January 2007 - Posts

Solid Quality Videos

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Chuck Boyce, the "guy with the camera" for those who attended PASS, has just published 2 videos that he took at PASS

The first is a small discussion between Ted Malone and Gert Drapers on agile development.

... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Solid Quality Videos

posted Wednesday, January 31, 2007 1:40 PM by SimonSabin with 0 Comments

Excel 2007 Functions

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One of the great aspects of the Excel 2007 is the new functions. I have used COUNTIF and SUMIF numerous times and often found I wanted to do multiple criteria, i.e. sum if revenue is for this month and for this store. To achieve this before 2007 you had to jump throuhg numerous hoops and it all became very complex.

... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Excel 2007 Functions

posted Sunday, January 28, 2007 6:18 PM by SimonSabin with 0 Comments

Raw file reader has been updated

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My raw file reader has now been updated, the following are the changes from the previous version

  • Column headers can be included if more than one column is selected.
  • Context menu to copy data from the grid
  • Can read a package for raw files and will load each one of them
  • Will remember the last 10 packages read used
  • Option to change the file extensions associated with raw files (thanks Julian)
  • Fixed some spelling mistakes
  • Application is now an MDI application allowing for multiple raw files to be opened at once
  • Rawfile detail windows can be cacaded, tiled as with all MDI windows
  • Enable application for ClickOnce deployment

    • I am working on the following,

    ... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Raw file reader has been updated

    posted Wednesday, January 17, 2007 12:43 AM by SimonSabin with 0 Comments

    Task pad report

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    Following feedback I have issued another version of the taskpad report. This now works with databases that have been created by users that have access to the sql server via a group membership

    ... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Task pad report

    posted Thursday, January 11, 2007 10:30 PM by SimonSabin with 0 Comments

    SSIS Rawfile viewer - now available

    My blog has moved to sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons
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    If you've used SSIS in anger you will have come across Raw files. Unfortunately when you store data in a raw file it is in accesible. There is no tool available to view the data,

    Until now.

    ... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/SSIS Rawfile viewer - now available

    posted Thursday, January 11, 2007 11:58 AM by SimonSabin with 0 Comments

    TOP 10 CV Tips

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    My team and I have been reviewing more CVs than you can shake a stick at recently for the roles we are trying to fill. This is a list of the top 10 things that make your CV work for you,

    1.      Don't make it too long.
    3 pages is a good size. I get board easily.

    ... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/TOP 10 CV Tips

    posted Tuesday, January 09, 2007 7:27 PM by SimonSabin with 1 Comments

    SSIS - Raw file reader utility

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    I have put together a little utility to read raw files. Before I finish it off I would like some feeback.

    The current feature set is;

    • Read any SSIS Raw file
    • Results displayed in a grid
    • Columns automatically resized
    • Order of columns can be changed
    • The results can be ordered by clicking on the column headings
    • You can choose which columns to display (will improve performance for large files)
    • Data can be copied from the results grid using CTRL+C
    • Any set of cells can be copied from the results grid by using the CTRL key
    • Column headers can be included or excluded from the copied data
    • Will remember the last 10 files used
    • Reading of data can be automatic when the columns are read or the data can be read manually once you have selected the columns you want
    • Column selection mechanism is similiar to that in SSIS components
    • Notification when the currently loaded raw file has changed i.e. package is rerun
    • Opton to automatically reload file when file changes
    • Sizeable window to maximise viewing of data in the grid.

    You can download it here SQL Server 2005 Integration Services Raw file reader

    ... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/SSIS - Raw file reader utility

    posted Monday, January 08, 2007 12:30 AM by SimonSabin with 0 Comments

    Loading a SSIS package in C#

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    This is a classic gotcha that caught me out and thankfully others on the newgroups.

    The object model for SSIS has an object called Package which represents a package.

    One would assume that to load a package from a file you should use the LoadFromXML method on this Package object.

    ... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Loading a SSIS package in C#

    posted Friday, January 05, 2007 9:30 PM by SimonSabin with 0 Comments

    ComponentClassId for Integration Services

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    Are you wanting to develop Integration services using code. If so then you will need to now the identifiers to use for each component.

    You have three ways to set the componentClassId

    Directly if you can remember them i.e. myuComp.ComponentClassID = "DTSTransform.Merge.1";

    ... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/ComponentClassId for Integration Services

    posted Friday, January 05, 2007 7:38 PM by SimonSabin with 0 Comments

    SQL Server 2005 Samples - Where is the samplekey.snk

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    Did you know that whilst the samples are included on the install of SQL Server as with books online the most upto date versions can be found online.

    Download details: SQL Server 2005 Samples and Sample Databases

    ... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/SQL Server 2005 Samples - Where is the samplekey.snk

    posted Friday, January 05, 2007 6:12 PM by SimonSabin with 0 Comments