adam JorgensenTopic: Zero to cube in 60 MinutesDate and Time: 1/22/2010 12:00 PM ESTMeeting URL: Join MeetingDescription: Overcome the barriers of traditional training and seminars with this Quick Start to building a cube. This all demo session will get you started and answer many questions you have about building cubes the right way, the first time.Speaker BIO: Adam Jorgensen , President – Pragmatic Works Consulting - has over a decade of experience leading organizations around the world in developing and implementing enterprise solutions. Adam is also very involved in the community as a featured author on SQLServerCentral, SQLShare, as well as a regular contributor to the SQLPASS Virtual User Groups and other organizations. He regularly speaks at industry group events, Code Camps, and SQLSaturday events on strategic and technical topics.
Patrick Leblanc, Founder SQLLunch.com and TSQLScripts.com
Over the next two weekends there will be three SQL Saturday’s held, in Tampa (1/23), Boston (1/30) and Richmond (1/30). I will have the privilege of not only attending two of the events, but I will be also speaking in Tampa and Richmond.
If you have yet to attend a SQL Saturday there is time to make to any of these events. These events are free and a lot of fun. Visit the SQL Saturday home page for information about events in your area. For those attending the events in Tampa and Richmond I look forward to meeting you all.
I was recently reading a blog posting on BIDN, Scripting Indexes with Filters and schemas. In the posting the author explained the challenges of trying to script only indexes using SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). Moreover, the author adds that there needs to be an option to filter what is scripted.
Ironically, a fellow colleague and I experienced a very similar problem and decided to write a small application that should fulfill all of the requirements outlined by the blog posting with the exception of the schema filtering. However, the application does allow you to select only the indexes that you need. We started working on this approximately a year ago, but never really put too much effort into finalizing it.
After I read the posting I gave my friend a call and he finished the application and we launched a site, http://www.dbscripttools.com/. We have done some preliminary testing, but before we start distributing it to the masses we are looking for few brave individuals to do some additional testing. If you are interested please feel free to sign up as a Beta Tester on the site and we will send you a URL to download the application. In return, when all the testing is complete, you will be the first to receive a finalized copy of the application.
Talk to you soon,
When you create and schedule a Data Driven Subscription for a SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) report a job is created with a very meaningless name. The name is actually a uniqueidentifier and is stored as such in the dbo.Schedule table in the ReportServer database. I was recently asked if it was possible to use the Job Name to identify the Report associated with the job. After a little digging I was able to produce the following query, which associates the Job Name with the Report Name:
SELECT
s.ScheduleID Job_Name,
su.Description Subscription_Description,
c.Name Report_Name
FROM dbo.Schedule s
INNER JOIN dbo.ReportSchedule rs
ON s.ScheduleID = rs.ScheduleID
INNER JOIN dbo.Catalog c
ON rs.ReportID = c.ItemID
INNER JOIN dbo.Subscriptions su
ON rs.SubscriptionID = su.SubscriptionID
The ReportServer database is a wealth of knowledge. If you support Report Server deployments I recommend that you spend some time becoming familiar with the database schema. If you have any questions or concerns regarading this topic please feel free to email me at pleblanc@pragmaticworks.com.
On January 19th and February 25th the SQL Lunch will have two well known authors, speakers and MVPs presenting at the SQL Lunch. First on January 19th, Brian Knight will be presenting Scripting in SSIS and if that is not enough Brad McGehee will be presenting an Introduction to Graphical Execution Plans on February 25th. So if you haven’t attended a SQL Lunch I suggest that you add these events to your calendar.
Go to SQLLunch.com and click on the Add To Calendar links for each of these events. But wait, if you want to learn a little about Partitioning, join me, Patrick LeBlanc on Feburary 8th for a brief overview.
If you are interested in speaking at the SQL Lunch please send me an email at pleblanc@sqllunch.com. If you have any suggestions or comments on how we can improve the SQL Lunch please email me. Finally, if you would like to suggest any topics please send me an email.
