The JOIN() function in SQL Server Reporting Services is a handy tool that allows you to turn a list into a delimited string value. This function accepts two parameters, a list and a delimiter with which to separate the output, and returns a string with that list separated by the specified delimiter character. Using the JOIN Function in Reporting Services…
As anyone who reads my blog on a regular basis knows, I’m a big fan of using dynamic configurations, including SSIS parameters variables, to make my ETL architectures as flexible as possible. However, along with those dynamic behaviors comes the challenge of troubleshooting and debugging. Because variables and parameters do not have static values (by design), working your way through…
Visual Studio and its business intelligence variant SQL Server Data Tools share a very powerful but extremely busy interface. If you happen to close out of one of the tool windows by mistake, finding the right menu option to re-enable that window can take some practice. In this post, I’ll show you to to restore your missing SSIS toolbox. Restore…
This quick tip is likely to be the most brief of the entire collection, but is also one of the most practical. When testing SSIS packages during development in SQL Server Data Tools, it’s very common to run and re-run the same package numerous times. It’s fairly easy to stop and restart the package each time using the Stop and…
Recently I was building a new virtual machine for presentations, and loaded up my usual battery – Windows 7, SQL Server 2012, and SSDT-BI. The installation of these pieces went as expected, and everything appeared to work well – until I attempted to execute an SSIS package on this new setup. When I did so, I received the following cryptic…