Posts filed under: development
SSRS Error – ReportServerDatabaseUnavailableException
We recently had a customer trying to upgrade an SSRS solution and they were receiving some of the errors below. Some were from when they were trying to deploy the new reports and some were when they tried to go...
SSDT Deployment Optimization for Table Constraints and Calculated Columns
Calculated columns on tables can be helpful. For example let’s assume you have a table with Name Fields and you have a formula for FullName. You typically want that formula in a single spot. A common way to handle that...
Avoiding deployment grief from database drift
*Movie guy voice* In a world where applications are developed and shipped to multiple customers. One company effectively saves money and has happier customers by understanding database drift. I was once talking to a friend at a SQL Server Users...
Equivalence Partitioning and Other Testing Methodologies
I was recently sent an article on different testing methodologies. Thanks Danny. The article covered a topic that I think many people may forget about when thinking of how to write tests. That topic is Equivalence Partitioning. Equivalence Partitioning is used to...
Starting with T-SQL for SQL Server
I was recently having a conversation with someone and they asked me what some good resources were to begin writing SQL. So I thought it would be a good idea to compile a quick list of places I like to...
Lessons Learned: Standard Dashboard Episode 1
Where I currently work many process improvement projects end up requiring some sort of software deliverable be created and left behind to aid in the sustainment of the process improvement work. Originally these were prototypes developed for a single site,...
Quickly Defining a Table Structure From a Query
I recently saw a comment that described getting data into a temp table using SELECT <Columns> INTO <Table>. The main reason this was done was just for convenience and to speed up getting to the answers they ultimately needed. For...
Ransomware: another reason to have a good Disaster Recovery Plan
I read a chilling editorial over at SQL Server Central in regards to the growing threat of Ransomware. Steve Jones presents a nightmare scenario for a business. Imagine you come into work and all of your database columns are encrypted....
T-Shirt Series: The Temporary Line
Throughout the T-Shirt series we have discussed Temp Tables, Table Variables, Derived Tables, and Common Table Expressions (CTE). In this post I will summarize high level differences under normal circumstances. See the articles above for further details. Temp Table Table...
The value of an effective stand-up
Lately, I have been thinking about how we could execute our stand-up meeting better. Usually when I start questioning the effectiveness of something I like to refocus on the intended value. I recalled a post I read quite a while...