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  • SQL Authority News – Secret Tool Box of Successful Bloggers: 52 Tips to Build a High Traffic Top Ranking Blog

    - by Pinal Dave
    When I started this blog, it was meant as a bookmark for myself for helpful tips and tricks.  Gradually, it grew into a blog that others were reading and commenting on.  While SQL and databases are my first love and the reason I started this blog, the side effect was that I discovered I loved writing.  I discovered a secret goal I didn’t even know I wanted – I wanted to become an author.  For a long time, writing this blog satisfied that urge.  Gradually, though, I wanted to see my name in print. 12th Book Over the past few years I have authored and co-authored a number of books – they are all based on my knowledge of SQL Server, and were meant to spread my years of experience into the world, to share what I have learned with my community.  I currently have elevan of these “manuals” available for sale.  As exciting as it was to see my name in print, I still felt that there was more I could do as an author. That is when I realized that I am more than just a SQL expert.  I have been writing this blog now for more than 10 years, and it grew from a personal bookmark to a thriving website with over 2 million views per month.  I thought to myself “I could write a book about how to create a successful blog!”  And that is exactly what I did.  I am extremely excited to share with all of you my new book – “Secret Toolbox of Successful Bloggers.” A Labor of Love This project has been a labor of love for me.  It started out as a series for this blog – I would post one article a week until I felt the topic had been covered.  I found that as I wrote, new topics kept popping up in my mind, and eventually this small blog series grew into a full book.  The blog series was large enough to last a whole year, so I definitely thought that it could be a full book.  Ideas on how to become a successful blogger were so frequent that, I will admit, I feel like there is so much I left out of this book.  I had a lot more to say than I originally thought! I am so excited to be sharing this book with all of you.  I am so passionate about this topic, and I feel like there are so many people who can benefit from this book.  I know that when I started this blog, I did not know what I was doing, and I would have loved a “helping hand” to tell what to do and what not to do.  If this book can act that way to any of my readers, I feel it is a success. Rules of Thumb If you are interested in the topic of becoming a blogger, as you read this book, keep in mind that it is suggestions only.  Blogging is so new to the world that while there are “rules of thumb” about what to do and what not to do, a map of steps (“first, do x, then do y”) is not going to work for every single blogger.  This book is meant to encourage new bloggers to put their content out there in the world, to be brave and create a community like the one I have here at SQL Authority.  I have gained so much from this community, I wanted to give something back, and this book is just one small part. I hope that everyone who reads this books finds at least one helpful tip, and that everyone can experience the joy of blogging.  That is the whole reason I wrote this book, and what I hope everyone takes away from it. Where Can You Get It? You can get the book from following URL: Kindle eBook | Print Book Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)Filed under: About Me, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority Author Visit, T SQL

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  • SQLAuthority News – Presenting at Virtual Tech Days TechEd Pre-Con – February 9, 2011

    - by pinaldave
    I will be presenting on following subject on Virtual Tech Days TechEd Pre-Con – February 9, 2011. Auditing Made Easy: Change Tracking and Change Data Capture Date and Time: February 9, 2011 11:45am-12:45pm Location: Online In this fast paced demo oriented session we will go over few of concept which are related to real life problem at customers. We often see developers and DBA looking for details like who has dropped the table, who has last modified any object as well what was actually modified. SQL Server 2008 has all the answers. It has various new methods for Auditing where not only you can know details about what was changed as well know who changed it as well. In addition to that we can capture way more details configuring Auditing. We can also work prevent changes if proper policy management is configured. If you have ever attended my session on this subject earlier, this is going to absolutely new session and very much demo oriented. There is going to be quiz at the end of the session and I promise that if you attend the session, you will get all the answers correct. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)   Filed under: About Me, Pinal Dave, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Scripts, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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  • SQLAuthority News – Story of Seattle – SQLPASS 2011 Event Log

    - by pinaldave
    Just like every year I attended SQL PASS in Seattle earlier this month. The event was scheduled from Oct 11-14, 2011 in the convention center of the Seattle. I have been to Seattle more than 6 times so far so it is not a new city for me anymore. The city has always impressed me with its vibrant life and pleasant weather. Just like every other time, I had excellent experience once again in the city. Though I just arrived on the day of the event and left right after the event was over – I hardly visited Seattle – still some good experience to share. Here are few quick photographs from my quick trip of Seattle city. Skyline of Seattle Seattle Convention Center A Shop Tenzing Momo and Co at Pike St Market The Seattle Gum Wall Shoreline in Seattle Nigel and Paras First Starbucks (Relocated) People on Street of Seattle Food at Sandy’s – All Veg Well, this is a short summary of my extremely quick city tour of Seattle. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL PASS, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority Author Visit, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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  • SQL SERVER – Follow up – Usage of $rowguid and $IDENTITY

    - by pinaldave
    The most common question I often receive is why do I blog? The answer is even simpler – I blog because I get an extremely constructive comment and conversation from people like DHall and Kumar Harsh. Earlier this week, I shared a conversation between Madhivanan and myself regarding how to find out if a table uses ROWGUID or not? I encourage all of you to read the conversation here: SQL SERVER – Identifying Column Data Type of uniqueidentifier without Querying System Tables. In simple words the conversation between Madhivanan and myself brought out a simple query which returns the values of the UNIQUEIDENTIFIER  without knowing the name of the column. David Hall wrote few excellent comments as a follow up and every SQL Enthusiast must read them first, second and third. David is always with positive energy, he first of all shows the limitation of my solution here and here which he follows up with his own solution here. As he said his solution is also not perfect but it indeed leaves learning bites for all of us – worth reading if you are interested in unorthodox solutions. Kumar Harsh suggested that one can also find Identity Column used in the table very similar way using $IDENTITY. Here is how one can do the same. DECLARE @t TABLE ( GuidCol UNIQUEIDENTIFIER DEFAULT newsequentialid() ROWGUIDCOL, IDENTITYCL INT IDENTITY(1,1), data VARCHAR(60) ) INSERT INTO @t (data) SELECT 'test' INSERT INTO @t (data) SELECT 'test1' SELECT $rowguid,$IDENTITY FROM @t There are alternate ways also to find an identity column in the database as well. Following query will give a list of all column names with their corresponding tablename. SELECT SCHEMA_NAME(so.schema_id) SchemaName, so.name TableName, sc.name ColumnName FROM sys.objects so INNER JOIN sys.columns sc ON so.OBJECT_ID = sc.OBJECT_ID AND sc.is_identity = 1 Let me know if you use any alternate method related to identity, I would like to know what you do and how you do when you have to deal with Identity Column. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLServer, T SQL, Technology

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  • SQLAuthority News – BI Quiz Question – How to Optimize Cube? – Hints

    - by pinaldave
    I earlier wrote about SQL BI Quiz over here. The details of the quiz is as following: Working with huge data is very common when it is about Data Warehousing. It is necessary to create Cubes on the data to make it meaningful and consumable. There are cases when retrieving the data from cube takes lots of the time. Let us assume that your cube is returning you data very quickly. Suddenly on one day it is returning the data very slowly. What are the three things will you to diagnose this. After diagnose what you will do to resolve performance issue. Participate in my question over here Here is a couple of hints what I am looking for in answer: How to reach to root of slow performance? Is hardware causing the problem or something else? Is slowness is due to how cube is build and its granularity? Is underlying tables require maintenance? Is there is chance to refractor the process? Are there any tool which can help diagnosis the slowness of the cube? It is not necessary to answer all the question – but something to start with. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Puzzle, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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  • SQLAuthority News – #SQLPASS 2012 Schedule – Where can You Find Me

