Articles

Quick migration tips Oracle to Sql server

Rajendra Rawat — Fri, 04 Nov 2005 19:16:00 GMT

Oracle	SQL
PL/SQL	T-SQL
SQL *Plus(sqlplusw)	Query Analyzer (isqlw)
DESC	sp_help, sp_columns, INFORMATION_SCHEMA.COLUMNS
Sequences	Identity
Synonym	Views
DECODE function	CASE expression
BEFORE triggers	INSTEAD OF triggers
SELECT * FROM TAB;	SELECT * FROM sysobjects WHERE type = 'U'
CREATE TABLE AS NEW_TABLE SELECT * FROM EXISTING_TABLE -- WHERE 1=2;	SELECT * INTO NEW_TABLE FROM EXISTING_TABLE -- WHERE 1=2
SELECT CURRENT_DATE FROM DUAL; SELECT SYSDATE FROM DUAL;	SELECT getdate()
INTERSECT operator	Workaround:EXISTS SELECT OrderID, OrderDate FROM Orders O WHERE EXISTS ( SELECT 1 FROM RefundsTable R WHERE O.OrderID = R.OrderID )
MINUS operator	Workaround:EXISTS SELECT OrderID, OrderDate FROM Orders O WHERE NOT EXISTS ( SELECT 1 FROM RefundsTable R WHERE O.OrderID = R.OrderID )
Rownum	Workaround: How to Dynamically Number Rows in a Select Statement

Feel free to add more tips in comments(if any)

SQL Server and OLAP

Rajendra Rawat — Fri, 14 Oct 2005 20:05:00 GMT

Simply put On-Line Analytical Processing is Analysis using multi-dimensional database(OLAP Cube), pre-aggregated data to quench ad-hoc business queries in a Decision Support System.

Following are the broad steps:

1. A Data Warehouse/Staging OLAP database is prepared by ETL Process using MSSQL DTS (Data Transformation Services)
2. Measures/KPI (Key process Areas) and context/Dimensions are identified
3. Multidimensional Schema or OLAP Cubes are prepared in SQL Server 2005 Business Intelligence Development Studio (or Analysis Manager if using SQL Server 2000) and Storage mode is defined
4. OLAP cubes are queried using ant UI
which can be anything from an Excel Pivot table to a Custom Cube browser
5. Reports may be prepared using SQL Server Reporting Services (using MDX to query OLAP cubes) or any other reporting tool supporting OLAP

Some OLAP Facts and Jargon
==========================

ETL Process (or ETML - M for move)
-----------
-Extraction
-Transformation
-Loading
(of data)

Storage Options
-----------------
MOLAP -Multidimensional OLAP
ROLAP -Relational OLAP
HOLAP -Hybrid OLAP

NOTE: SQL Server 2005 introduction of Unified Dimensional Model, allows the designer many more storage options and unlike SQL Server 2000

MDX
----
MDX is used to query a multidimensional database/ OLAP cubes (as SQL to query RDBMS)

For Example:
WITH
      MEMBER Measures.[Average Sale Price] AS
      'Measures.[Store Sales] /
      Measures.[Sales Count]'
   SELECT
      { Measures.[Average Sale Price] } ON COLUMNS,
      { Product.CHILDREN } ON ROWS
   FROM Sales

Cube Browser
-------------
Types of OLAP Cube Browsers
- Office Web components such as the Excel Pivot Table
- Third-party applications such ProClarity
- Custom-built applications

Measure Identification Tip
----------------------------
If a number makes sense when it is aggregated, then it is a measure

Dimension Identification Tip
----------------------------
When a report is requested "by" something, that something is usually a dimension

Simple steps for creating OLAP cube in SQL Server 2000
------------------------------------------------------
Open Analysis Manager>Right Click Analysis Server>Create OLAP data source>Select Provider>Select Operational Database>Invoke Cube Wizard>Select Fact Table>Select Measures>>Invoke Dimension (Sub)Wizard>Select Dimension hierarchy/Schema - Star, Snow Flake >Select Dimension tables>Select hierarchical levels>Add more dimension(s) including time dimension>Edit joins(if required)>Define Storage Mode>Process Cube>Browse Cube

SQL Server 2005 BI Workbench Platform Tools
-------------------------------------------
- SQL Server Relational Database—used to create relational database
- Analysis Services—used to create multidimensional model (measures, dimensions and schema)
- Data Transformation Services (DTS)—used to extract, transform and load data from source(s) to the data ware house or schema
- Reporting Services—used to build and manage enterprise reporting using the relational or multidimensional sources
- Data Mining—used to extract information based on predetermined algorithms.

