I was recently making some changes to my laptop setup and installing SQL Server 2008R2 and SQL Server 2012 directly on the computer rather than on my VM. In the case of my setup I had already installed the client tools for 2008R2 and 2012 on my laptop. So in this instance I was simply adding the rest of the SQL tools (IS, RS, AS, BIDS, etc). Much to my surprise when I went to install 2008R2 onto...
August 28, 2012
The INSTALLSHAREDWOWDIR command line value is not valid.
28August
August 21, 2012
Internal error: Invalid enumeration value. Please call customer support! is not a valid value for this element.
21August
If you have done a lot of work with SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) you may have seen this message: We’ve all been there. A build error. I tend to get this because I like to forget commas when modifying calculations in the MDX section of the cube editor. It’s a fun little game I like to play to keep myself on my toes…question mark?? Anyway, what follows this message box is...
August 14, 2012
Modify Host File on Windows 7
14August
Modifying the Windows host file can be a great way to ensure that you don’t accidentally modify production while doing development or just redirecting traffic on your computer. For instance, while at a client’s office I was able to access a server by entering just the server name, but when working remote via VPN I was required to enter IP address or the server. Luckily while on the...
August 7, 2012
View Flat File Contents Using PowerShell
07August
We have all been there; you need to take a look at the data inside a file. Sure you can open it in Notepad if it is under 20-30MB, bigger than that and you may run into problems depending on the computer. Sometime WordPad will handle the larger files, again up to about 60MB is where I tend to run out of luck. So what happens if the file is a hundred MB? 200 MB? How about 1 GB? I’ve recently...
July 31, 2012
Exporting Data Using BCP
31July
BCP, or bulk copy program, has been around in SQL Server for a long time. It is a great way to export large quantities of data very quickly from SQL Server. It can be used to export entire tables or even a custom query. In this post we will focus on doing some simple commands to export data. This is by no means a complete and comprehensive look at BCP. My only intention with this post is to get...
July 27, 2012
Color Expressions in SSAS Calculations
27July
Color expressions in SSAS allow you to build an MDX expression to control the color of text displayed in a calculation. This property can be found in the Calculations tab of the cube editor when working in BIDS. Simply select a calcuation and look for the section labeled Color Expressions between the Display Folder and Font Expressions in the Additional Properties. Simply enter a condition in the...
July 17, 2012
Office 2013 and SharePoint 2013 Beta
17July
If you follow anything outside the regular SQL Server world coming from Microsoft it should be Office and more importantly SharePoint. The two follow the same release cycle and as of today (July 16th actually) they have released a public beta for Office and more importantly SharePoint 2013! If you are interested in the SharePoint 2013 preview you can head over here () and grab a copy of it. The...
July 17, 2012
PowerPivot for Excel 2013
The preview for Office 2013 is live!! You can hop over to the Microsoft website and grab it here: . Naturally I am eager to see all the BI features in both Office and SharePoint. If you have ever used PowerPivot then you know how cool the technology is. Well, with Office 2013 it gets even better. If you recall, PowerPivot WAS an add-on for Excel 2010 available for download at PowerPivot.com...
July 16, 2012
PowerPivot for Excel Now 2012 Only
16July
I’m not exactly sure when this happened, but it looks like Microsoft has moved past the PowerPivot 2008R2 and PowerPivot 2012 model and is now just offering PowerPivot on their website. Previously there were two options as I just mentioned with the 2012 version being labeled RTM. Now that the 2013 previews of the office suite are out there it looks like Microsoft is officially pushing...
July 12, 2012
Understanding the CDC State Value
12July
If you are using Change Data Capture (CDC) it can be very useful to look at the CDC State table to understand what is happening. I am writing this in the context of using SSIS 2012 CDC components; in this case the CDC Control Task. The CD State can be very helpful to determine why data isn’t getting loaded right after an initial load for instance, which is when I decided to dig into the...