    - by pinaldave
    Yesterday I wrote about my memory lane with SQLPASS. It has been a fantastic experience and I am very confident that this year the same excellent experience is going to be repeated. Before I start for #SQLPASS every year, I plan where I want to be and what I will be doing. As I travel from India to attend this event (22+ hours flying time and door to door travel time around 36 hours), it is very crucial that I plan things in advance. This year here is my quick note where I will be during the SQLPASS event. If you can stop with me, I would like to meet you, shake your hand and will archive memories as a photograph. Tuesday, November 6, 2012 6:30pm-8:00pm PASS Summit 2012 Welcome Reception Wednesday, November 7, 2012 12pm-1pm – Book Signing at Exhibit Hall Joes Pros booth#117 (FREE BOOK) 5:30pm-6:30pm – Idera Reception at Fox Sports Grill 7pm-8pm - Embarcadero Booth Book Signing (FREE BOOK) 8pm onwards – Exhibitor Reception Thursday, November 8, 2012 12pm-1pm - Embarcadero Booth Book Signing (FREE BOOK) 7pm-10pm - Community Appreciation Party Friday, November 9, 2012 12pm-1pm - Joes 2 Pros Book Signing at Exhibit Hall Joes Pros booth#117 11:30pm-1pm - Birds of a Feather Luncheon Rest of the Time! Exhibition Hall Joes 2 Pros Booth #117. Stop by for the goodies! Lots of people have already sent me email asking if we can meet for a cup of coffee to discuss SQL. Absolutely! I like cafe mocha with skim milk and whip cream and I do not get tired of it. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL PASS, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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  • SQL SERVER – SELECT INTO with FileGroup or Partitionis Not Possible

    - by Pinal Dave
    The other day, I received an email from user and after a long time before I answer the question, I had to check the answer online. Here is the question - I want to create a new table based from old table, but when I execute following script it gives me an error. Is there anything I am missing in my syntax? SELECT *  INTO NewTableName ON MyFileGroup FROM MyOldTableName I faintly remember that this was not possible in earlier version of SQL Server but I was not sure if this feature was added in the recent versions or not. I quickly tried few syntaxes and referred online documentation and learned that it is still not possible in the latest version of SQL Server. The alternative is to just go ahead and change the default filegroup of any new table with following script. Though, I do not like change the default filegroup for new tables. It is possible that when I have changed the default filegroup some other code executes behind the scene by automated system or my colleague, it will be also created on new filegroup. ALTER DATABASE DatabaseName MODIFY FILEGROUP NameofFileGroup DEFAULT The reason this feature is not supported is that SELCT INTO is minimally logged operation. I seriously hope that some day in the future this feature get added in. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com)Filed under: SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL Tagged: Filegroup

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  • SQL SERVER – What is MDS? – Master Data Services in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2

    - by pinaldave
    What is MDS? Master Data Services helps enterprises standardize the data people rely on to make critical business decisions. With Master Data Services, IT organizations can centrally manage critical data assets company wide and across diverse systems, enable more people to securely manage master data directly, and ensure the integrity of information over time. (Source: Microsoft) Today I will be talking about the same subject at Microsoft TechEd India. If you want to learn about how to standardize your data and apply the business rules to validate data you must attend my session. MDS is very interesting concept, I will cover super short but very interesting 10 quick slides about this subject. I will make sure in very first 20 mins, you will understand following topics Introduction to Master Data Management What is Master Data and Challenges MDM Challenges and Advantage Microsoft Master Data Services Benefits and Key Features Uses of MDS Capabilities Key Features of MDS This slides decks will be followed by around 30 mins demo which will have story of entity, hierarchies, versions, security, consolidation and collection. I will be tell this story keeping business rules in center. We take one business rule which will be simple validation rule and will make it much more complex and yet very useful to product. I will also demonstrate few real life scenario where I will be talking about MDS and its usage. Do not miss this session. At the end of session there will be book awarded to best participant. My session details: Session: Master Data Services in Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 Date: April 12, 2010  Time: 2:30pm-3:30pm SQL Server Master Data Services will ship with SQL Server 2008 R2 and will improve Microsoft’s platform appeal. This session provides an in depth demonstration of MDS features and highlights important usage scenarios. Master Data Services enables consistent decision making by allowing you to create, manage and propagate changes from single master view of your business entities. Also with MDS – Master Data-hub which is the vital component helps ensure reporting consistency across systems and deliver faster more accurate results across the enterprise. We will talk about establishing the basis for a centralized approach to defining, deploying, and managing master data in the enterprise. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Business Intelligence, Data Warehousing, MVP, Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority Author Visit, T SQL, Technology Tagged: TechEd, TechEdIn

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  • SQLAuthority News – Milestone of 1300th Post and A Few Updates

    - by pinaldave
    Today is my 1300th blog post and I realize that my blog has been quite running such a long journey. I have been writing for a lengthy time on this tech blog. Today I would like to go back and briefly recall the posts that were part of my blog’s history. Read all list of all my blog posts here. This blog only started as a list of personal bookmarks. I used to just write down scripts on the blog for my personal use. I was the one who wrote many scripts here for the servers that I was maintaining to keep them polished. I have included many links in my first blog posts which I view as just a collection of bookmarks on my very own blog; no intentions of publishing other contents besides the scripts, at all. Gradually, I realized that people read my blog and follow the advices which were supposedly meant only for me. I tried to write a code and a script which are generic in nature, so anyone can just use it right away. Nothing is perfect. When I was writing the last 1299 posts (and having 14 Million+ views), I have made a few mistakes and tweaks that I thoughtfully accepted. These are corrections that were pointed out by many kind souls and readers like you, which have helped me develop wonderful blogging experiences. I am very glad that I have this blog wherein I can express myself. After all, I would have not reached where I am today if I have kept myself worried in terms of expressing my knowledge and understanding SQL Server. I am happy that many of you appreciated my efforts and supported me all the way, which also helped me achieve where I am now. I promise to learn more about this fascinating subject and, of course, continue to share whatever I will learn to my dear readers. Again, I really thank YOU for reading this blog and supporting the SQL community. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com), Filed under: Pinal Dave, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology Tagged: SQL Milestone

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  • SQLAuthority News – A Real Story of Book Getting ‘Out of Stock’ to A 25% Discount Story Available

    - by pinaldave
    As many of my readers may know, I have recently written a few books.  Right now I’d like to talk about SQL Server Interview Questions and Answers (http://bit.ly/sqlinterviewbook ), my newest release. What inspired me to write this book was similar to my motivations for my previous titles – I wanted to help people understand SQL Server concepts and ace interview questions so that they could get a great job they love, as much as I love my own job. If you are new to SQL Server, don’t think I left you out of my book writing efforts. If you are new to the subject or have not had to deal with SQL Server in a long time, this book is perfect for someone who wants or needs a last minute refresher. If you are facing an upcoming interview and want to impress your future bosses, this book is perfect for getting you up to speed in a short time. However, if you are already an expert, you will still find a lot to learn and many pointers and suggestions that go deep into the subject. As I said before, I wrote this book in order to help my community, and I certainly hoped that this book would become popular. However, we decided to print a very limited number of copies to begin with. We did not think that it would sell out since much of the information is available for free online. We could not have been more wrong! We incorrectly estimated what people wanted. We did not realize that there is still a need and an interest for structured learning. So, with great reservations, we printed quite a large number of copies – and it still ran out in 36 hours! We got call from the online store with a request for more copies within 12 hours. But we had printed only as many as we had sent them. There were no extra copies. We finally talked to the printer to get more copies. However, due to festivals and holidays the copies could not be shipped to the online retailer for two days. We knew for sure that they were going to be out of the book for 48 hours. 48 hours – this was very difficult as the book was very highly anticipated. Many people wanted to buy this book quickly, and receive it soon in order to meet a deadline or to study for an upcoming test of their knowledge. But now this book was out of stock on the retail store. The way the online store works is that if the Indian-priced book is not there they list the US version of the book so that buyers will not be disappointed. The problem was that the US price of the book is three times more than the Indian price – which means one has to pay three times as much to buy this book instead of the previous very low price. We received a lot of communication on this subject, here are some examples: We are now businessmen and only focusing on money Why has the price tripled in 36 hours Why we are not honest with the price If the prices will ever come down And some of the letters we cannot post here! Well, finally after 48 hours the Indian stock was finally available online. Thanks to our printer who worked day and night to get all the copies printed. He divided the complete stock in two parts. The first part they sent immediately to online retailer  and the second part they kept with them to sell. Finally, the online retailer got them online promptly as well, and the price returned to normal. Our book once again got in business and became the eighth most popular new release in 36 hours. We appreciate your love and support. Without all of your interest and love we would have never come this far and the book would not be so successful. After thinking about all your support and how patient you were with our online troubles, the online retailer has decided to give an extra 25% discount for a limited time only. I think the 48 hours when the book was out of stock were very horrible and stressful and I’d like to apologize to my loyal readers for the mishap. I hope that the 25% off is enough to sooth any remaining hurt feelings, and that everyone will continue to learn and discover things in the book. Once again thank you so much and I truly hope that you all enjoy reading the book as much as I enjoyed writing it. My book SQL Server Interview Questions and Answers is available now. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: About Me, Pinal Dave, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Interview Questions and Answers, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority Book Review, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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  • SQL SERVER – Simple Example to Configure Resource Governor – Introduction to Resource Governor

