I was reading a post from someone recently where they noted that they didn't worry to much about the architecture of the system since it wouldn't likely last very long....

It sounds like you're dealing with a file that has multiple record types. I can't think of any better explanation for a CSV file with a variable number of columns....

Steve Jones - SSC Editor (10/1/2015)

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I do usually tell people in Scouts or kids sports that I'm a computer guy. If they know something and want to ask more, I...

Embedding lookup tables tends to result in complicated, repeated, hard to maintain, and inconsistent SQL code. Consider joining a meta-data reference table like so:

create table CreditScoreRate

(

constraint PK_CreditScoreRate...

If you've only got 2 weeks until the old DBA leaves, then I'd highly recommend blocking off two or three days and asking the 20 really important questions first. The...

The Scrum development methodology, with it's small iterations, test driven development, daily stand-up meetings, and post-iteration retrospectives; why it works for so many projects is that forces team members to...

I simply tell family and friends that I work in Information Technology and then tell them what the company does. I don't provide more detail about my role, unless they...

Steve Jones - SSC Editor (9/30/2015)

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Indeed we have.

That's why I've typically called...

An almost identical question was asked a few years back.

http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/FindPost1279217.aspx

- At least a couple of weeks before the old DBA walks out the door, ask him to add you to...

To eliminate anything in the query as the cause, next see if a simple pass-through query against server FS1 will work.

For example:

EXEC ('select 1') AT FS1

The Kimball methodology advocates first interviewing all essential stake holders, and then identifying (as much as practical) all business processes and common dimensions. He emphasizes modeling business processes, not departments....

Sometimes folks will use a UDF to abstract or reuse the implementation details of some transformation, when adding a computed column on a view or table works better for performance....

Here is where I replied to your cross-post.

http://www.sqlservercentral.com/Forums/FindPost1724193.aspx

So, the question is how to keep the overall design straight in your head while you're developing?

I'd suggest reading Ralph Kimball's book "The Data Warehouse Toolkit". If you haven't...

I've found that some advice is better received when delivered one-on-one rather than in front of a group. Otherwise, the ignorance of the crowd or the cult personality of the...