Blog ala Vidar

It’s been way too long since my last blog post, so I figured it was about time to give a little SQL update on things I’ve learned the last months.

After attending NDC, watching Peter Myers’ sessions about SQL Server Analysis Services and data mining, I’ve played A LOT with SSAS. It’s way different compared to T-SQL, but it’s a lot of fun and a nice challenge. Soon got a cube working as I want it, to show off to the department managers at the company I work at. Hopefully I’ve done a good enough job to encourage them to use it, and maybe even recommend to customers. We haven’t used SSAS too much yet, but that might be about to change.

I’ve also updated my scripts library to include “FIND – Space Usage By Table”. You can use this if you’ve done big clean-ups in your databases, and what to “shrink” some tables. “RECREATE – Foreign Keys” – I wrote this one to make automatic data-transfer easier. You run the first part to store the foreign keys in a temporary table, then remove them. Then you can do all your data-transfer-stuff without any issues. Then just run the rest of the script to create the foreign keys again.

NB!!! These are of course scripts without any warranties. I’m sharing them because you might need something similar, but always look over scripts you find on the internet. Not just mine, but everyone else’s too!

Last but not least, I’ve played some with SQL Server 2011 CTP3, codenamed Denali. The first thing you notice after installing it, if you haven’t already tested CTP1 (CTP2 was not public), is the new integration with Visual Studio 2010. Pretty! Not a big difference from Management Studio, but everything is now in VS; BI tools and Management Studio. I’ve already written about some new exciting features in Denali, but here’s some I didn’t mention, or didn’t know of at the time:

• A new edition/version called Express Local DB Runtime. Zero-configuration but full support for all programmability features.
• Books online has changed. It was awful in CTP1, but I think I like the version in CTP3.
• In-Memory Column-store indexes aka Apollo – Read more about it here.
• New restore options. Now you got a timeline to choose from!
• A couple of new functions, Analytic, Conversion, THROW. Full list of new functions.
• You’re now able to format the result set from EXECUTE. For example returning XML.

Googling “SQL Server Denali CTP 3 new features” will give you a lot more features.