    - by pinaldave
    Let us jump right away with question and answer mode. What is resource governor? Resource Governor is a feature which can manage SQL Server Workload and System Resource Consumption. We can limit the amount of CPU and memory consumption by limiting /governing /throttling on the SQL Server. Why is resource governor required? If there are different workloads running on SQL Server and each of the workload needs different resources or when workloads are competing for resources with each other and affecting the performance of the whole server resource governor is a very important task. What will be the real world example of need of resource governor? Here are two simple scenarios where the resource governor can be very useful. Scenario 1: A server which is running OLTP workload and various resource intensive reports on the same server. The ideal situation is where there are two servers which are data synced with each other and one server runs OLTP transactions and the second server runs all the resource intensive reports. However, not everybody has the luxury to set up this kind of environment. In case of the situation where reports and OLTP transactions are running on the same server, limiting the resources to the reporting workload it can be ensured that OTLP’s critical transaction is not throttled. Scenario 2: There are two DBAs in one organization. One DBA A runs critical queries for business and another DBA B is doing maintenance of the database. At any point in time the DBA A’s work should not be affected but at the same time DBA B should be allowed to work as well. The ideal situation is that when DBA B starts working he get some resources but he can’t get more than defined resources. Does SQL Server have any default resource governor component? Yes, SQL Server have two by default created resource governor component. 1) Internal –This is used by database engine exclusives and user have no control. 2) Default – This is used by all the workloads which are not assigned to any other group. What are the major components of the resource governor? Resource Pools Workload Groups Classification In simple words here is what the process of resource governor is. Create resource pool Create a workload group Create classification function based on the criteria specified Enable Resource Governor with classification function Let me further explain you the same with graphical image. Is it possible to configure resource governor with T-SQL? Yes, here is the code for it with explanation in between. Step 0: Here we are assuming that there are separate login accounts for Reporting server and OLTP server. /*----------------------------------------------- Step 0: (Optional and for Demo Purpose) Create Two User Logins 1) ReportUser, 2) PrimaryUser Use ReportUser login for Reports workload Use PrimaryUser login for OLTP workload -----------------------------------------------*/ Step 1: Creating Resource Pool We are creating two resource pools. 1) Report Server and 2) Primary OLTP Server. We are giving only a few resources to the Report Server Pool as described in the scenario 1 the other server is mission critical and not the report server. ----------------------------------------------- -- Step 1: Create Resource Pool ----------------------------------------------- -- Creating Resource Pool for Report Server CREATE RESOURCE POOL ReportServerPool WITH ( MIN_CPU_PERCENT=0, MAX_CPU_PERCENT=30, MIN_MEMORY_PERCENT=0, MAX_MEMORY_PERCENT=30) GO -- Creating Resource Pool for OLTP Primary Server CREATE RESOURCE POOL PrimaryServerPool WITH ( MIN_CPU_PERCENT=50, MAX_CPU_PERCENT=100, MIN_MEMORY_PERCENT=50, MAX_MEMORY_PERCENT=100) GO Step 2: Creating Workload Group We are creating two workloads each mapping to each of the resource pool which we have just created. ----------------------------------------------- -- Step 2: Create Workload Group ----------------------------------------------- -- Creating Workload Group for Report Server CREATE WORKLOAD GROUP ReportServerGroup USING ReportServerPool ; GO -- Creating Workload Group for OLTP Primary Server CREATE WORKLOAD GROUP PrimaryServerGroup USING PrimaryServerPool ; GO Step 3: Creating user defiled function which routes the workload to the appropriate workload group. In this example we are checking SUSER_NAME() and making the decision of Workgroup selection. We can use other functions such as HOST_NAME(), APP_NAME(), IS_MEMBER() etc. ----------------------------------------------- -- Step 3: Create UDF to Route Workload Group ----------------------------------------------- CREATE FUNCTION dbo.UDFClassifier() RETURNS SYSNAME WITH SCHEMABINDING AS BEGIN DECLARE @WorkloadGroup AS SYSNAME IF(SUSER_NAME() = 'ReportUser') SET @WorkloadGroup = 'ReportServerGroup' ELSE IF (SUSER_NAME() = 'PrimaryServerPool') SET @WorkloadGroup = 'PrimaryServerGroup' ELSE SET @WorkloadGroup = 'default' RETURN @WorkloadGroup END GO Step 4: In this final step we enable the resource governor with the classifier function created in earlier step 3. ----------------------------------------------- -- Step 4: Enable Resource Governer -- with UDFClassifier ----------------------------------------------- ALTER RESOURCE GOVERNOR WITH (CLASSIFIER_FUNCTION=dbo.UDFClassifier); GO ALTER RESOURCE GOVERNOR RECONFIGURE GO Step 5: If you are following this demo and want to clean up your example, you should run following script. Running them will disable your resource governor as well delete all the objects created so far. ----------------------------------------------- -- Step 5: Clean Up -- Run only if you want to clean up everything ----------------------------------------------- ALTER RESOURCE GOVERNOR WITH (CLASSIFIER_FUNCTION = NULL) GO ALTER RESOURCE GOVERNOR DISABLE GO DROP FUNCTION dbo.UDFClassifier GO DROP WORKLOAD GROUP ReportServerGroup GO DROP WORKLOAD GROUP PrimaryServerGroup GO DROP RESOURCE POOL ReportServerPool GO DROP RESOURCE POOL PrimaryServerPool GO ALTER RESOURCE GOVERNOR RECONFIGURE GO I hope this introductory example give enough light on the subject of Resource Governor. In future posts we will take this same example and learn a few more details. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology Tagged: Resource Governor

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  • SQL SERVER – Enable PowerPivot Plugin in Excel

    - by pinaldave
    Recently I had interesting experience at one conference. My PowerPivot plugin got disabled and I had no clue how to enable the same. After while, I figured out how to enable the same. Once I got back from the event, I searched online and realize that many other people online are facing the same problem. Here is how I solved the problem. When I started Excel it did not load PowerPivot plugin. I found in option>> Add in the plug in to be disabled. I enabled the plugin and it worked very well. Let us see that with images. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Pinal Dave, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology Tagged: PowerPivot

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  • SQL SERVER – Disk Space Monitoring – Detecting Low Disk Space on Server

