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May 2005 - Posts

• SSIS: Trash component on SQLIS.com

  After recently idly suggesting that someone should build a data-flow component into which one can feed unwanted records (very VERY useful for debugging) Allan and Darren from SQLIS.com took it upon themselves to build one. You can get it from here . Allan Read More... Posted 31 May 2005 23:06 by jamie.thomson | 3 Comments Filed under: SQL Server Integration Services, SSIS

• SSIS: Enumerating files in a Foreach loop

  I've just got back from a Charlatans gig at Hammersmith Palais in London. Anyone that knows me will tell you that I'm a massive massive Charlatans fan so I've had a great night. They played alot of stuff from earlier albums like "With No Shoes" from Tellin' Read More... Posted 30 May 2005 00:59 by jamie.thomson | 46 Comments Filed under: SQL Server Integration Services, Inane Waffle, SSIS, Foreach Loop

• SSIS: Using the Rowcount component

  A question was posted on a beta newsgroup recently asking for a demo of how to use the SSIS Rowcount component in a data flow. So, here's an example. The only requirement is that you have a variable in which to store the rowcount. To run the package simply Read More... Posted 29 May 2005 17:11 by jamie.thomson | 15 Comments Filed under: SQL Server Integration Services, SSIS

• SSIS: Memory Usage

  I was asked at a recent Conchango SQL Server community session how much memory SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) was able to use and I had to confess that although I had an inkling about the 3GB Windows limit I didn't know the full details. Thankfully Read More... Posted 29 May 2005 16:08 by jamie.thomson | 2 Comments Filed under: SQL Server 2005, SQL Server Integration Services, SQL, SSIS, memory usage

• SSIS: Combining multiple components into a single distributable component via the SSIS Designer

  I've been working with SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) for quiet some time now and as time goes on more and more nice-to-have's occur to me. I've realised that many operations that we are going to use SSIS for can be leveraged in many situations Read More... Posted 26 May 2005 10:48 by jamie.thomson | 5 Comments Filed under: SQL Server Integration Services, SSIS, Dataflow Task

• SQL Server UK User Group Meeting

  I've just got back from a SQL Server UK User group event in London as run by Tony Rogerson. Mat Stephen from Microsoft was the main speaker and he did some nice introductory pieces on the UDM and SSIS. I haven't seen Mat present before but his enthusiasm Read More... Posted 18 May 2005 23:09 by jamie.thomson | 1 Comments Filed under: SQL Server

• SQL Server 2005 MSDN Forums

  As you no doubt know by now if you read Euan Garden's blog , Microsoft have launched some newsgroup-type forums through MSDN for technical matters around SQL Server 2005 although I'm disappointed to see that they're not accessible via a newsreader client Read More... Posted 18 May 2005 22:17 by jamie.thomson | 3 Comments Filed under: SQL Server

• SSIS: Configurations or command-line parameters?

  Dynamically changing a SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) package at runtime is something many SSIS designers will find themselves doing. There are a number of methods of doing this and I've covered the main ones already: Property Expressions (look Read More... Posted 17 May 2005 16:24 by jamie.thomson | 5 Comments Filed under: SQL Server Integration Services, SSIS, Expressions, configurations

• SSIS: What do we want in the next version - part 2

  Last week I posted my top 15 wish list for the next version of SSIS. Most of those were functional changes which is why they made the top 15. Below are numbers 16 to 28. They are, in the main, aesthetic changes but are important nonetheless. If there Read More... Posted 16 May 2005 22:58 by jamie.thomson | 7 Comments Filed under: SQL Server Integration Services, SSIS

• AMD releases dual-core Opteron processors

  As many people probably already know, AMD have released their x86, dual-core, 64bit Opteron chips . What I didn't know is that Oracle have stuck with their per-core pricing model whereas Microsoft have a per-socket pricing model for Wndows and SQL Server. Read More... Posted 16 May 2005 09:19 by jamie.thomson | 0 Comments Filed under: SQL Server

• SSIS: Should you execute child packages in-process or out-of-process?

  SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) functionality is wrapped up in packages. A package is the SSIS executable. A package can contain a task called the "Execute Package Task" which enables you to execute a different package from within a currently executing Read More... Posted 16 May 2005 08:55 by jamie.thomson | 18 Comments

• SSIS: What do we want in the next version?

  SQL Server Integration Services is now, apparently, feature complete. Given that that is the case I started to ponder what would be nice to have in the next version and came up with a list of 30 or so things. I prioritised them and below are what I consider Read More... Posted 09 May 2005 14:40 by jamie.thomson | 15 Comments Filed under: SQL Server Integration Services, SSIS

• SSIS: The mind-shift from DTS

  Over the past few months my blog postings have centered on some of the new functionality within SSIS. Demonstrating it and using it has been this blog's raison d'etre. I hope it has been useful to a few people! What has become increasingly evident from Read More... Posted 09 May 2005 10:05 by jamie.thomson | 0 Comments Filed under: SQL Server Integration Services, SSIS, Scripting, configurations

• SSIS: Should you save to a file or to SQL Server?

  SSIS enables you to save your packages either to SQL Server or to the file system. Kirk Haselden has posted a useful blog explaining the pros and cons of each of these approaches. To that I would like to add the following: Another advantage of saving Read More... Posted 05 May 2005 15:42 by jamie.thomson | 2 Comments Filed under: SQL Server Integration Services, SSIS