Brian H. Madsen - .Net Powered by Caffeine : Working with SQL Server 2005

SQL Code Camp - 13th and 14th of October here we come

Brian Madsen — Thu, 11 Oct 2007 07:34:23 GMT

I'm flying out to Wagga Wagga tonight on the red-eye flight from Perth to Melbourne, then from Melbourne to Sydney and finally from Sydney to Wagga Wagga.

Getting a flight this late directly to Canberra proved to be impossible. Regardless, i'm so going to enjoy the geek-weekend!

First off, I didn't expect to be able to go this year as i simply just couldn't afford the trip. So, a big thanks - no, a HUGE thanks goes to Top-Geek Jeff Wharton as he generously arranged the tickets for me so i could attend.

Jeff is the Chief Architect for Wardy IT Solutions and works there together with Peter Ward and over the years has contributed immensely to the community in Canberra.

For any info on SQL Code Camp go to http://www.sqldownunder.com/CodeCamp/tabid/53/Default.aspx where you'll find all the details you need.

Over the weekend I'll naturally be blogging like mad, so stay tuned.

Run IT on a Virtual Hard Disk

Brian Madsen — Sun, 30 Sep 2007 12:50:11 GMT

I don't know how often i've had to delay playing with a new piece of released technology, just because I was in the middle of another set of tests and simply didn't have the time to create my own virtual server environment again to accommodate the platform i want to test.

Here's a bit of good news - Microsoft VHD (www.microsoft.com/vhd) is a set of virtual hard disks available for download which already has the necessary bits installed.

Currently there's a range of virtuals available:

Biztalk Server 2006	System Center Essentials 2007
Exchange Server 2007	System Center Virtual Machine Manager 2007
Exchange Server 2007 SP1 Beta 2	Visual Studio 2005 Team Suite
ISA Server 2006	Visual Studio 2005 Team System
Microsoft Office 2007 Professional	Windows Server 2008 Beta 3
Office Sharepoint Server 2007	Windows Server 2003 R3
SQL Server 2005	Windows Vista
SQL Server 2005/Exchange 2007

Just download either Virtual PC or Virtual Server 2005 (which is free btw), and you're ready to go!

Without a doubt the biggest SQL Server even this year - SQL Down Under Code Camp

Brian Madsen — Sat, 15 Sep 2007 05:17:01 GMT

Information has been released for the upcoming SQL Server event of the year that you do NOT want to miss.

All details, including the first released timetable has been published here: Code Camp

Whatever you do this year, you do not want to miss out on this feast.

The event is free - that's right, no cost involved other than getting your geeky self over there.

Getting from the airport to Wagga Wagga has at times proven difficult, but people are sharing cars etc and you can easily find a ride with those going.

Its expected to be a blast, and from the event in previous years this is going to top the chart!

I'm hoping (and expecting!) to go myself so I'll be seeing you there!

WARDY IT Solutions - SQL Server Blog : AskaSQLGuru now on iTunes

Brian Madsen — Sat, 16 Jun 2007 02:39:19 GMT

Well, Peter Ward and company over at ASKASQLGuru.com are spreading their wings even further by including their own podcast on iTunes.

I listen to podcasts all day long at work and this is a definite inclusion in my list of podcasts.

Well done guys!!!

The iTunes podcast can be found here.

WARDY IT Solutions - SQL Server Blog : AskaSQLGuru now on iTunes

ask a SQL guru - Virtual SQL Server help, by Frank Arrigo's Blog

Brian Madsen — Sat, 09 Jun 2007 09:22:47 GMT

It's not only innovative thinking which led Peter Ward, SQL Server MVP Australia, to set up AskASQLGuru.com together with a group of other SQL Server specialist and gurus.

I found this today on Frank Arrigo's blog - thanks for spreading the word on this Frank!

After taking a look around I have to admit that these guys are definitely gurus and there's already a range of screencasts and articles available.

Good working guys!!

ask a SQL guru

SQL Server Storage Engine

Brian Madsen — Sun, 15 Apr 2007 07:29:09 GMT

Paul Randall, who's going to be doing a virtual presentation for the Perth SQL Server UG on detecting and recovering from database corruptions, contact the UG leaders across australia to let us know that he's just released some posts regarding some VLDB Maintenance Practices and Problem surveys he's posted on the SQL Server Storage Engine Team Blog.

