Jessica M. Moss

I've gotten several requests to put down in writing the configuration schema that I use as the base of my SQL Server Integration Services framework. It contains a set of configurations: an indirect environment variable configuration, which points to an XML configuration file configuration, which points to a SQL Server configuration. I learned this configuration from the Project REAL Reference Implementation . If you're getting started with a BI implementation, I highly recommend that you download it for some great ideas and best practices. Steps to implement: 1) Create an environment variable on your machine with the name of SSIS_CONFIG_FILE and the value of: C:\SSIS\Config\MasterConfigFile.dtsConfig. 2) Create an SSIS configuration file at C:\ SSIS\Config\MasterConfigFile.dtsConfig with the line: <configuration valuetype="String" path="\Package.Connections[CONFIG_SERVER].Properties[ConnectionString]" configuredtype="Property"><configuredv...

I am, with GeekyCyberMom , putting together a Girl Geek Dinner group for the MD/VA/DC area. Girl Geek Dinners started in London by Sarah Blow and have cropped up all over the world. They are a way for women to get together in a welcoming environment to learn and discuss technology. We are looking for sponsors and members. If you are interested in helping with or attending any of the events, catch up with us through here: Blog Wiki Twitter I know I'm looking forward to it!

At my last client, Rushabh Mehta and I created some custom components to handle delimited strings in a dimension. Here is a description of the components . We have since cleaned up and released the code through CodePlex . You can download the code from the following sites: SortDeDuplicateDelimitedString UnPivotDelimitedString Take a look at the projects and let me know if you have any comments, suggestions for improvement, or if you find them useful!

After recovering from a serious lack of sleep from presenting at SQLTeach :), I wanted to jot down a couple of thoughts about the conference. 1) Jean-Rene Roy puts on an amazing conference. The DevTeach conference has been around since 2003, and this was the first year it was in Toronto. 2) The quality and experience of the speakers is of the highest quality, and since the conference is fairly small, attendees get a great experience with often individualized advice and attention. 3) I despise scaled evaluations. The scale used at this conference was as such: bad, average, good, excellent. While my presentations were rated fairly well, the problem is that this system promotes subjectivity under the guide of objectivity. Who is to say what a "good" versus an "excellent" presentation is? Are you a glass half empty or a glass half full type of person? 4) The conference contained a whole Agile track. I was fortunate enough to spend some time with these speakers le...

I'll be speaking at the NoVa CodeCamp 2008.01 in Reston, VA tomorrow, May 17. The presentation will be "SSIS Tips & Tricks" - an advanced look at SQL Server Integration Services with a focus on increasing developer productivity. I'm looking forward to the experience and meeting more of the developers in the area. If that's you, you should stop by!

When building an Integration Services custom component, you inherit from the class Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.Pipeline.PipelineComponent. You can override any of the methods within this class to add your own functionality. If you want to add a custom property to the component, you will need to override the ProvideComponentProperties subroutine. For example, if you want to add a custom property that will act as a switch for removing or including empty strings, you would use code similar to the following: Dim RemoveEmptyStringsProperty As IDTSCustomProperty90 RemoveEmptyStringsProperty = ComponentMetaData.CustomPropertyCollection.[New] RemoveEmptyStringsProperty.Name = "RemoveEmptyStrings" RemoveEmptyStringsProperty.Description = "Boolean that determines if empty strings should be removed. Value should be True or False." RemoveEmptyStringsProperty.Value = "False" 'Default value Then in your execution logic (in the ProcessInput subroutine), you would use ...