Up until now, most of my use of PowerShell has been against SSAS, but I recently had a need to setup a number of SSIS packages for some relatively large CSV files. My problem was that the CSV files had about 125 columns and 120 of them (10 years of monthly figures) need to be inserted into Numeric(18,5) columns in SQL Server. However the ...

Details are here http://blogs.technet.com/dataplatforminsider/archive/2008/06/07/sql-server-2008-rc0-now-available-for-subscribers.aspx More info once I have mine downloaded and installed under Hyper V

[via EXEC dbo.LongTermMemory__Archive] Apparently SQL Server now has a new logo.         It's interesting... I think they felt left out at the launch events with Visual Studio 2008 and Windows Server 2008 when they were the only product without a logo. I'm not quite sure what it's meant to be, but to my eye it seems to have been ...

Read all about it here http://blogs.technet.com/dataplatforminsider/archive/2008/06/04/new-logo-for-sql-server-2008.aspx Remind me to write a long and painfu post about the battle with Central Marketing during SQL 2000 as to why it was better(or NOT) to have a picture of a building on the box than the Red Braid that had been on many of the ...

Somehow I managed to miss this one (thanks to Erland for the pointer). Folks have been asking for access to docs on TDS since before I was involved in SQL Server, well now you can peruse(all 124 pages) to your hearts content. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/cc448435.aspx

Ever had to take over the code for a system you did not define? Ever found the documentation for such an app, to be ahemmm lacking?   Its  a fairly common ask from new app developers/ DBAs to find out if certain code is still being used for apps that have evolved over  a number of years. In SQL 2005 we added a DMV that allows you ...

If you are on the mailing list for the Melbourne SQL Server User Group you will already be aware of this, but I am doing a talk on Tuesday night on the new BI features in SQL Server 2008. You can find the details here: http://www.sqlserver.org.au/events/ViewEvent.aspx?EventId=332 If you are going to be in town feel free to drop by and say ...

I just learned that we have some new BI MVPs that were awarded recently On the SSAS front Vidas Matelis (of www.ssas-info.com fame) has received a SQL Server MVP award. And two of my fellow countrymen and PerformancePoint specialists Adrian Downes and Nick Barclay have both been awarded too.

Ok, so I was looking around for a blurb about plan guides for my anti ad hoc SQL section of my book (ok, maybe not completely anti- but that isn't the point,) when I found this blog: http://geekswithblogs.net/Sreeblog/articles/117576.aspx that basically just lists some new features in 2008.  One that I hadn't seen I feel the need to ...

The SQL 2008, VS2008, Windows Sever 2008 launch event in the US happened this week. Dan Jones has some highlight features that were announced; T-SQL Debugger is back Object Search is back Activity Monitor has effectively been rewritten to improve perf and usefulness