If you're interested in doing the survey, drop on by his blog and email him from the address he gives out there (i dont give out emails, other than my own, on my blog because i'm being hit fairly hard by spam atm and you never know how many are collecting info to use).

Link to SQL Server Storage Engine

Microsoft MVP Series for SQL Server 2005 - ZDNet Australia. Interview with Greg Low

Brian Madsen — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 14:58:00 GMT

And who's this versatile???

Link to Microsoft MVP Series for SQL Server 2005 - ZDNet Australia

Microsoft MVP Series for SQL Server 2005 - ZDNet Australia. Interview with Greg Linwood

Brian Madsen — Sat, 31 Mar 2007 14:56:44 GMT

Well, lets be honest, you could do a lot worse than having a chat with Greg...he's simply brilliant!!

Link to Microsoft MVP Series for SQL Server 2005 - ZDNet Australia

Free SQL Server Training Videos...

Brian Madsen — Fri, 02 Mar 2007 15:14:17 GMT

The Godfather, Scott Guthrie, just informed people to the fact that they've just released a whole range, of brilliant imho, training videos for SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2005 Express over at www.asp.net.

When i first looked at the range of videos i was actually surprised with the contents - with basic database videos such as What is a Database and Understanding Database Tables and Records it brought me back to my earli(er) days. The videos range from about 30 odd miniutes and up to around 1hr long and they're fairly good quality.

When the surprised had settled a little smile crept out - when i consider how often i've expressed my opinion of how low skilled with databases a lot of developers really are, i can't help but think how appropriate these videos are. Instead of taking the tone of the big new features of SQL Server 2005 they've taken the time to get back to basics and cover what is essentially basic knowledge which i believe ANY developer should possess.

I know full well that nobody can cover every aspect of programming and the supporting technologies - there's simply just too much to absorb (though, with Scott i'm not sure mortal rules apply) - same really goes for people like Sahil Malik, Henrik Lykke Nielsen, Scott Hanselman, Greg Low, Greg Linwood (my very own favorite DB Guru) and of course the sexiest developer in the world - Chuck. Some of these guys are simply an inspiration to the development community.

taking in light the skills of these guys, it's not completely irresponsibly of me to hope, yes just hope, that databases would be covered in just a little part of the repertoire of skills we possess these days? I don't know if i'm more or less being fanatical and painting everybody else with my opinions - yes i know, oppressive isn't it...human rights and all that stuff!

But i don't think you realise how often it's seen today...a shame really because just to get up to scratch with a basic skillset you don't need to spend years working with it - so in saying that, i'm very happy to see the ASP.Net team at www.asp.net released the range of videos that they have.

Anyways - back on track - on post which i don't think i've seen before was also by Scott Guthrie (i know, does this guys ever sleep..or eat??), which was Tip/Trick: Online Database Schema Samples Library. Nice starter....it pointed to this which is a HUUUGE collection of schemas..i think there's at least 400 (if not more) sample schemas there.

SQL SErver CE Community - by Nick Randolph

Brian Madsen — Fri, 23 Feb 2007 05:14:14 GMT

The ever-involved Nick Randolph has gone one step further again and set up a virtual community for SQL Server CE (www.sqlserverce.org) and to "steal" a blurb from the front page:

Welcom to the SQL Server Compact Edition Community Portal. This site is continually being updated with information about client data and synchronisation technologies that work with SQL Server Compact Edition. There are now three blogs that you can access to get started - subscribe to these to access more data as it becomes available

Nick Randolph is a .Net Compact Framework MVP and used to run the Perth .Net Community of Practise which he did really well. the group is still running but under new management ;)

Well done Nick, for spreading the word on SQL Server CE...

Sahil Malik explains tsql's new feature "for xml".

Brian Madsen — Wed, 21 Feb 2007 08:35:01 GMT

After having read through Rob's post about "scripting objects" and commented on it I saw that Sahil Malik had written a great post about the "For XML" feature of SQL Server's TSQL!

He questioned why so few actually used it, when it obviously (according to Sahil that is) is a very powerful feature.

I fully believe it's simply because very few are actually aware of its existence - which is odd because it's published all over the place - but hey, horses for courses i say.