Some useful links
-------------------------------
SQL Sever 2005 (http://www.devx.com/dbzone/Article/21410)
SQL Sever 2000 (http://www.databasejournal.com/features/mssql/article.php/10894_1429671_1)

How to view InfoPath Forms in IE

Rajendra Rawat — Sat, 23 Jul 2005 01:30:00 GMT

1. Create a InfoPath Form save it (in say c:\try.)
2. File > Extract Form Files. (to c:\try)
3. Open Template.xml from c:\try
4. Locate the PI(processing instructions) starting with 5. Add this PI after first line

6. save Template.xml
7. Right-click c:\try\manifest.xsf > Design
8. File > Save As >Save(not publish)....... as c:\try\try.xsn
9. Close InfoPath.
10. Open try.xsn > Fill it > save as filledform1.xml
11. Now you can open filledform1.xml file in IE

If you know XSLT you got the idea;)

Embed WinForm Control in IE

Rajendra Rawat — Fri, 22 Jul 2005 23:11:00 GMT

To Embed a WinForm Control(say RajCtlLib.dll) in IE just add this to your html:

control's dll should be in current directory OR registered in GAC.
Also, the html page must be in an IIS virtual directory and you should have appropriate permissions on that.

Writing a Custom Web Service for SharePoint

Rajendra Rawat — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 00:28:00 GMT

While writing a custom web service for SPS, I got a "Debugging is not supported under current trust level settings“

setting <trust level="Full" originUrl="" /> in web.config got me thru

Also, While consuming this custom Web Service
I faced difficulty to add web reference as suggested in msdn article
(http://Server_name/_vti_bin/Service1.asmx) the add reference button was simply disabled
even though to support service virtualization I had both disco and wsdl aspx's in [right] place(_vti_bin)

As you know developing a custom Web service for a SharePoint server is different from creating a traditional ASP.NET Web service because of enhanced security model used by Windows SharePoint Services

You may Refer to these articles for more details:

Writing Custom Web Services for SharePoint Products and Technologies

Build a Custom SharePoint Web Service for Your InfoPath 2003 Documents

Quiz time!

Rajendra Rawat — Wed, 29 Jun 2005 00:23:00 GMT

Question:

What is the difference between XML Schema types
xs:positiveInteger and xs:nonNegativeInteger ?

Answer:
xs:nonNegativeInteger - derived from xs:integer by setting minInclusive to '0'.
xs:positiveInteger - derived from xs:nonNegativeInteger by setting minInclusive to '1'.

SQL Server Table Hints

Rajendra Rawat — Sat, 11 Jun 2005 02:01:00 GMT

Index hints (a form of a table hint) are used to specify which index or indexes you want used when a query runs. When you specify one or more indexes, the Query Optimizer will use them when creating the execution plan for your query.

The syntax for a table hint is:

SELECT column_list FROM table_name WITH (INDEX (index_name) [, ...])

Where:

column_list is the list of columns you want SELECTed.

table_name is the name of the table with the relevant indexes.

index_name is the index name or index ID for the index or indexes you want used by the Query Optimizer.

Here's an example:

SELECT memberID, fname, lname FROM members WITH (INDEX(memberID_index))

Smarter Strongly Typed Datasets

Rajendra Rawat — Sat, 11 Jun 2005 01:59:00 GMT

which one do u think is better?

String customerName =ds.Tables["Customers"].Rows[0]["Customer"].ToString();

string customerName = ds.Customers[0].Customer;

Should we write code for making strongly typed DataSet objects?
We can. But vs.net can do the work for you

1. Add New Item (to your project) > select DataSet
2. Right Click the schema (say Customers.xsd file) > run custom tool
3. a cs file with schema name(Customers.cs file in our case) is autogenerated to create a strongly typed DataSet object

Alternatively you can use xsd.exe utility available in .NET Framework SDK

C:\>xsd.exe Customers.xsd /DataSet /language:CS

Result will be 3. of above

For more details see http://msdn.microsoft.com/library/default.asp?url=/library/en-us/cpguide/html/cpconGeneratingStronglyTypedDataSet.asp

GC basics

Rajendra Rawat — Fri, 22 Apr 2005 23:46:00 GMT

I recommend a good article named Garbage Collector Basics and Performance Hints on msdn. A must read!

CLR internals

Rajendra Rawat — Tue, 19 Apr 2005 22:34:00 GMT

Check out this nice article called Drill Into .NET Framework Internals to See How the CLR Creates Runtime Objects