10Jun 2008 by Grant Fritchey 2 Comments

VSTS 2008 Database Edition GDR: First Impressions

Tools, Visual Studio
Since I have to work through this thing to set up a test project to verify our build & deployment processes with the new tool (see my teeth grinding post below) I might as well post a spot evaluation of the tool as I go through it. I'm creating a new database project (and I'd rather not talk about that). Rather than go through a wizard, I decided to create a blank database project and now I'm capturing the database by using the new Schema Compare. It looks mostly the same. One new thing that came up immediately is a "Permissions" folder. It has all the GRANT CONNECT, GRANT EXECUTE ON SCHEMA that I had in my database. In the 2005 version of VSTS, we maintained this stuff in post…
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10Jun 2008 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

VSTS 2008 Database Edition GDR

Visual Studio
OK. I'm jazzed about this. I'm diving in to test it out & try it out. <kicking desk> I can't convert existing projects to it... CRUD! Fine. Reverse engineering a database and then building all the customizations by hand will be a good learning experience. Yes, that sound you hear is my teeth grinding, not tectonic plates shifting... CRUD! A quick & easy test, no real work was that too much to ask?
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10Jun 2008 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

Visual Studio Team Edition for Databases 2008

SQL Server, Visual Studio
Great news. All the processes we had created for automating our deployments and builds in VSDB 2005 work in VSDB 2008. Bad news. All the work arounds and crutches we had to figure out and maintain are still necessary. I've heard that it makes the MS guys crazy, but we found that the only way to get the configurations to work with VSDB 2005, and now 2008, was to check-in the .USER file along with the code. This then needed to be checked out of source control, replacing the local copy (and heaven help you if you don't use a forced get on the check out) before doing any work with the project. I did a full build & deploy from 2008 through our usual batch file. No problems at…
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05Jun 2008 by Grant Fritchey 1 Comment

Operations Manager 2007 SQL Collection Article

T-SQL, Tools
It took me a while to find all the little pieces to put together a custom rule that used data collected through TSQL. In fact, because it took so much work to pull all the little pieces together, I wrote an article describing how I did it. This isn't a wonderful new invention. It's just the publication of a bunch of research. If you're an Operations Manager expert, this isn't for you. If you're like I am, trying to find your way through the forest, this little bit of map will hopefully provide some assistance. Available at SQL Server Central.
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04Jun 2008 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

Top Vs Max

SQL Server, T-SQL
I finished a set of research and tests. I put it all together and gave it to Chuck Heintzleman at SQL Server Standard (that web site can use some help). Hopefully he likes it and publishes it. I understand that the upcoming issue will be on performance tuning. If he doesn't like it, I'll get it over to Peter Ward at SQL Server Performance or to Steve Jones at SQL Server Central. I'm posting this because I see so many web searches looking for information comparing TOP to MAX. Here are some short answers for those interested. Data to support these suggestions is included with the article. ROW_NUMBER works best with smaller data sets. TOP has more consistent operation over a range a data. MAX frequently resolves as a TOP operation, but sometimes…
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04Jun 2008 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

Microsoft Connect and DBPro Enhancement

Visual Studio
I've mentioned it before and I think it's worth mentioning again, Microsoft Connect really works. I've seen bugs and enhancements listed there receive enough attention that they were in the next release or service pack of the product in question. That brings me to DBPro. We use DBPro for all our database development. It's a great tool. However, it's still a bit to geared toward the individual user and not the team, despite it's moniker (Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals). One thing that really does bother me is how it stores some settings, such as Target Connection in the .user file within a project. This means that each individual sets the connection for the project each time they check it out after another user has had it. Another…
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02Jun 2008 by Grant Fritchey 6 Comments

Spatial Data Types in SQL Server 2008

Uncategorized
I'm pretty excited about this new data type and the functionality associated with it. I'm sure our company will have some application for this. However, I saw this interesting post over at SQL Server Central. If anyone can help shed some light on this question, I'm sure a lot of people would be interested in the answers. UPDATE: I made an incorrect link above in the original posting. It was just an oopsie, not an intentional misdirection. My apologies.
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29May 2008 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

Internet Searches

T-SQL
I like to look at the searches that pop up as links into the blog just for ideas on posts. What the heck do I do with this one: "nested loop joins" "sql server 2008" Yes, SQL Server 2008 has Nested Loop Joins. They do the same thing in 2008 that they did in 2005 and 2000.
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