24 Hours of PASS videos online
All the videos for the sessions at 24 Hours of PASS (Fall 2012) are available for free. Check the session schedule for a complete list. Enjoy!
Continue reading →James Serra
James works at Microsoft as a big data and data warehousing solution architect where he has been for most of the last ten years. Before that he was an independent consultant working as a Data Warehouse/Business Intelligence architect and developer. He is a prior SQL Server MVP with over 35 years of IT experience. Check out his book Deciphering Data Architectures: Choosing Between a Modern Data Warehouse, Data Fabric, Data Lakehouse, and Data Mesh.
Interacting with Master Data Services (MDS)
There are five different way to interact with Master Data Services (MDS) to do things such as create a model, load data into MDS, manage business rules, versioning, etc. Master Data Manager Web User Interface (“UI”), also called the Master Data Manager Web … Continue reading →
MDS Error: “Cannot insert the value NULL into column ‘Code'”
In Microsoft Data Services (MDS), when running a stored procedure to process a staging table (stg.udp_name_Leaf), I received this error: “Cannot insert the value NULL into column ‘Code’, table ‘MDS2012.mdm.tblStgErrorDetail’; column does not allow nulls. INSERT fails.” As described in … Continue reading →
Master Data Services (MDS): Bug deleting an attribute
UPDATE on 11/28/2012: I had this same error when trying to delete a model. Fortunately, SQL Server 2012 SP1 has fixed this bug! In Master Data Services (MDS), when trying to delete an attribute in an entity, I received the … Continue reading →
Master Data Services: Copy Versions
In Master Data Services (MDS), you can use the Master Data Manager Web User Interface “UI” to copy a version of a model and create a new version of it (via the Version Management screen). However, you may find the “Copy” … Continue reading →
MDS Error: “The status of the specified batch is not valid”
In Master Data Services (MDS), I received a strange error when I was calling a stored procedure (stg.upd_name_Leaf) to batch a staging table, which will load data from the staging tables into the appropriate MDS tables: [Execute SQL Task] Error: … Continue reading →
Master Data Services: Resources
Here are some of my favorite Master Data Services (MDS) resources: SQL Server Master Data Services Utilities: A set of useful add-ons for SQL Server Master Data Services, including utilities for generating an MDS model, loading the model, writing a … Continue reading →
TechEd Australia 2012 videos online
Microsoft has posted ALL the session videos for TechEd Austrialia 2012 and they are available for free! Get your learning cap on. Check them out here.
Continue reading →SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) – September 2012 update
SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) has a new update (version 11.1.20905, with the previous version being 11.1.20225). The SSDT team is committed to delivering regular, frequent releases of SSDT, and this is the first in a long line of updates. This … Continue reading →
Master Data Services: Expand the Leaf member attributes box
In Master Data Services (MDS), when using the Master Data Manager Web User Interface (“UI”), you will notice the “Leaf member attributes” box on the “Edit Entity” screen is too small. It only fits four rows. This can be very annoying … Continue reading →
Master Data Services: Versioning
In Master Data Services (MDS), you can create multiple versions of the master data within a model. When you create a model for the first time, MDS creates a default initial version of your model data. You can create as many … Continue reading →
Master Data Services Terminology Overview
When moving from a data warehouse world to MDM, there is some new terminology to learn. Each of the terms below are components of a Master Data Services model. For details about Data Warehousing Visit us touroftoowoomba . In brackets … Continue reading →
Master Data Services: Changing a model with a subscription view
I have been working heavily with Microsoft Data Services (MDS) in SQL Server 2012 over the past few months, and really like the product. Through my use of it I have learned some tips and tricks that I will share … Continue reading →
The MERGE statement in SQL Server
The SQL MERGE statement was introduced in SQL Server 2008 and allows you to modify data in a target table based on data in a source table in one easy statement, replacing lots of messy code. I use it frequently when … Continue reading →
SQL Server 2012 and SharePoint 2013: Installing on a Virtual Machine
With SharePoint 2013 now available, I have updated my post SQL Server 2012: Installing on a Virtual Machine to use SharePoint 2013 instead of SharePoint 2010. If you would like to get a head start on learning what is new with SharePoint … Continue reading →
Excel 2013 and BI
On July 16, 2012, Office 2013 Preview was released to the public (download). Excel 2013 now includes a lot of the SQL Server BI components directly in the initial install, as well as enhancements made to the business intelligence (BI) capabilities … Continue reading →
PerformancePoint 2013 and SharePoint 2013
PerformancePoint is an important BI Tool in the Microsoft world and it will continue to be Microsoft’s solution for creating interactive, context-driven dashboards with balanced scorecards, key performance indicators, analytic reports, and filters. There is no doubt it is an integral part of … Continue reading →
Prevent wiping out of SSAS partitions
There have been a few times when I have created SSAS partitions outside of BIDS using script code in an SSiS package, then later made a change in BIDS and deployed the cube, wiping out those partitions (since they did … Continue reading →
Syncing your contacts
In the same vein as my blog post about Syncing your calendars, I wanted to post how to sync your contacts in Outlook, Gmail (Google Contacts), and iPhone: – Transfer your Outlook contacts to Gmail via Transfer contacts between Outlook and … Continue reading →
Visual Studio 2012 does not support BI
UPDATE 3/6/13: VS 2012 now supports BI! Check out Microsoft SQL Server Data Tools – Business Intelligence for Visual Studio 2012 In the same vein as my post Watch out, Visual Studio 2010 does not support BI, Visual Studio 2012 does … Continue reading →