SSIS Package Componentization

In this article, David Leibowitz describes methods for scalable SQL Server 2005 Integration Services package creation. If you’re no stranger to OOP, then the methods described will fit nicely in your enterprise ETL (Extract, Transform, Load) toolkit.

Source: Simple-Talk 29 April 2008

SQL String User Function Workbench: part 2

In which Robyn and Phil continue with their popular series on TSQL String User-functions. In this final episode, they pull together the themes from their TSQL String Array Workbench and String User Function workbench, to provide a simple TSQL string-handling package.

Source: Simple-Talk 28 April 2008

SQL String User Function Workbench: part 1

Robyn and Phil go back to basics and hammer out some basic String-handling User Functions in TSQL, based on Python examples. Plenty of sample code, and TSQL programming tricks.

Source: Simple-Talk 15 April 2008

The Case of the Skewed Totals

Even when your code tests out perfectly in the standard test cell, you can experience errors in the real production setting where several processes are hitting the database at once, in unpredictable ways. You shouldn’t, of course, let it get that far, because there are now ways of simulating concurrency during the test process.

Source: Simple-Talk 15 April 2008

Using SQL Data Generator with your Unit Tests

Ben Hall, one of the team who wrote SQL Data Generator, has gone on to develop ways of using it to provide test data for a wide variety of Unit Testing requirements. Whether you use NUnit, XUnit, MbUnit or MSTest, you can now lay your hands on as much data as you need.

Source: Simple-Talk 15 April 2008

Towards a Better Beta

David Connell describes how the team that developed Red-Gate's SQL Data Generator tool came to realise that database developers and DBAs already knew what they wanted for their test data. The team wanted to use the Beta version of the program to get a clear message from them. . And then came the daunting task of working out the best way of incorporating all this wisdom into the final product.

Source: Simple-Talk 31 March 2008

Getting HTML Data: Workbench

Robyn and Phil start their investigation into XHTML by showing how to use TSQL to parse it to extract data, and demonstrate how to turn an XHTML table into a SQL Server Table!

Source: Simple-Talk 27 March 2008

TSQL String Array Workbench

Robyn and Phil show how to use XML-based arrays to make string handling easier in SQL Server 2005/2008, and illustrate the techniques with some useful functions, one of which copies the PHP str_Replace function.

Source: Simple-Talk 16 March 2008

SQL Server Tracing: An Automated and Centralized Solution

When you are trying to pin down the cause of a problem with a SQL Server, there is probably going to come a time when you need to get 'trace' information. If you've ever done that, you'll know how easy it is to get overwhelmed by the detail. Here, Shawn McGehee shows how to get round the problem by capturing trace information on a schedule, filtering the captured information, and monitoring it from a central location.

Source: Simple-Talk 14 March 2008

The 'Last Seven Days' puzzle

The best SQL puzzles come from real exeriences in the workplace. Here, Alex Kozak describes how he took on a task that looked simple for a while. Then he realised that he's stumbled over an excellent puzzle for Simple-Talk.

Source: Simple-Talk 12 March 2008

SQL Server Alerts: Soup to Nuts

In which Robyn Page and Phil Factor try to get to grips with the difficult subject of SQL Server Alerting, and give you enough detail to put effective alerting systems into your database.

Source: Simple-Talk 19 February 2008

The Database From Hell

In which Arthur Fuller comes to the aid of a friend who is doing his best to administer The Database From Hell, and manages to set up a reasonable test database with which to solve some of the headaches that only a 65 million row, 600 column, table can cause.

Source: Simple-Talk 19 February 2008

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