Articles and Whitepapers

Extending Reporting Services With Custom Code

SQL Server Reporting Services is capable of creating eye-popping visualizations that can be consumed by a variety of business users. The tool has built-in functionality for developers to produce reports that users will find not only functional, but also visually appealing. This whitepaper will focus on how to overcome the gaps that expressions leaves by using custom code. You will also learn many other advantages of using custom code like creating consistency across all reports developed. As you read this paper, you will walk through many examples of using custom code. These examples will emphasize the use of custom code, and will therefore skip topics like creating data sources, datasets and basic report toolbox items.

Managing and Configuring SSIS Packages

Administering SSIS can be a challenging task for a DBA/Developer who is not familiar with the SSIS environment and some of the new hurdles it can present. This whitepaper discusses how to configure packages so that you can have zero-touch deployments. We'll take a dive-deep look into a notification and logging framework that sends alerts if a problem occurs or if capacity is running out. Also, how to deploy and schedule SSIS packages will be covered.

Managing SSIS in Denali (SQL Server 2012)

In this session, you’ll learn how to manage SSIS in Denali (SQL Server 2012). You’ll first see how the logging and auditing of your SSIS packages has changed in Denali. Then, you’ll learn how parameterization of packages has been overhauled to make a zero-touch deployment of your packages. In this demo-packed session, you’ll walk through the entire lifecycle of a package from deployment to longer-term management of the package.

Migrating DTS Packages to Integration Services

SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) brings a revolutionary concept of enterprise-class ETL to the masses. The engine is robust enough to handle hundreds of millions of rows with ease, but is simple enough to let both developers and DBAs engineer an ETL process. Learn about the benefits of migrating your SQL Server 2000 Data Transformation Services (DTS) packages to Integration Services by using two proven methods. Download this whitepaper by Brian Knight and see how you can run and manage your current DTS packages inside of the SQL Server 2005 and 2008 management tools.

SSIS Accelerator Series: Working with SSIS Expressions

Whether you’ve been involved with SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) for years or are just learning SSIS, you’ve probably found the learning curve of the SSIS expression language quite challenging. The expression language is a core component of SSIS that helps users make any component in an SSIS packages dynamic and also helps the data flow make workflow decisions. This whitepaper walks you through a crash course in the SSIS expression language across all components of SSIS. After you complete this whitepaper, you’ll know how to use expressions in the control flow, data flow and in connections to make your package change at runtime and maximize the full power of SSIS.

SSIS Stumpers: An SSIS Challenge From Brian Knight

Prove your SSIS skills by besting the experts at Pragmatic Works! This Whitepaper is designed to help you map a technical SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) solution to a business problem. To do this, we give you a business problem to solve with loose requirements. You can then solve it however you wish inside of SSIS as long as you meet the requirements. We provide hints on how to solve the problem and if you need some more help, you can read the high-level step by step instructions. Good luck!

Troubleshooting SSIS Failures and Performance using BI xPress

SSIS is a fantastic Microsoft tool for performing Extract Transform and Loading (ETL) procedures. A challenge is SSIS though is identifying a problem once you deploy your packages to production. In this session you will learn how to set up auditing and logging on SSIS packages to trap for problems and performance issues. You will learn how to do this with native tasks built into Integration Services and how to audit SSIS using BI xPress.

Upgrading DTS Packages to SSIS

The Microsoft “End of Life” policy for SQL 2000 has encouraged many organizations to seriously look at migrating their SQL2000 servers to SQL2005 or 2008. One of the biggest obstacles to a rapid migration is the DTS package issue. To gain the performance benefits and a supported path forward for the functionality in DTS, these packages should be converted into native SSIS. As we all know, the conversion is NOT straightforward. SSIS is more powerful and significantly different from DTS. Join Brian as he takes you through the transition!

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