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SQL Server blogs from Wise Owl (page 1 of 8)
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How to get rid of lots of blank rows in a Report Builder table
Posted by Andy Brown on 16 February 2018
There seems to be an occasional bug in Report Builder which fills a table with blank rows. Here's one owl's way to get round it.
Which should you learn: Report Builder or Reporting Services?
Posted by Andy Brown on 16 February 2018
Report Builder and SQL Server Reporting Services are almost identical - which makes the small but important differences even harder to explain.
Did you know there was an IIF function in SQL to test conditions? We didn't!
Posted by Andy Brown on 16 February 2018
You can use the IIF function in SQL as an alternative to the CASE WHEN statement. We thought we would share this new (for us) discovery with the world!
What's new in SQL Server 2017? For SSAS Tabular, lots, it transpires.
Posted by Andy Brown on 23 January 2018
This blog summarises the main new features of SQL Server for non-administrators (that is, most of us). Most parts of SQL Server get minor changes at best, but SSAS Tabular 2017 gets a host of major improvements.
Create your own snippets of SQL code, and insert them into your queries
Posted by Andy Brown on 23 November 2017
With SQL Server 2012 came the power not just to use pre-defined code snippets, but also to create your own - this blog explains how.
This blog shows a clever way to annotate expression constraints in SSIS
Posted by Andy Brown on 27 April 2017
If you've added an expression constraint to control flow in a package in Integration Services, this blog will show you how to display what the constraint does automatically.
How to loop over the worksheets in an Excel workbook using Integration Services
Posted by Andy Brown on 21 April 2017
Follow this blog to learn how to use an SSIS package to loop over the worksheets in an Excel XLSX workbook, importing the contents of each.
Speed comparison of temporary tables against table variables
Posted by Andy Brown on 02 March 2017
When you are programming in SQL, you often have the choice of using table variables or temporary tables. This blog considers whether one method is substantially quicker than the other (spoiler alert: not really).
A list of one owl's 5 favourite system stored procedures in SQL!
Posted by Andy Brown on 03 February 2017
Everyone has a favourite system stored procedure (you do, don't you?). But five? That's the subject of this blog, anyway.
Wise Owl coding standards for T-SQL (the SQL dialect used in SQL Server)
Posted by Andy Brown on 01 February 2017
A blog setting out an approach to coding in SQL to ensure consistently high standards across your organisation.
Is the new(ish) FORMAT function in SQL Server slow?
Posted by Andy Brown on 16 January 2017
SQL Server 2012 saw the introduction of the T-SQL FORMAT function, making it easier to present dates nicely (no more remembering CONVERT arguments such as 103!). But is it too slow to be really useful? This blog aims to test this scientifically.
How to use the FOR XML keywords in SQL to concatenate ids
Posted by Andy Brown on 27 September 2016
If you want to group items in a SQL query, showing a comma-delimited list of ids for each, generating an XML file is not the obvious place to start - but it should be.
SQL Server 2016 contains lots of new goodies, as this blog explains
Posted by Andy Brown on 11 July 2016
Microsoft have made huge changes to SQL Server Reporting Services and Analysis Services (Tabular Model), and smaller ones to SSIS, SSAS (cubes) and SQL. This blog gives the main highlights, with links to blogs giving the full Monty for each area of SQL Server 2016.
An analysis of the main new features in SQL Server Reporting Services 2016
Posted by Andy Brown on 11 July 2016
Microsoft have put a lot of effort into SSRS 2016, including completely rewriting Report Manager (it's now called Web Portal) and creating separate software for publishing reports to mobiles. There are lots of new features to contemplate!
How to install Visual Studio 2015 Community and SQL Server 2016 Developer
Posted by Andy Brown on 11 July 2016
This short blog summarises how to get legitimate free copies of Visual Studio 2015 and SQL Server 2016 Developer installed on your laptop or computer.
This blog summarises the (many) new features in Analysis Services 2016 (Tabular)
Posted by Andy Brown on 08 July 2016
Microsoft have made lots of improvements to SSAS (Tabular model) - we particularly like the new DAX editor! This blog lists all of the most interesting changes, divided into 4 separate sections.
A quick summary of new features in Analysis Services multi-dimensional model
Posted by Andy Brown on 08 July 2016
What's new for cubes (or Analysis Services multi-dimensional models, to give them their full title)? Virtually nothing, as this oh-so-short blog makes clear.
A summary of the main new features in SQL Server Integration Services 2016
Posted by Andy Brown on 08 July 2016
My favourite new feature in SSIS 2016 is the ability to group components of a package together for reuse elsewhere, but there are quite a few more nice new ideas!
What's new in the T-SQL language for SQL Server 2016
Posted by Andy Brown on 23 June 2016
A quick summary of the (few) new language features introduced into SQL for SQL Server 2016.
Using SSIS to loop over the worksheets in an Excel workbook, importing each
Posted by Andy Brown on 07 April 2016
Looping over Excel workbooks is one thing, but how can you loop over all of the worksheets in a single workbook, importing the contents of each? This blog explains the steps you need to follow.