Anyways, good work Sahil on putting the techie blabber into conversational english for those that are eloquently challenged (eg. he has simplified the explanation somewhat).

Rob Farley goes "Objects" via scripting

Brian Madsen — Tue, 20 Feb 2007 23:49:29 GMT

Rob Farley posted an interesting way to script objects in SQL Server.

it's definitely worth checking out his post here.

Well done Rob..i like your style!

SQL Server 2005 SP2 released.

Brian Madsen — Mon, 19 Feb 2007 23:50:59 GMT

Finally!! service pack 2 has been released for SQL Server 2005.

SQL Server 2005 SP2 Now Available

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 (SP2) enables SQL Server 2005 customers to take advantage of the enhancements within Windows Vista and the 2007 Office system. Specific enhancements include, but are not limited to:
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Enhanced BI Capabilities
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Interoperability Enhancements
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Performance and Manageability Enhancements
Review what's new in SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 2 for information on new or improved features in Analysis Services, Database Engine, Integration Services, Reporting Services, and Shared Tools.
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Download SQL Server 2005 SP2

To update SQL Server 2005 with Service Pack 2, click the link below and download the files most appropriate for you.
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Download SQL Server 2005 SP2
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View Readme files for SQL Server 2005 SP2
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Download SQL Server 2005 Express Edition SP2

To download SQL Server Express Edition SP2, SQL Server Express with Advanced Services, or tools to help manage SQL Server Express, click the link below.
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Download SQL Server 2005 Express Edition SP2
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Download the Updated SQL Server 2005 Books Online

Download a standalone copy of the complete SQL Server 2005 Books Online documentation set. The Books Online set has been updated as of February 2007.
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Download the updated SQL Server 2005 Books Online
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Download SQL Server 2005 Feature Pack (February 2007)

The SQL Server 2005 Feature Pack is a collection of standalone install packages that provide additional value for SQL Server 2005. It has been updated for SP2.
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Download the SQL Server 2005 Feature Pack (February 2007)
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Download Updated Samples and Sample Databases

Download over 100 samples and four sample databases for SQL Server 2005. These samples have been updated for SP2.
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Download updated SQL Server 2005 samples and sample databases
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Download SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint Technologies

SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Add-in for SharePoint Technologies allows you to take advantage of SQL Server 2005 SP2 report processing and management capabilities in SharePoint. The download provides a Report Viewer web part, web application pages, and support for using standard Windows SharePoint Services.
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Download SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Add-in for Microsoft SharePoint Technologies
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Download SQL Server 2005 Data Mining Add-ins for Microsoft Office 2007

SQL Server 2005 Data Mining Add-ins for Microsoft Office 2007 allow you take advantage of SQL Server 2005 predictive analytics in Office Excel 2007 and Office Visio 2007. The download includes Table Analysis Tools for Excel, Data Mining Client for Excel, and Data Mining Templates for Visio.
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Download SQL Server 2005 Data Mining Add-ins for Microsoft Office 2007

New idea - let readers suggest a topic to be covered

Brian Madsen — Wed, 20 Sep 2006 14:43:00 GMT

Sometimes you can get rather frustrated, that the exact scenario you're trying to solve a problem with, isn't documented on MSDN - or you end up finding 100s of tutorials which never really works in your case.

So, why not try something new - suggest a topic and i'll write up an article/tutorial/solution for it.

very simple - just bear in mind that i don't have unlimited resources at my disposal so i cant set up an enterprise environment, running a specific ERP together with a cluster of Oracle or SQL Servers.

also, please don't suggest anything even remotely related to MONO, MySQL or something that even touches on any Linux flavour...i left that world behind many years ago and i'm not going back.

To be on the same page - i'll list the platforms:

.Net
C#
.NET
SQL Server
.NET
Visual Studio
.Net

That pretty much sums it up...

I've put up a page for suggestions here

First request has come through - How to validate fields in a GridView.

Now i'm pretty sure there's other examples out there for this, but it's a place to start.

Note: Due to the high amount of spam directed at this post - i have disabled comments from it - if you have any questions or suggestions please just forward me an email through the contact section.

Perth .Net COP - Greg Linwood is presenting here as well (man he's busy!)