First I would like to thank everyone for attending and most importantly I would like to thank all of the past speakers and upcoming speakers for donating their time and knowledge to our wonderful SQL Server community.
visit www.BIDN.com, Bringing Business Intelligence to your company
Join Devin Knight for a SQL Lunch at 12:30 EST today to hear about using the SSRS Data Driven Subscriptions! http://www.sqllunch.com
SQL Lunch # 8 – SSRS Data Driven Subscriptions
Speaker: Devin Knight
Topic: SSRS Data Driven Subscriptions
Meeting URL: JOIN MEETING
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Description:
In this session, you’ll learn how to take advantage of a great feature in Reporting Services called Data Driven Subscriptions. All gotcha settings will be uncovered so you can have your reports run unattended and delivered to either a windows file share or email.
Speaker BIO:
Devin is a BI consultant at Pragmatic Works Consulting. Previously, he has tech edited the book Professional Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Integration Services and was an author in the book Knight's 24-Hour Trainer: Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Integration Services. Devin has spoken at past conferences like PASS, Code Camps and several SQL Saturday events. He is a contributing member to the Business Intelligence Special Interest Group (SIG) for PASS as a leader in the SSIS Focus Group. Making his home in Jacksonville, FL, Devin is a participating member of the local users’ group (JSSUG).
Recently I was asked how to handle a Mirrored Database Failover within an SSIS package. For those of us that don’t write connection strings and simply use Graphical User Interfaces (GUI) to create the connections, we tend to overlook certain attributes that are available when creating connections to SQL Server databases. If you have written connection strings you may already be familiar with the Failover Partner attribute that is available. When using an ADO.NET connection or a Native OLE DB\SQL Server Native Client, setting the attribute is simple. If you connect using one of these methods to a database that is mirrored, the SSIS package can take advantage of the drivers ability to recognize the active Server when database mirroring failover occurs.
First, inside of your package right-click in the Connection Managers pane of your SSIS package and create a new connection. The following dialogue window will appear:
Choose New OLE DB Connection or New ADO.NET Connection. Create your connections as normal. Before clicking OK on the Connection Manager window, choose the ALL option on the left-hand side of the window.
Specify the Failover Partner, which would be the IP address or name of the Partner server. To test, run your SSIS package while the data is available on the principal server. Then failover to the partner server and rerun your SSIS package. Both executions should succeed. If you have any questions about this please email me at pleblanc@pragmaticworks.com.
Patrick LeBlanc, Founder SQLLunch.com and TSQLScripts.com
I have been reading several blog postings about 2010 goals. First, I want to applaud all of you for setting goals for the entire year. Moreover, I would like to say that I admire those that can actually achieve their annual goals, like my good friend Steve Jones. Can you all believe that he ran everyday last year? Congratulations Steve!!.
My goals tend to change as the year progresses. As a result, I decided to focus on setting quarterly instead of annual goals. Some may think that I lack ambition and drive. Well, I laugh in your face. Sometimes setting such long-term goals tend to be overwhelming and often my focus changes therefore my goals change. So here are my first quarter goals:
1. Learn everything I can about SQL Server Analysis Server
2. Two blog postings per week.
3. Publish two articles
4. Speak at a minimum of three events (SQLSaturday, SQLLunch, PASS Virtual Chapter, etc…)
5. Schedule SQL Lunch speakers for the rest of the year (at least 2 per month)
6. Submit 2 videos to SQL Share
7. Submit an abstract to SQL Server Standard (Grant Fritchey)
For some of you more ambitious people this may seem like a short list, but remember this is only for the first quarter of 2010. Every couple of weeks I will post a progress chart from the previous two weeks.
Patrick LeBlanc, found SQLLunch.com
SQL Lunch # 7 – Top Tablix Tips
Speaker: Jessica Moss
Topic: Top Tablix Tips
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SQL Server Reporting Services 2008 introduces the tablix, a combination of a table and a crosstab report. This lesson shows how to set up the tablix, the properties you can set to get the most out of the tablix, and other usage tips.
Jessica M. Moss, an architect with Ironworks Consulting and a Microsoft SQL Server MVP, is a well-known practitioner, author, and speaker in Microsoft SQL Server business intelligence. Jessica has created numerous data warehousing solutions for companies in the retail, internet, health services, finance, and energy industries and authored technical content for multiple magazines, websites, and the book "Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Integration Services Problem-Design-Solution". Jessica enjoys working with the central Virginia community and speaks regularly at user groups, code camps, and conferences. You can read about her work on her blog, http://www.jessicammoss.com.
