Guest Editorial: In Praise of Templates
Phil takes us through one of the best kept secrets of SSMS - Templates. Even for a 'plain-screen' man like Phil, Templates are an excellent tool, and a major reason to use SSMS.
How To Retrieve Excel Schema Information Using SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) 2005
How can we determine the sheet names in our SSIS package and process this variable number of sheets?
New data profiling tools in SQL Server 2008
New data-profiling tools native to SQL Server 2008 Integration Services such as the Data Profiling task and the Data Profiler Viewer help manage a business intelligence strategy.
Who Do We Choose to Follow?
Think about your career and the managers, and potentially leaders, that you’ve had in your life. Think about life in general and who do you admire, who have you modeled yourself after or who you wanted to follow in sports, in a hobby, in life, etc.
Guest Editorial: Do DBAs Need a Code of Ethics?
Despite the fact DBAs are essentially protectors of an organization’s knowledge, and privy to much confidential information, there is no clearly defined set of rules and standards to help govern and guide their ethical behavior. Brad McGehee thinks it's time for some action on this issue.
Mining Model Viewers - SQL School Video
In this video MVP Brian Knight explains how you can use the model viewers to see how the data mining task will process your data.
All the Aggregates you crave with Grouping Sets in SQL Server 2008
As reporting requirements increase, it seems that aggregate functionalities have thankfully risen to the occasion concurrently. To maintain its competitive edge as Staples Canada’s best vendor, BaldGorilla, where I’m currently consulting, has been able...
Creating packages in code - OLE-DB Source to Raw File Destination
This code sample programmatically creates a package with an OLE-DB Source and a Raw File Destination, and the resulting package exports data from SQL Server to a raw file. The finished package just has the one Data Flow Task shown below.
Where is the Surface Area Configuration tool in SQL Server 2008
I just installed a new instance of SQL Server 2008 and I can't find the Surface Area Configuration tool that I used to use in SQL Server 2005. How can I manage the Database Engine features in SQL Server 2008?
Guest editorial: Reasons to be Cheerful
The furore surrounding the recent release of MySQL 5.1 makes Tony Davis wonder if more than a few web 2.0 developers might be peering over the SQL Server Express fence and wondering if the grass doesn't look slightly greener over here.
Blogs
Enterprise AI Operating Rhythm – Top 5 practices for 2026
2025 exposed a growing gap between AI ambition and operational reality. As budgets tightened...
Stop Being Surprised by Your Azure Bill: Use Budgets
By John
When organizations migrate workloads to Azure, the focus is usually on architecture, performance, and...
Resetting on the AI hype train
By Brian Kelley
There's a great article from MIT Technology Review about resetting on the hype of...
Forums
Celebrating Tomorrow
Comments posted to this topic are about the item Celebrating Tomorrow
SQL Art: I Made a Christmas Card In SSMS
Comments posted to this topic are about the item SQL Art: I Made a...
lookup error
I am using ssrs in visual studio 2022, I work on a report, there...
Question of the Day
Celebrating Tomorrow
Which of these is more appropriate for tomorrow?
See possible answers