    - by Pinal Dave
    A very common question I often receive is how to detect if the disk space is running low on SQL Server. There are two different ways to do the same. I personally prefer method 2 as that is very easy to use and I can use it creatively along with database name. Method 1: EXEC MASTER..xp_fixeddrives GO Above query will return us two columns, drive name and MB free. If we want to use this data in our query, we will have to create a temporary table and insert the data from this stored procedure into the temporary table and use it. Method 2: SELECT DISTINCT dovs.logical_volume_name AS LogicalName, dovs.volume_mount_point AS Drive, CONVERT(INT,dovs.available_bytes/1048576.0) AS FreeSpaceInMB FROM sys.master_files mf CROSS APPLY sys.dm_os_volume_stats(mf.database_id, mf.FILE_ID) dovs ORDER BY FreeSpaceInMB ASC GO The above query will give us three columns: drive logical name, drive letter and free space in MB. We can further modify above query to also include database name in the query as well. SELECT DISTINCT DB_NAME(dovs.database_id) DBName, dovs.logical_volume_name AS LogicalName, dovs.volume_mount_point AS Drive, CONVERT(INT,dovs.available_bytes/1048576.0) AS FreeSpaceInMB FROM sys.master_files mf CROSS APPLY sys.dm_os_volume_stats(mf.database_id, mf.FILE_ID) dovs ORDER BY FreeSpaceInMB ASC GO This will give us additional data about which database is placed on which drive. If you see a database name multiple times, it is because your database has multiple files and they are on different drives. You can modify above query one more time to even include the details of actual file location. SELECT DISTINCT DB_NAME(dovs.database_id) DBName, mf.physical_name PhysicalFileLocation, dovs.logical_volume_name AS LogicalName, dovs.volume_mount_point AS Drive, CONVERT(INT,dovs.available_bytes/1048576.0) AS FreeSpaceInMB FROM sys.master_files mf CROSS APPLY sys.dm_os_volume_stats(mf.database_id, mf.FILE_ID) dovs ORDER BY FreeSpaceInMB ASC GO The above query will now additionally include the physical file location as well. As I mentioned earlier, I prefer method 2 as I can creatively use it as per the business need. Let me know which method are you using in your production server. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL

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  • SQL SERVER – Identifying guest User using Policy Based Management

    - by pinaldave
    If you are following my recent blog posts, you may have noticed that I’ve been writing a lot about Guest User in SQL Server. Here are all the blog posts which I have written on this subject: SQL SERVER – Disable Guest Account – Serious Security Issue SQL SERVER – Force Removing User from Database – Fix: Error: Could not drop login ‘test’ as the user is currently logged in SQL SERVER – Detecting guest User Permissions – guest User Access Status SQL SERVER – guest User and MSDB Database – Enable guest User on MSDB Database One of the requests I received was whether we could create a policy that would prevent users unable guest user in user databases. Well, here is a quick tutorial to answer this. Let us see how quickly we can do it. Requirements Check if the guest user is disabled in all the user-created databases. Exclude master, tempdb and msdb database for guest user validation. We will create the following conditions based on the above two requirements: If the name of the user is ‘guest’ If the user has connect (@hasDBAccess) permission in the database Check in All user databases, except: master, tempDB and msdb Once we create two conditions, we will create a policy which will validate the conditions. Condition 1: Is the User Guest? Expand the Database >> Management >> Policy Management >> Conditions Right click on the Conditions, and click on “New Condition…”. First we will create a condition where we will validate if the user name is ‘guest’, and if it’s so, then we will further validate if it has DB access. Check the image for the necessary configuration for condition: Facet: User Expression: @Name = ‘guest’ Condition 2: Does the User have DBAccess? Expand the Database >> Management >> Policy Management >> Conditions Right click on Conditions and click on “New Condition…”. Now we will validate if the user has DB access. Check the image for necessary configuration for condition: Facet: User Expression: @hasDBAccess = False Condition 3: Exclude Databases Expand the Database >> Management >> Policy Management >> Conditions Write click on Conditions and click on “New Condition…” Now we will create condition where we will validate if database name is master, tempdb or msdb and if database name is any of them, we will not validate our first one condition with them. Check the image for necessary configuration for condition: Facet: Database Expression: @Name != ‘msdb’ AND @Name != ‘tempdb’ AND @Name != ‘master’ The next step will be creating a policy which will enforce these conditions. Creating a Policy Right click on Policies and click “New Policy…” Here, we justify what condition we want to validate against what the target is. Condition: Has User DBAccess Target Database: Every Database except (master, tempdb and MSDB) Target User: Every User in Target Database with name ‘guest’ Now we have options for two evaluation modes: 1) On Demand and 2) On Schedule We will select On Demand in this example; however, you can change the mode to On Schedule through the drop down menu, and select the interval of the evaluation of the policy. Evaluate the Policies We have selected OnDemand as our policy evaluation mode. We will now evaluate by means of executing Evaluate policy. Click on Evaluate and it will give the following result: The result demonstrates that one of the databases has a policy violation. Username guest is enabled in AdventureWorks database. You can disable the guest user by running the following code in AdventureWorks database. USE AdventureWorks; REVOKE CONNECT FROM guest; Once you run above query, you can already evaluate the policy again. Notice that the policy violation is fixed now. You can change the method of the evaluation policy to On Schedule and validate policy on interval. You can check the history of the policy and detect the violation. Quiz I have created three conditions to check if the guest user has database access or not. Now I want to ask you: Is it possible to do the same with 2 conditions? If yes, HOW? If no, WHY NOT? Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Best Practices, CodeProject, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLServer, T SQL, Technology Tagged: Policy Management

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  • SQL SERVER – SSIS Parameters in Parent-Child ETL Architectures – Notes from the Field #040

