There are some questions that can’t necessarily be answered in a book or a training video. Those are often the questions revolving around “why?” rather than “how?”. A prime example from my own experience is my lack of understanding of the criticality of transaction isolation levels. As a very green SQL Server professional (and in this case, I define professional…
We’re three weeks removed from the first annual SQL Saturday Dallas event, so I’ve had a little time to gather my thoughts on our successes and shortcomings in this inaugural event. This was the first SQL Saturday event held in Dallas, and we expect this to be an annual event moving forward. We started planning this some 8 months ago…
This weekend I flew out to Pensacola, Florida to present a session at SQL Saturday 22. This was the second SQL Saturday that Pensacola has hosted, and I’ve been fortunate to have attended and spoken at both of them. I got in around 5pm, travelling with my friend and fellow Dallas area speaker Tim Costello on what might be the…
So for those of you who attended SQL Saturday Dallas this past weekend, here’s my Top Ten(ish) list from the event: Getting lost in the construction zone on Spring Valley on the way A thousand Quest splat balls Competing with SQL Saturday Portland and Indy Tech Fest on the same day – but knowing that ours was the biggest, because…
This is a strange feeling. No frantic deadlines. No daily conference calls with the team. No hurried trips to the printers, no sessions to juggle around, no all-day Saturday work days coming up. My kids recognize me again. I know what my house looks like in daylight. More importantly, I get to resurrect my neglected blog. SQL Saturday Dallas was…
Is the order of parameters important in SQL Server Reporting Services reports? If you’ve got nested parameters (parameters that derive their value from one or more other parameters), it is very important! In this post, I will show that report parameter order in SSRS matters a lot when parameters are dependent on each other. Report Parameter order in SSRS Using…
I usually don’t do book reviews (at least publicly, anyway), but when I find a piece of work that I really get a lot out of, I don’t mind sharing my experience. Such was the case with a book I finished recently. SQL Server 2008 Integration Services: Problem – Design – Solution is a concise guide to becoming a better…
I’ve been using the scripting tools in SSIS for some time, but I came across something today that I can’t quite explain. I normally don’t posts unresolved problems on my blog, but I’m trying out a strategy suggested by my friend Lee Everest by sharing unfinished work in the hopes that my research and troubleshooting can help someone else. So…
So I’ve discovered another benefit of being a technical blogger. Not only do you get some kudos when you write something that helps someone else, but if you offer up a less-than-optimal solution, you’ll get some suggestions on how it can be done better. I’ve had my share of the former, but earlier this week I experienced the latter. Last…
At the MVP Summit last week, I was talking with fellow Dallas-area tweep Sean McCown about our local SQL Server user group membership. I think our group is unique because of its sheer size; we typically have between 70 and 90 people at our monthly meetings, with a mailing list that goes out to between 600 and 800 people. So…