Category: Uncategorized

  • So you want to your company to buy a new piece of software… Here are the basic steps to get what you want

    Sections you should include in your project / implementation plan 1. Definition of objective / Establish Sponsors Definition of Problems to solve Identify executive sponsors and supporters 2. Requirements gathering 3. Vendor selection & trial Sign MNDAs Notes: Using the best in class or industry standard should be the default. Deviate from this guidance only […]

  • Format SQL in Sisense CDT

    This is one of those posts that’s here for my own benefit more than yours. I can never seem to google up the solution to this one so if I put it here with a title that matches what I was googling, maybe I’ll be able to google my own article. So, how do you […]

  • Cygwin and Git – Tired of typing your password? Cache it!

    I’m a git and cygwin noob. Despite that I like using the command line. It’s a bit of mental gymnastics and keeps the mundane from getting mundane. One thing that irritated me though was having to constantly retype my password when pushing or pulling from remote. Through dumb luck I stumbled across the secret config […]

  • SSIS: Parsing a connection string using an SSIS expression

    Sometimes, the things we do can seem a bit convoluted. This is one of those cases. Without bothering to explain how we got to this point (a long story with an uninteresting ending), I will explain how to use an SSIS expression to parse a server and database name out of a connection string stored […]

  • Where is vsdbcmd.exe in Visual Studio 2012!?!

    Looking for your old friend vsdbcmd.exe in visual studio 2012? There’s good news and bad news. The bad news is it’s gone and it’s not coming back. (see this MSDN thread if you don’t believe me). The good news is there’s a replacement: sqlpackage.exe The path for sqlpackage.exe is typically: C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\110\DAC\bin […]

  • SSDT Default Values For Smart Defaults

    There’s a handy feature in SSDT (SQL Server Development Tools) that will automatically insert a default value into a column when you change it from nullable to NOT NULL. I wasn’t able to track down documentation specifying what the default values for the “smart defaults” were so I hopped into the SQL DB Pros corporate […]

  • SQL Bracket Blaster Beta – FREE

    BETA-BETA-BETA SQL Bracket Blaster Wish there was an easy way to get rid of all those square brackets that SQL Server Management Studio insists on adding whenever you script out code? What if you could remove them by highlighting some code and pressing a hot key? Well now you can with SQL Bracket Blaster!

  • SQL PASS Party! – The most important schedule of the 2012 PASS Summit

    Ain’t no party like a database party! After a nine year hiatus I’m finally headed back to the Seattle PASS Summit.  With so many great speakers I knew I better examine the schedule to plan my time wisely.  As such, here’s a list of the post summit parties:

  • SSRS Sort Legend: It can be done!

    While working with a stacked bar chart in SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS), I needed to change the sort order for the legend without changing the sort order of the stacked bar. Despite the fact I personally think stacked bar charts are a poor way to visualize data people still want to use them. Didn’t […]

  • We can’t do that here

    Hmm, first thought was: “we can’t do that here”… Second thought: “that first thought was lame”.