    - by Pinal Dave
    [Notes from Pinal]: SSIS is very well explored subject, however, there are so many interesting elements when we read, we learn something new. A similar concept has been Parent-Child ETL architecture’s relationship in SSIS. Linchpin People are database coaches and wellness experts for a data driven world. In this 40th episode of the Notes from the Fields series database expert Tim Mitchell (partner at Linchpin People) shares very interesting conversation related to how to understand SSIS Parameters in Parent-Child ETL Architectures. In this brief Notes from the Field post, I will review the use of SSIS parameters in parent-child ETL architectures. A very common design pattern used in SQL Server Integration Services is one I call the parent-child pattern.  Simply put, this is a pattern in which packages are executed by other packages.  An ETL infrastructure built using small, single-purpose packages is very often easier to develop, debug, and troubleshoot than large, monolithic packages.  For a more in-depth look at parent-child architectures, check out my earlier blog post on this topic. When using the parent-child design pattern, you will frequently need to pass values from the calling (parent) package to the called (child) package.  In older versions of SSIS, this process was possible but not necessarily simple.  When using SSIS 2005 or 2008, or even when using SSIS 2012 or 2014 in package deployment mode, you would have to create package configurations to pass values from parent to child packages.  Package configurations, while effective, were not the easiest tool to work with.  Fortunately, starting with SSIS in SQL Server 2012, you can now use package parameters for this purpose. In the example I will use for this demonstration, I’ll create two packages: one intended for use as a child package, and the other configured to execute said child package.  In the parent package I’m going to build a for each loop container in SSIS, and use package parameters to pass in a value – specifically, a ClientID – for each iteration of the loop.  The child package will be executed from within the for each loop, and will create one output file for each client, with the source query and filename dependent on the ClientID received from the parent package. Configuring the Child and Parent Packages When you create a new package, you’ll see the Parameters tab at the package level.  Clicking over to that tab allows you to add, edit, or delete package parameters. As shown above, the sample package has two parameters.  Note that I’ve set the name, data type, and default value for each of these.  Also note the column entitled Required: this allows me to specify whether the parameter value is optional (the default behavior) or required for package execution.  In this example, I have one parameter that is required, and the other is not. Let’s shift over to the parent package briefly, and demonstrate how to supply values to these parameters in the child package.  Using the execute package task, you can easily map variable values in the parent package to parameters in the child package. The execute package task in the parent package, shown above, has the variable vThisClient from the parent package mapped to the pClientID parameter shown earlier in the child package.  Note that there is no value mapped to the child package parameter named pOutputFolder.  Since this parameter has the Required property set to False, we don’t have to specify a value for it, which will cause that parameter to use the default value we supplied when designing the child pacakge. The last step in the parent package is to create the for each loop container I mentioned earlier, and place the execute package task inside it.  I’m using an object variable to store the distinct client ID values, and I use that as the iterator for the loop (I describe how to do this more in depth here).  For each iteration of the loop, a different client ID value will be passed into the child package parameter. The final step is to configure the child package to actually do something meaningful with the parameter values passed into it.  In this case, I’ve modified the OleDB source query to use the pClientID value in the WHERE clause of the query to restrict results for each iteration to a single client’s data.  Additionally, I’ll use both the pClientID and pOutputFolder parameters to dynamically build the output filename. As shown, the pClientID is used in the WHERE clause, so we only get the current client’s invoices for each iteration of the loop. For the flat file connection, I’m setting the Connection String property using an expression that engages both of the parameters for this package, as shown above. Parting Thoughts There are many uses for package parameters beyond a simple parent-child design pattern.  For example, you can create standalone packages (those not intended to be used as a child package) and still use parameters.  Parameter values may be supplied to a package directly at runtime by a SQL Server Agent job, through the command line (via dtexec.exe), or through T-SQL. Also, you can also have project parameters as well as package parameters.  Project parameters work in much the same way as package parameters, but the parameters apply to all packages in a project, not just a single package. Conclusion Of the numerous advantages of using catalog deployment model in SSIS 2012 and beyond, package parameters are near the top of the list.  Parameters allow you to easily share values from parent to child packages, enabling more dynamic behavior and better code encapsulation. If you want me to take a look at your server and its settings, or if your server is facing any issue we can Fix Your SQL Server. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com)Filed under: Notes from the Field, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL

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  • SQLAuthority News – #SQLPASS 2012 Seattle Update – Memorylane 2009, 2010, 2011

    - by pinaldave
    Today is the first day of the SQLPASS 2012 and I will be soon posting SQL Server 2012 experience over here. Today when I landed in Seattle, I got the nostalgia feeling. I used to stay in the USA. I stayed here for more than 7 years – I studied here and I worked in USA. I had lots of friends in Seattle when I used to stay in the USA. I always wanted to visit Seattle because it is THE place. I remember once I purchased a ticket to travel to Seattle through Priceline (well it was the cheapest option and I was a student) but could not fly because of an interesting issue. I used to be Teaching Assistant of an advanced course and the professor asked me to build a pop-quiz for the course. I unfortunately had to cancel the trip. Before I returned to India – I pretty much covered every city existed in my list to must visit, except one – Seattle. It was so interesting that I never made it to Seattle even though I wanted to visit, when I was in USA. After that one time I never got a chance to travel to Seattle. After a few years I also returned to India for good. Once on Television I saw “Sleepless in Seattle” movie playing and I immediately changed the channel as it reminded me that I never made it to Seattle before. However, destiny has its own way to handle decisions. After I returned to India – I visited Seattle total of 5 times and this is my 6th visit to Seattle in less than 3 years. I was here for 3 previous SQLPASS events – 2009, 2010, and 2011 as well two Microsoft Most Valuable Professional Summit in 2009 and 2010. During these five trips I tried to catch up with all of my all friends but I realize that time has its own way of doing things. Many moved out of Seattle and many were too busy revive the old friendship but there were few who always make a point to meet me when I travel to the city. During the course of my visits I have made few fantastic new friends – Rick Morelan (Joes 2 Pros) and Greg Lynch. Every time I meet them I feel that I know them for years. I think city of Seattle has played very important part in our relationship that I got these fantastic friends. SQLPASS is the event where I find all of my SQL Friends and I look for this event for an entire year. This year’s my goal is to meet as many as new friends I can meet. If you are going to be at SQLPASS – FIND ME. I want to have a photo with you. I want to remember each name as I believe this is very important part of our life – making new friends and sustaining new friendship. Here are few of the pointers where you can find me. All Keynotes – Blogger’s Table Exhibition Booth Joes 2 Pros Booth #117 – Do not forget to stop by at the booth – I might have goodies for you – limited editions. Book Signing Events – Check details in tomorrow’s blog or stop by Booth #117 Evening Parties 6th Nov – Welcome Reception Evening Parties 7th Nov - Exhibitor Reception – Do not miss Booth #117 Evening Parties 8th Nov - Community Appreciation Party Additionally at few other locations – Embarcadero Booth In Coffee shops in Convention Center If you are SQLPASS – make sure that I find an opportunity to meet you at the event. Reserve a little time and lets have a coffee together. I will be continuously tweeting about my where about on twitter so let us stay connected on twitter. Here is my experience of my earlier experience of attending SQLPASS. SQLAuthority News – Book Signing Event – SQLPASS 2011 Event Log SQLAuthority News – Meeting SQL Friends – SQLPASS 2011 Event Log SQLAuthority News – Story of Seattle – SQLPASS 2011 Event Log SQLAuthority News – SQLPASS Nov 8-11, 2010-Seattle – An Alternative Look at Experience SQLAuthority News – Notes of Excellent Experience at SQL PASS 2009 Summit, Seattle Let us meet! Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com)   Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL PASS, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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  • SQL SERVER – Weekly Series – Memory Lane – #004

