Author Archive
BCP for Flat File ETL
Brent Ozar is hosting today’s #TSQL2sday about the most recent issue you closed. Working with a consulting firm for a variety of clients, I tend to come across all sorts of issues. The most common one is
Generating a Spelling Bee Practice Audio File with Python
This is a bit outside of the SQL Server realm, but might be of interest to some. I was asked to read 100 words recently, two sets of words, for use in a practice spelling test. The
SQL Shades for SQL Management Studio – Review
For those of us who’ve worked with SQL Server for some time, we’ve regularly used SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). In recent years, we’ve seen an increase in websites and applications offering a Dark Mode. Azure Data
Azure SQL Database – Get users and role members for all databases
I ran into a concern to quickly audit all current users and role members for a set of Azure SQL databases, spread across multiple resource groups. Without an easy CMS concept or a way to quickly loop
SSIS – TOKEN Expression
I've worked with SSIS for some time now, but a recent question and post pointed out an expression I'd never used before. We often have a need to split strings and pick out some portion of that
Calendar / Date Tables – An Introduction
What is a Calendar or Date table? Maybe you’ve worked with data warehouses before, in which case the concept of a “Date Dimension” is going to be familiar. If not, the general idea behind a Calendar or
Creating and Setting SQL Server Certificates with PowerShell
I recently had a need to add certificates to SQL Servers throughout an organization. There were quite a few servers to update and the certificates would need to be generated using a given format. This would include
Using PowerShell to restore Missing Windows Installer cache items
This seems oddly specific, but someone or something had cleared out many files from the Windows\Installer folder, probably to save space. (Sidenote, you can actually create a mount point for these that go on another drive as
SSIS Catalog (SSISDB) Cleanup – Revisited
I wrote about cleaning up the SSIS Catalog a while back, but needed to revisit this recently for a different use and needed something that can run in an ongoing manner. My earlier post still works, but
Quickly execute a folder of SQL scripts using dbatools and PowerShell
I have often run into a situation where it’s been necessary to execute a bunch of scripts handed to me by developers or others. When there are only a couple of scripts to run, it’s not a