Brian Madsen — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 00:09:00 GMT

Greg Linwood - probably one of the best SQL Server presenters i've ever had the pleasure of watching perform, is now also presenting for the Perth .Net COP.

Meeting 6th September - Designing Indexes for Developers - Wednesday, Sept 06, 2006

Date:        Wednesday 6th September
Time:        5:30 PM
Topic:       Designing Indexes for Developers
Location:   Colonial Ballroom - MELBOURNE HOTEL, 942 Hay St (cnr Milligan St), Perth
Cost:        FREE

Indexes that allow the database management system to access the underlying data efficiently are critical for the successful operation of a database application. In this session, Greg Linwood will explain some simple techniques you can follow to design indexes which will help your code run like the wind.

www.perthdotnet.org

Perth SQL Server UG - Greg Linwood is presenting again

Brian Madsen — Thu, 17 Aug 2006 00:07:00 GMT

After many requests, Greg Linwood is back in town.

The event is free.

********************************************
Title: Managing Indexes for Database Administrators
Presenter: Greg Linwood, Managing Director, SQL Servants
Venue: Colonial room - Melbourne Hotel, Cnr Hay & Milligan St (Behind the QV1 building)
Time: 7th of September, 2006 5:30pm-7pm

Greg Linwood is the Managing Director of "SQL Servants" - a dedicated Australian SQL Server infrastructure support business and also Australian Director of "Solid Quality Learning" - the world's leading provider of expert SQL Server training. Greg has worked in a range of developer & DBA capacities with SQL Server since 1993 and first received Microsoft’s SQL Server MVP award in 2003. He has gained significant expertise in SQL Server tuning & optimisation techniques and most of his professional time is currently spent tuning various customer SQL Server systems. Greg is passionate about building high quality SQL Server community events in Australia and is one of the founders of the Australian SQL Server User Group.

at this event we'll cover:

Managing indexes is central to achieving good database performance and is therefore an important skill for a professional Database Administrator (DBA) to possess. In this session, Greg Linwood will explain the fundamentals of index management, including how to identify which indexes are being used by SQL Server (and those that are not), which are being fragmented and statistics aged.

In addition, Greg will dispell some widely held myths about Clustered & Non-Clustered indexes by describing the roles these important structures play in a database and how to strategically maximise their use. Whilst this session is aimed at primarily at database administrators, it will also be of interest to developers wanting to maximise database performance of their applications.
********************************************

Registrations will close on the 6th of September at 9PM.

http://www.sqlserver.org.au/Events/RegisterMeeting.aspx?EventId=202

Venue: Colonial room - Melbourne Hotel, Cnr Hay & Milligan St (Behind the QV1 building) | Duration 5:30PM - 7:00PM | On: Thursday, 7 September 2006

Perth SQLUG - SQL Server 2005 Service Broker Session

Brian Madsen — Wed, 21 Jun 2006 15:04:00 GMT

So we're back at it again - this time we're getting a visit from across the country..

Nick Ward is grazing us with his presence and is doing an interesting session on SQL Server 2005 Service Broker.

Title: SQL Server 2005 Service Broker
Presenter: Nick Ward, Technology Specialist, Microsoft
Venue: QV1, Level 14 250 St Georges Tce, MS Offices
Time: 13th of July, 2005 5pm-7pm

Service Broker is a new feature of SQL Server 2005 that provides a message-oriented queuing mechanism for building highly scalable, de-coupled applications. In fact, Service Broker offers the database administrator and developer a new architecture for building triggers, stored procedures and applications that can result in faster processing times for the end user. Service Broker also forms a core part of several other components of SQL Server eg: Database Mail.

In this session we cover:-

1) What is Service Broker?
2) What it offers DBA's "inside the database" & how to use it.
3) What it offers Architects "outside the database"

Nick Ward is a "Technology Specialist - Database & Business Intelligence" in the Enterprise Solutions Group, Microsoft Australia.

This session is an excellent example of how far SQL Server has come with the 2005 version compared to it's predecessors.

Also, as usual, please ensure that you register online prior to the event so we can have a better estimate for food and drink.

Lastly, this month again sees us with a great prize -Microsoft Application Center 2000.

For those around the Perth area, click here to register for the event. the event is FREE, no admission or membership fees are required.