    - by pinaldave
    Here is the list of curetted articles of SQLAuthority.com across all these years. Instead of just listing all the articles I have selected a few of my most favorite articles and have listed them here with additional notes below it. Let me know which one of the following is your favorite article from memory lane. 2006 Auto Generate Script to Delete Deprecated Fields in Current Database In early career everytime I have to drop a column, I had hard time doing it because I was scared what if that column was needed somewhere in the code. Due to this fear I never dropped any column. I just renamed the column. If the column which I renamed was needed afterwards it was very easy to rename it back again. However, it is not recommended to keep the deleted column renamed in the database. At every interval I used to drop the columns which was prefixed with specific word. This script is 6 years old but still works. Give it a look, I am open for improvements. 2007 Shrinking Truncate Log File – Log Full – Part 2 Shrinking database or mdf file is indeed bad thing and it creates lots of problems. However, once in a while there is legit requirement to shrink the log file – a very rare one. In the rare occasion shrinking or truncating the log file may be the only solution. However, one should make sure to take backup before and after the truncate or shrink as in case of a disaster they can be very useful. Remember that truncating log file will break the log chain and while restore it can create major issue. Anyway, use this feature with caution. 2008 Simple Use of Cursor to Print All Stored Procedures of Database Including Schema This is a very interesting requirement I used to face in my early career days, I needed to print all the Stored procedures of my database. Interesting enough I had written a cursor to do so. Today when I look back at this stored procedure, I believe there will be a much cleaner way to do the same task, however, I still use this SP quite often when I have to document all the stored procedures of my database. Interesting Observation about Order of Resultset without ORDER BY In industry many developers avoid using ORDER BY clause to display the result in particular order thinking that Index is enforcing the order. In this interesting example, I demonstrate that without using ORDER BY, same table and similar query can return different results. Query optimizer always returns results using any method which is optimized for performance. The learning is There is no order unless ORDER BY is used. 2009 Size of Index Table – A Puzzle to Find Index Size for Each Index on Table I asked this puzzle earlier where I asked how to find the Index size for each of the tables. The puzzle was very well received and lots of interesting answers were received. To answer this question I have written following blog posts. I suggest this weekend you try to solve this problem and see if you can come up with a better solution. If not, well here are the solutions. Solution 1 | Solution 2 | Solution 3 Understanding Table Hints with Examples Hints are options and strong suggestions specified for enforcement by the SQL Server query processor on DML statements. The hints override any execution plan the query optimizer might select for a query. The SQL Server Query optimizer is a very smart tool and it makes a better selection of execution plan. Suggesting hints to the Query Optimizer should be attempted when absolutely necessary and by experienced developers who know exactly what they are doing (or in development as a way to experiment and learn). Interesting Observation – TOP 100 PERCENT and ORDER BY I have seen developers and DBAs using TOP very causally when they have to use the ORDER BY clause. Theoretically, there is no need of ORDER BY in the view at all. All the ordering should be done outside the view and view should just have the SELECT statement in it. It was quite common that to save this extra typing by including ordering inside of the view. At several instances developers want a complete resultset and for the same they include TOP 100 PERCENT along with ORDER BY, assuming that this will simulate the SELECT statement with ORDER BY. 2010 SQLPASS Nov 8-11, 2010-Seattle – An Alternative Look at Experience In year 2010 I attended most prestigious SQL Server event SQLPASS between Nov 8-11, 2010 at Seattle. I have only one expression for the event - Best Summit Ever. Instead of writing about my usual routine or the event, I wrote about the interesting things I did and how I felt about it! When I go back and read it, I feel that this is the best event I attended in year 2010. Change Database Access to Single User Mode Using SSMS Image says all. 2011 SQL Server 2012 has introduced new analytic functions. These functions were long awaited and I am glad that they are now here. Before when any of this function was needed, people used to write long T-SQL code to simulate these functions. But now there’s no need of doing so. Having available native function also helps performance as well readability. Function SQLAuthority MSDN CUME_DIST CUME_DIST CUME_DIST FIRST_VALUE FIRST_VALUE FIRST_VALUE LAST_VALUE LAST_VALUE LAST_VALUE LEAD LEAD LEAD LAG LAG LAG PERCENTILE_CONT PERCENTILE_CONT PERCENTILE_CONT PERCENTILE_DISC PERCENTILE_DISC PERCENTILE_DISC PERCENT_RANK PERCENT_RANK PERCENT_RANK Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Memory Lane, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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  • SQL SERVER – 4 Tips for ETL Software IDE Developers

    - by pinaldave
    In a previous blog, I introduced the notion of Semantic Types. To an end-user, a seamlessly integrated semantic typing engine significantly increases the ease of use of an ETL IDE (integrated development environment, or developer studio). This led me to think about other ease-of-use issues I have encountered while building ETL applications. When I get stumped while programming, I find myself asking the variations on these questions: “How do I…?” “Now what?” “Why isn’t this working?” “Why do I have to redo the work I just did?” It seems to me that a good ETL IDE will anticipate these questions and seek to answer them before they are even asked. So here are my tips to help software vendors build developer IDEs that actually make development easier. How do I…? While developing an ETL application, have you ever asked yourself: “How do I set up the connection to my SQL Server database?”,“How do I import my table definitions from Access?”, etc. An easy answer might be “read the manual” but sometimes product manuals are not robust or easily accessible. So, integrating robust how-to instructions directly into your ETLstudio would help users get the information they need at the time they need it. Now what? IDEs in general know where you last clicked or performed an action using an input device such as a keyboard; so they should be able to reasonably predict the design context you are in and suggest the next steps accordingly. Context-sensitive suggestions based on the state of the user’s work will help users move forward in ETL application development. Why isn’t this working? Or why do I have to wait till I compile to be told about a critical design issue? If an ETL IDE is smart enough to signal to users what in their design structures is left to be completed or has been completed incorrectly, then the developer can spend much less time in the designàcompileàerror-correct loop. Just-in-time validation helps users detect and correct programming errors earlier in the ETL development life cycle. Why do I have to redo the work I just did? In ETL development, schemas, transformation rules, connectivity objects, etc., can be reused in various situations. Using mouse-clicks to build and manage libraries of reusable design objects implies that the application development effort should decrease over time and as the library acquires more objects. I met a great company at SQL Pass that is trying to address many of these usability issues. Check them out at www.expressor-software.com. What other ease-of-use suggestions do you have for ETL software vendors? Please post your valuable comments. ?Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: Best Practices, Pinal Dave, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology Tagged: ETL

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  • SQL SERVER – Creating All New Database with Full Recovery Model

    - by pinaldave
    Sometimes, complex problems have very simple solutions. Let us see the following email which I received recently. “Hi Pinal, In our system when we create new database, by default, they are all created with the Simple Recovery Model. We have to manually change the recovery model after we create the database. We used the following simple T-SQL code: CREATE DATABASE dbname. We are very frustrated with this situation. We want all our databases to have the Full Recovery Model option by default. We are considering the following methods; please suggest the most efficient one among them. 1) Creating a Policy; when it is violated, the database model can be fixed 2) Triggers at Server Level 3) Automated Job which goes through all the databases and checks their recovery model; if the DBA has not changed the model, then the job will list the Databases and change their recovery model Also, we have a situation where we need a database in the Simple Recovery Model as well – how to white list them? Please suggest the best method.” Indeed, an interesting email! The answer to their question, i.e., which is the best method to fit their needs (white list, default, etc)? It will be NONE of the above. Here is the solution in one line and also the easiest way: Just go to your Model database: Path in SSMS >> Databases > System Databases >> model >> Right Click Properties >> Options >> Recovery Model - Select Full from dropdown. Every newly created database takes its base template from the Model Database. If you create a custom SP in the Model Database, when you create a new database, it will automatically exist in that database. Any database that was already created before making changes in the Model Database will not be affected at all. Creating Policy is also a good method, and I will blog about this in a separate blog post, but looking at current specifications of the reader, I think the Model Database should be modified to have a Full Recovery Option. While writing this blog post, I remembered my another blog post where the model database log file was growing drastically even though there were no transactions SQL SERVER – Log File Growing for Model Database – model Database Log File Grew Too Big. NOTE: Please do not touch the Model Database unnecessary. It is a strict “No.” If you want to create an object that you need in all the databases, then instead of creating it in model database, I suggest that you create a new database called maintenance and create the object there. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: PostADay, Readers Question, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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  • SQLAuthority News – 5th Anniversary Giveaways

    - by pinaldave
    Please read my 5th Anniversary post and my quick note on history of the Database. I am sure that we all have friends and we value friendship more than anything. In fact, the complete model of Facebook is built on friends. If you have lots of friends, you must be a lucky person. Having a lot of friends is indeed a good thing. I consider all you blog readers as my friends so now I want do something for you. What is it? Well, send me details about how many of your friends like my page and you would have a chance to win lots of learning materials for yourself and your friends. Here are the exciting prizes awaiting the lucky winner: Combo set of 5 Joes 2 Pros Book – 1 for YOU and 1 for Friend This is USD 444 (each set USD 222) worth gift. It contains all the five Joes 2 Pros books (Vol1, Vol2, Vol3, Vol4, Vol5) + 1 Learning DVD. [Amazon] | [Flipkart] If in case you submitted an entry but didn’t win the Combo set of 5 Joes 2 Pros books, you could still will  my SQL Server Wait Stats book as a consolation prize! I will pick the next 5 participants who have the highest number of friends who “liked” the Facebook page, http://facebook.com/SQLAuth. Instead of sending one copy, I will send you 2 copies so you can share one copy with a friend of yours. Well, it is important to share our learning and love with friends, isn’t it? Note: Just take a screenshot of http://facebook.com/SQLAuth using Print Screen function and send it by Nov 7th to pinal ‘at’ sqlauthority.com.. There are no special freebies to early birds so take your time and see if you can increase your friends like count by Nov 7th. Guess – What is in it? It is quite possible you are not a Facebook or Twitter user. In that case you can still win a surprise from me. You have 2 days to guess what is in this box. If you guess it correct and you are one of the first 5 persons to have the correct answer – you will get what is in this box for free. Please note that you have only 48 hours to guess. Please give me your guess by commenting to this blog post. Reference:  Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: About Me, Pinal Dave, PostADay, Readers Contribution, Readers Question, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Milestone, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority News, SQLServer, T SQL, Technology