Patrick LeBlanc
Recently I tried to deploy a report to a Report Server on my laptop, which is running Windows 7 Ultimate. Unfortunately I received the following error:
The permissions granted to user ‘MachineName\SomeUser ‘ are insufficient for performing this operations.
This confused me a bit since my account was an administrator. After digging a bit I found a very simple solution. Right-click on the Visual Studio icon or the Business Intelligence Development Studio icon and click Properties. Then go to the Compatibility tab. On that tab, in the Privilege Level section select the checkbox next to the item labeled Run this program as administrator. See the below screen shot example:
Once done, restart the application and Deploy your report. If you have any questions or comments about this topic, please email me at pleblanc@pragamaticworks.com.
I have read several articles about deploying SSIS packages. Most focus on using the deployment wizard or simply copying the files and their dependent properties onto the server. For companies with a small number of SSIS packages the later appears to be the method of choice. Recently, I was asked if there was a way to accomplish this without leaving Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS).
To deploy a package from BIDS complete the following steps:
1. Open your SSIS package in BIDS:
2. Once the package is opened, click in the empty space of the Control Flow tab view.
3. Go to File->Save Copy of <Package Name> As…
Then a dialogue box will appear:
Type your server name in the Server drop down list and type the Package path, prefixing it with a forward slash (/).
4. Next choose your Package protection level and click OK twice.
Finally, connect to the Integration Server to verify that the package has been deployed.
This method may not be practical if you have several packages and many environments. However, for a small IT shop that only has a small number of SSIS packages this maybe a good approach. If you have any questions or comments regarding this topic, feel free to email me at pleblanc@pragmaticworks.com.
This method may not be practical if you have several packages and many environments. However, for a small IT shop that only has a small number of SSIS packages this maybe a good approach.
If you have any questions or comments regarding this topic, feel free to email me at pleblanc@pragmaticworks.com.
SQL Lunch # 5 – Looping Logic in SSIS
Speaker: Tim Mitchell
Topic: Looping Logic in SSIS
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Software developers have long taken for granted the ability to run iterative processes by using loop structures in their code. For SSIS developers, these same structures are available through the For Loop and the For Each Loop controls. In this session, we'll review each of these containers and demonstrate how they can be used for repetitive processing of similar tasks.
Tim is a Microsoft SQL Server consultant, developer, speaker, and trainer. He has been working with SQL Server for over 6 years, working primarily in database development, business administration, data integration, and automation. He has earned a number of industry certifications and holds a Bachelor's Degree in Computer Science from Texas A&M at Commerce. Tim is principal and senior data engineer for Tyleris Data Solutions, a business intelligence and data management consulting firm. As an active member of the community, Tim has spoken at venues including SQL Saturday and the PASS Business Intelligence SIG, and is an active volunteer and speaker at the North Texas SQL Server User Group in Dallas. Tim is an author and forum contributor on SQLServerCentral.com and has published dozens of SQL Server training videos on JumpstartTV.com.
Topic An Overview of Business Intelligence
Topic
An Overview of Business Intelligence
Location: At Lamar Advertising
Wednesday, December 2, 2009
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM
Presenter
Brandon McMillon
Brandon McMillon is a Senior Solutions Principal at EMC. He has 10 years of experience at Microsoft, working on the Visual Studio & Windows development teams. He was also a Chief Software Architect for a Microsoft Gold Partner before coming to EMC.
Abstract:
This talk will first examine the current marketplace for Business Intelligence, and how it has gotten there. We’ll look at how EMC is leveraging some of the newer tools and products to lower the costs and effort for implementing BI, in the context of a real-world EMC BI project. We’ll also share best practices & lessons we’ve learned in these projects. Finally, we’ll look at the next generation of BI tools and products, and talk about how they will impact the market and what problems they’re attempting to solve.
Agenda
5:45 pm - 6:00 pm:
General Introduction/Food and Drinks
6:00 pm - 7:30 pm:
Overview of Business Intelligence
7:30 pm - until:
Open forum for questions
Patrick LeBlanc, founder www.tsqlscripts.com and www.sqllunch.com
December SQL Server User Group Meeting
