Marcin Policht

Learn how the DTExec and DTExecUI utilities give you the ability to assign values to arbitrary properties of components within a SQL Server Integration Services package, when invoking its execution. Applying programming principles to the structure of SQL Server 2008 Integration Services packages allows you to increase their flexibility and simplify their maintenance. Replacing hard […]

Marcin Policht demonstrates how to leverage SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) package variables in order to modify SSIS properties without directly editing package content. How to Implement Package Variables in SQL Server 2008 illustrated how to leverage package variables in order to promote code reusability. This was accomplished by replacing hard-coded values assigned to properties […]

A database administrator can create ad-hoc packages to implement ETL via SSIS or use a method based on software programming principles. Ad-hoc packages may seem advantageous but can lead to duplication of effort. Learn how to implement the second of these options by taking advantage of package variables. When implementing Extraction, Transformation, and Loading tasks […]

SQL Server 2008 Integration Services primarily serve as a development platform for automating Export, Transformation, and Loading (ETL) tasks. The benefits of using variables to promote code reusability can be extended by taking advantage of package configurations. In this article, we will introduce package configuration characteristics. As we have recently pointed out, SQL Server 2008 […]

SQL Server Integration Services’ primary purpose is to serve as a database development platform. As such, it is subject to standard best practices of software programming, which among other recommendations, advocate reusability. Realizing this objective in SSIS frequently involves the use of variables. Their characteristics and most common usage scenarios will be the primary subject […]

Marcin Policht examines SQL Server Integration Services’ component, Derived Column Transformation,and how its usefulness is enhanced by its ability to implement fairly elaborate mathematical, logical, and string operations. As we have explained in our most recent article, Derived Column Transformation can be leveraged in order to resolve data type conversion issues that tend to surface […]

The complexity involved in transferring data between Excel and SQL Server results from different and sometimes incompatible data types. The Import and Export wizard mitigates potential issues introduced by these incompatibilities by taking advantage of Data Conversion Transformation. Marcin Policht describes another approach that produces an equivalent outcome by employing Derived Column Transformation instead. In […]

Despite its benefits, SQL Server Integration Services‘ Import Export Wizard has a number of limitations, resulting in part from a new set of rules that eliminate implicit data type conversion mechanisms present in Data Transformation Services. This article discusses a method that addresses such limitations, focusing in particular on importing the content of Excel spreadsheets […]

Even though the Import and Export Wizard, incorporated into the SQL Server 2008 platform, greatly simplifies the creation of SQL Server Integration Services packages, it has its limitations. This article points out the primary challenges associated with using it to copy data between SQL Server 2008 and Excel and presents methods of addressing these challenges. […]

While it does not bring revolutionary changes, the release of SQL Server 2008 delivers functionality, scalability, and performance improvements to SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS). Here is a comprehensive listing of new and enhanced features of SSIS with a short description of each. SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) is the primary Extraction, Transformation, and Loading […]

Learn about two primary components of SQL Server 2008 Integration Services packages and their graphical representation in the Business Intelligence Development Studio In our most recent article dedicated to the subject of Integration Services in SQL Server 2008 and 2008 R2, we described the process of executing a sample package created using Export and Import […]

In his latest article, Marcin Policht demonstrates a variety of tools that can be employed to execute SQL Server Integration Services packages, focusing in particular on the method leveraging functionality available within the Business Intelligence Development Studio. We have already introduced the most rudimentary approach to extraction, transformation, and loading (ETL) functionality available in SQL […]