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  • SQL SERVER – Create a Very First Report with the Report Wizard

    - by Pinal Dave
    This example is from the Beginning SSRS by Kathi Kellenberger. Supporting files are available with a free download from the www.Joes2Pros.com web site. What is the report Wizard? In today’s world automation is all around you. Henry Ford began building his Model T automobiles on a moving assembly line a century ago and changed the world. The moving assembly line allowed Ford to build identical cars quickly and cheaply. Henry Ford said in his autobiography “Any customer can have a car painted any color that he wants so long as it is black.” Today you can buy a car straight from the factory with your choice of several colors and with many options like back up cameras, built-in navigation systems and heated leather seats. The assembly lines now use robots to perform some tasks along with human workers. When you order your new car, if you want something special, not offered by the manufacturer, you will have to find a way to add it later. In computer software, we also have “assembly lines” called wizards. A wizard will ask you a series of questions, often branching to specific questions based on earlier answers, until you get to the end of the wizard. These wizards are used for many things, from something simple like setting up a rule in Outlook to performing administrative tasks on a server. Often, a wizard will get you part of the way to the end result, enough to get much of the tedious work out of the way. Once you get the product from the wizard, if the wizard is not capable of doing something you need, you can tweak the results. Create a Report with the Report Wizard Let’s get started with your first report!  Launch SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) from the Start menu under SQL Server 2012. Once SSDT is running, click New Project to launch the New Project dialog box. On the left side of the screen expand Business Intelligence and select Reporting Services. Configure the properties as shown in . Be sure to select Report Server Project Wizard as the type of report and to save the project in the C:\Joes2Pros\SSRSCompanionFiles\Chapter3\Project folder. Click OK and wait for the Report Wizard to launch. Click Next on the Welcome screen.  On the Select the Data Source screen, make sure that New data source is selected. Type JProCo as the data source name. Make sure that Microsoft SQL Server is selected in the Type dropdown. Click Edit to configure the connection string on the Connection Properties dialog box. If your SQL Server database server is installed on your local computer, type in localhost for the Server name and select the JProCo database from the Select or enter a database name dropdown. Click OK to dismiss the Connection Properties dialog box. Check Make this a shared data source and click Next. On the Design the Query screen, you can use the query builder to build a query if you wish. Since this post is not meant to teach you T-SQL queries, you will copy all queries from files that have been provided for you. In the C:\Joes2Pros\SSRSCompanionFiles\Chapter3\Resources folder open the sales by employee.sql file. Copy and paste the code from the file into the Query string Text Box. Click Next. On the Select the Report Type screen, choose Tabular and click Next. On the Design the Table screen, you have to figure out the groupings of the report. How do you do this? Well, you often need to know a bit about the data and report requirements. I often draw the report out on paper first to help me determine the groups. In the case of this report, I could group the data several ways. Do I want to see the data grouped by Year and Month? Do I want to see the data grouped by Employee or Category? The only thing I know for sure about this ahead of time is that the TotalSales goes in the Details section. Let’s assume that the CIO asked to see the data grouped first by Year and Month, then by Category. Let’s move the fields to the right-hand side. This is done by selecting Page > Group or Details >, as shown in, and click Next. On the Choose the Table Layout screen, select Stepped and check Include subtotals and Enable drilldown, as shown in. On the Choose the Style screen, choose any color scheme you wish (unlike the Model T) and click Next. I chose the default, Slate. On the Choose the Deployment Location screen, change the Deployment folder to Chapter 3 and click Next. At the Completing the Wizard screen, name your report Employee Sales and click Finish. After clicking Finish, the report and a shared data source will appear in the Solution Explorer and the report will also be visible in Design view. Click the Preview tab at the top. This report expects the user to supply a year which the report will then use as a filter. Type in a year between 2006 and 2013 and click View Report. Click the plus sign next to the Sales Year to expand the report to see the months, then expand again to see the categories and finally the details. You now have the assembly line report completed, and you probably already have some ideas on how to improve the report. Tomorrow’s Post Tomorrow’s blog post will show how to create your own data sources and data sets in SSRS. If you want to learn SSRS in easy to simple words – I strongly recommend you to get Beginning SSRS book from Joes 2 Pros. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL Tagged: Reporting Services, SSRS

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  • SQL SERVER – Get 2 of My Books FREE at Koenig Tech Day – Where Technologies Converge!

    - by pinaldave
    As a regular reader of my blog – you must be aware of that I love to write books and talk about various subjects of my book. The founders of Koenig Solutions are my very old friends, I know them for many years. They have been my biggest supporter of my books. Coming weekend they have a technology event at their Bangalore Location. Every attendee of the technology event will get a set of two books worth Rs. 450 – ‘SQL Server Interview Questions And Answers‘ and ‘SQL Wait Stats Joes 2 Pros‘. I am going to cover a couple of topics of the books and present  as well. I am very confident that every attendee will be having a great time. I will be covering following subjects: SQL Server Tricks and Tips for Blazing Fast Performance Slow Running Queries (SQL) are the most common problem that developers face while working with SQL Server. While it is easy to blame the SQL Server for unsatisfactory performance, however the issue often persists with the way queries have been written, and how SQL Server has been set up. The session will focus on the ways of identifying problems that slow down SQL Servers, and tricks to fix them. Developers will walk out with scripts and knowledge that can be applied to their servers, immediately post the session. After the session is over – I will point to what exact location in the book where you can continue for the further learning. I am pretty excited, this is more like book reading but in entire different format. The one day event will cover four technologies in four separate interactive sessions on: Microsoft SQL Server Security VMware/Virtualization ASP.NET MVC Date of the event: Dec 15, 2012 9 AM to 6PM. Location of the event:  Koenig Solutions Ltd. # 47, 4th Block, 100 feet Road, 3rd Floor, Opp to Shanthi Sagar, Koramangala, Bangalore- 560034 Mobile : 09008096122 Office : 080- 41127140 Organizers have informed me that there are very limited seats for this event and technical session based on my book will start at Sharp 9 AM. If you show up late there are chances that you will not get any seats. Registration for the event is a MUST. Please visit this link for further information. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority Author Visit, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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  • SQLAuthority News – Wireless Router Security and Attached Devices – Complex Password

