SimonS' SQL Server Stuff

OCR for free from any image

My blog has moved to sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons
The full version of this post can be found here., http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/OCR for free from any image
The new RSS feed is here

There are always features of products that you never now about. It is rare to go on training courses and so its up to you and your favourtie search engine to find out what a product does.

Onenote is a product I like. I'm not nuts about it but it is useful. One feature that I've always loved is the screen clipping feature. You always see users doing ALT+PRINT SCREEN to get a screen print, and then pasting into word and emailing 2Mb word documents with screen captures in them. The One Note feature allows you to not only select the section of the screen you want but also the file sizes aren't huge.

... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/OCR for free from any image

SSRS Getting pounds instead of dollars

My blog has moved to sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons
The full version of this post can be found here., http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/SSRS Getting pounds instead of dollars
The new RSS feed is here

As much as I hate to admit it Microsoft is a US company which means everything defaults to US. So dates are in mmddyyyy not ddmmyyy format, words are missing letters such as color instead of colour and the currency is dollars and not the Great British pound.

... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/SSRS Getting pounds instead of dollars

SSIS Dates aren't very precise

My blog has moved to sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons
The full version of this post can be found here., http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/SSIS Dates aren't very precise
The new RSS feed is here

I'm implementing some SSIS packages at the moment and started looking at logging with the event handlers. I simply wanted task start and end times etc and so used the start time system variables.

... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/SSIS Dates aren't very precise

XmlTextWriter produces processing instruction

My blog has moved to sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons
The full version of this post can be found here., http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/XmlTextWriter produces processing instruction
The new RSS feed is here

This week I've been producing XML Thesaurus files for SQL Server. The prupose is to enable spell checking in full text. The thesaurus file is an XML file wih a defined schema, I was creating the file with an XmlTextWriter but couldn't for hte life of me get it to load.

... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/XmlTextWriter produces processing instruction

How to get the name of the day of date

My blog has moved to sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons
The full version of this post can be found here., http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/How to get the name of the day of date
The new RSS feed is here

Do you have a date and you want the day of the week but not the number but the name i.e. Monday, Tuesday etc. Well there are two functions that you can use with dates that can be used to extract a part of the date. One function returns the number and one returns text version. The functions are DATEPART and DATENAME respectively.

... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/How to get the name of the day of date

Whats new in Katmai?

My blog has moved to sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons
The full version of this post can be found here., http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Whats new in Katmai?
The new RSS feed is here

So you get a new CTP. How do you find out whats changed?

Well the first port of call should be BOL. We are told that for Katmai, BOL content will ship with the feature, which is good to know.

... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Whats new in Katmai?

Katmai - Connecting from SQL2005

My blog has moved to sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons
The full version of this post can be found here., http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Katmai - Connecting from SQL2005
The new RSS feed is here

UNfortunately you canot connect from SQL2005 to SQL 2008 (Katmai) from management studio, or can you. It appears the validation code is in the main connection dialog. However if you use SQLCMD mode you will be fine.

... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Katmai - Connecting from SQL2005

Remote destop across multiple screens.

My blog has moved to sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons
The full version of this post can be found here., http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Remote destop across multiple screens.
The new RSS feed is here

Do you have multiple screens attached to your computer.

If you want a remote desktop connection to open and cover all the screens then you can use the /span option. To do this create a shortcut or edit the existing one for remoe desktop and add /span after %systemroot%\system32\mstsc.exe.

... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Remote destop across multiple screens.

Whats in a BOL link?

My blog has moved to sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons
The full version of this post can be found here., http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Whats in a BOL link?
The new RSS feed is here

In using BOLyou will have noticed that the links in BOL contain some lovely guids. I often want to reference BOL in documents, forum posts etc but was concerned that the guids might change. So I asked Alan Brewer whether they change or not. He gave me a great response which I've got his permission to publish here.

... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Whats in a BOL link?

Data Dude : Database Documentor

My blog has moved to sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons
The full version of this post can be found here., http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Data Dude : Database Documentor
The new RSS feed is here

If you want to document your database you've got to see Gert Drapers on Channel9. Data Dude is answering so many of those questions/challenges I've been trying to solve for database builds over the past decade. I am so pleased to see the database references in the service release and the dependecy tool just rocks.

... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Data Dude : Database Documentor

Data Data everywhere even when you think its gone

My blog has moved to sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons
The full version of this post can be found here., http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Data Data everywhere even when you think its gone
The new RSS feed is here

The biggest problem I have faced in IT over the last decade has been loss of data.

I have had the problem at work where servers have crashed and lost data, more often than not due to failure of disks. I have also personally felt the pain in a hard disk losing its partition information, and frequently my wife's laptop dying and windows not being able to boot.

Whilst many businesses have been aware of the criticality of data for a while, data is becoming more critical to everyone. Many people don’t have address books anymore, and if they do, do they contain mobiles, IM addresses, email address etc. If you lose data the inconvenience and the pain is often great.

... To read the complete version of this post go here, http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/Data Data everywhere even when you think its gone

SSIS - Viewing packages in Management Studio

My blog has moved to sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons
The full version of this post can be found here., http://sqlblogcasts.com/blogs/simons/SSIS - Viewing packages in Management Studio
The new RSS feed is here

Its odd how you often find things out by accident.

Yesterday I was copying a dts package into a folder on my server and for some reason the drop didn't drop. When I then switched to management studio and XP finally decided to drop the file it did it in the management studio work space.

... To read the complete version of this post go