Darren Herbold

SSIS in Chicago

While at a client in Chicago, I was tasked with loading data from a series
of flat files. Easy enough. The interesting requirement though, was to obtain
a hash value from the file before loading to determine if in fact the file had been
previously loaded.

The client had an executable that when run, provided a hash value as a return
value. The solution I came up with was to use a for-each file enumerator to loop
through the files, assign a variable to the full-qualified value of the file and then
pass that variable to the executable using an Execute Process Task.

When the Execute Process Task retrieved the value of the hash for that file, I
would then assign it to a variable. Earlier in the process I created a log table
that stored nothing but hash values. So all I needed to do at this point was to
check for the existence of the hash value in the log table to determine if the
file had been previously loaded. If the hash value existed in the table, then the
file has been loaded, and if not, load the file. That's it!

While we're on the topic of Chicago, I must admit that it is my favorite city to
visit. Why? Because it just plain rocks! All the great places to eat and drink,
the tall buildings with amazing architecture, and the people are the friendliest
I've encountered all of the 50 states.

Some of my favorite things to do when I'm working in Chicago is eat, drink,
and explore the city. Once I get off work, it's show-time baby!

Below are some pictures of my time there:

The Chicago River The Sears Tower