    - by pinaldave
    In the last four days (April 21-24), I have received calls from friends who told me that they have got strange emails from me. To my surprise, I did not send them any emails. I was not worried until my wife complained that she was not able to find one of the very important folders containing our daughter’s photo that is located in our shared drive. This was alarming in my par, so I started a search around my computer’s folders. Again, please note that I am by no means a security expert. I checked my entire computer with virus and spyware, and strangely, there I found nothing. I tried to think what can cause this happening. I suddenly realized that there was a power outage in my area for about two hours during the days I have mentioned. Back then, my wireless router needed to be reset, and so I did. I had set up my WPA-PSK [TKIP] + WPA2-PSK [AES] very well. My key was very simple ( ‘SQLAuthority1′), and I never thought of changing it. (It is now replaced with a very complex one). While checking the Attached Devices, I found out that there was another very strange computer name and IP attached to my network. And so as soon as I found out that there is strange device attached to my computer, I shutdown my local network. Afterwards, I reconfigured my wireless router with a more complex security key. Since I created the complex password, I noticed that the user is no more connecting to my machine. Subsequently, I figured out that I can also set up Access Control List. I added my networked computer to that list as well. When I tried to connect from an external laptop which was not in the list but with a valid security key, I was not able to access the network, neither able to connect to it. I wasn’t also able to connect using a remote desktop, so I think it was good. If you have received any nasty emails from me (from my gmail account) during the afore-mentioned days, I want to apologize. I am already paying for my negligence of not putting a complex password; by way of losing the important photos of my daughter. I have already checked with my client, whose password I saved in SSMS, so there was no issue at all. In fact, I have decided to never leave any saved password of production server in my SSMS. Here is the tip SQL SERVER – Clear Drop Down List of Recent Connection From SQL Server Management Studio to clean them. I think after doing all this, I am feeling safe right now. However, I believe that safety is an illusion of many times. I need your help and advice if there is anymore I can do to stop unauthorized access. I am seeking advice and help through your comments. Reference : Pinal Dave (http://www.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Security, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, SQLAuthority News, T SQL, Technology

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  • SQL SERVER – Basic Calculation and PEMDAS Order of Operation

    - by pinaldave
    After thinking a long time, I have decided to write about this blog post. I had no plan to create a blog post about this subject but the amount of conversation this one has created on my Facebook page, I decided to bring up a few of the question and concerns discussed on the Facebook page. There are more than 10,000 comments here so far. There are lots of discussion about what should be the answer. Well, as far as I can tell there is a big debate going on on Facebook, for educational purpose you should go ahead and read some of the comments. They are very interesting and for sure teach some new stuff. Even though some of the comments are clearly wrong they have made some good points and I believe it for sure develops some logic. Here is my take on this subject. I believe the answer is 9 as I follow PEMDAS  Order of Operation. PEMDAS stands for  parentheses, exponents, multiplication, division, addition, subtraction. PEMDAS is commonly known as BODMAS in India. BODMAS stands for Brackets, Orders (ie Powers and Square Roots, etc), Division, Multiplication,  Addition and Subtraction. PEMDAS and BODMAS are almost same and both of them follow the operation order from LEFT to RIGHT. Let us try to simplify above statement using the PEMDAS or BODMAS (whatever you prefer to call). Step 1: 6 ÷ 2 (1+2) (parentheses first) Step 2: = 6 ÷ 2 * (1+2) (adding multiplication sign for further clarification) Step 3: = 6 ÷ 2* (3) (single digit in parentheses – simplify using operator) Step 4: = 6 ÷ 2 * 3 (Remember next Operation should be LEFT to RIGHT) Step 5: = 3 * 3 (because 6 ÷ 2 = 3; remember LEFT to RIGHT) Step 6: = 9 (final answer) Some often find Step 4 confusing and often ended up multiplying 2 and 3 resulting Step 5 to be 6 ÷ 6, this is incorrect because in this case we did not follow the order of LEFT to RIGHT. When we do not follow the order of operation from LEFT to RIGHT we end up with the answer 1 which is incorrect. Let us see what SQL Server returns as a result. I executed following statement in SQL Server Management Studio SELECT 6/2*(1+2) It is clear that SQL Server also thinks that the answer should be 9. Let us go ahead and ask Google what will be the answer of above question in Google I have searched for the following term: 6/2(1+2) The result also says the answer should be 9. If you want a further reference here is a great video which describes why the answer should be 9 and not 1. And here is a fantastic conversation on Google Groups. Well, now what is your take on this subject? You are welcome to share constructive feedback and your answer may be different from my answer. NOTE: A healthy conversation about this subject is indeed encouraged but if there is a single bad word or comment is flaming it will be deleted without any notification (it does not matter how valuable information it contains). Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.SQLAuthority.com) Filed under: About Me, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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  • SQL SERVER – Beginning New Weekly Series – Memory Lane – #001

    - by pinaldave
    I am introducing a new series today.  This series is called “Memory Lane.”  From the last six years and 2,300 articles, there are fantastic articles I keep revisiting.  Sometimes when I read old blog posts I think I should have included something or added a bit more to the topic.  But for many articles, I still feel they are fantastic (even after six years) and could be read again and again. I have also found that after six years of blogging, readers will write to me and say “Pinal, why don’t you write about X, Y or Z.”  The answer is: I already did!  It is here on the blog, or in the comments, or possibly in one of my books.  The solution has always been there, it is simply a matter of finding it and presenting it again.  That is why I have created Memory Lane.  I will be listing the best articles from the same week of the past six years.  You will find plenty of reading material every Saturday from articles of SQLAuthority past. Here is the list of curetted articles of SQLAuthority.com across all these years. Instead of just listing all the articles I have selected a few of my most favorite articles and have listed them here with additional notes below it. Let me know which one of the following is your favorite article from memory lane. 2006 Query to Display Foreign Key Relationships and Name of the Constraint for Each Table in Database My blogging journey began with this blog post. As many of you know my journey began with creating a repository of my scripts. This was very first script which I had written to find out foreign key relationship and constraints. The same query was updated later on using the new SYS schema modification in SQL Server. Version 1: Using sys.schema Version 2: Using sys.schema and additional columns 2007 Milestone Posts – 1 Year (365 blogs) and 1 Million Views When I reached 1st week of Nov in 2007 SQLAuthority.com blog had around 365 blog posts and 1 Million Views. I was not obsessed with the statistics before but this was indeed an interesting moment for me as I was blogging for myself and did not realize that so many people are reading my blog. In year 2006 there were not many bloggers so blogging was new to me as well. I was learning it as I go. 2008 Stored Procedure WITH ENCRYPTION and Execution Plan If you have stored procedure and its code is encrypted when you execute it what will be displayed in the execution plan. There are two kinds of execution plans 1) Estimated and 2) Actual. It will be indeed interesting to know what is displayed in both the cases when Stored Procedure is encrypted. What is your guess? Now go ahead and click on here and figure out your answer. If the user is not able to login into SQL Server due to any error or issues there were two different blog post addresses the same issue here and here. 2009 It seems like Nov is the month of SQLPASS month. In 2009 on the same week I was in USA attending SQLPASS event. I had a fantastic experience attending the event. Here are the blog posts covering the subject Day 1, Day 2, Day 3, Day 4 2010 Finding the last backup time for all the databases This little script is very powerful and instantly gives details when was the last time your database backup performed. If you are reading this blog post – I say just go ahead and check if everything is alright on your server and you have all the necessary latest backup. It is better to be safe than sorrow. Version 1: Above script was improved to get more details about the database Version 2: This version of the script will include pretty much have all the backup related information in a single script. Do not miss to save it for future use. Are you a Database Administrator or a Database Developer? Three years ago I created a very small survey and the results which I have received are very interesting. The question was asking what is the profile of the visitor of that blog post and I noticed that DBA and Developers have balanced with little inclination towards Developers. Have you voted so far? If not, go ahead! 2011 New Book Released – SQL Server Interview Questions And Answers One year ago, on November 3, 2011 I published my book SQL Server Interview Questions and Answers.  The book has a lot of great reviews, and we have even received emails telling us this book was a life changer because it helped get them a great new job.  I don’t think anyone can get a job just from my book.  It was the individual who studied hard and took it seriously, and was determined to learn something new.  The book might have helped guide them and show them the topics to study, but they spent their own energy on it.  It was their own skills that helped them pass the exam. So, in this very first installment, I would like to thank the readers for accepting our book, for giving it great reviews and for using it and sharing it.  Our goal in writing this book was to help others, and it seems like we succeeded. Reference: Pinal Dave (http://blog.sqlauthority.com) Filed under: Memory Lane, PostADay, SQL, SQL Authority, SQL Query, SQL Server, SQL Tips and Tricks, T SQL, Technology

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