Microsoft has released a Community Techology Preview (CTP) build of SQL Server 2005 SP1. The release date of the final (RTM) bits of SP1 is not announced yet but it shouldn’t be that far away (most likely within a month or so).
Today, Microsoft announced that SQL Server Express Advanced will be available publicly instead of distributed as a private beta. The CTP (Community Technology Preview) build could be downloaded here (link will be live soon).
You can post question and comments in the SQL Express MSDN Forum or enter bugs and feature requests on the
Telligent has done it again! Community Server 2.0 is out and it’s too sleek to ignore. I am planning to upgrade Prologika Forums to CS 2.0 tonight. If all is well, tomorrow Prologika Forums will have a facelift and more features. I hope the upgrade process won’t last too long and won’t cause service interruptions.
There are two “shy” data extensions that come with RS 2005 but you won’t see when you create a data source.
The first one (SSIS data extension) enables interesting integration scenarios with SQL Server 2005 Integration Services. It allows you to author reports that use data generated by running an Integration Services (SSIS) package. The second one is the SAP data extension for integrating SSRS with mySAP Business Suite.
By default, these extensions are disabled and commented in the rsreportserver.config file:
<!– <Extension Name=”SSIS” Type=”Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.DtsClient.DtsConnection,Microsoft.SqlServer.Dts.DtsClient, Version=9.0.242.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=89845dcd8080cc91″/> –>
<!– <Extension Name=”SAP” Type=”Microsoft.Adapter.SAP.SAPConnection,Microsoft.Adapter.SAP.SAPProvider, Version=1.0.0.0, Culture=neutral, PublicKeyToken=31bf3856ad364e35″/> –>
Why are these extensions doomed to obscurity, you may ask? The reason is that they have setup dependencies. It could have been nice if the SQL Server 2005 setup program could verify these dependencies (e.g. if SSIS is selected for install) and enables the extensions accordingly so the users know about their existence but this feature was cut out due to time constrains. Assuming that you install the required components, you can just comment out the extension to enable it.
A little known fact about the SSAS data architecture is that it uses “cartridges” to communicate with the data source. In brief, a cartridge is a XSL stylesheet that defines capabilities of a data source, as well as the rules for optimizing the SQL statements for relational querying and writing. SSAS 2005 ships with set of cartridges for Jet, SQL 70, SQL 2000, Oracle, Teradata, and DB2, which can be found in the \Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\MSSQL.2\OLAP\bin\Cartridges folder. Vendors can plug in (server restart required) cartridges for other data sources if needed.
One gotcha is when the UDM uses multiple data sources in a single data source view. This scenario requires that the primary data source must be SQL Server because behind the scenes the server uses the SQL Server-specific OPENROWSET statement to extract data from the secondary data source(s). The problem with this approach is that it effectively bypasses the installed cartridge for the non-SQL Server data source. As a result, processing queries that normally execute just fine when the DSV uses that data source only, fail to execute in a multi-data source DSV.
There are at least three workarounds for this predicament. First, you can replace each table in the DSV with a named query which uses the right native syntax. Second, you can link the data server to your SQL Server and wrap the linked server tables with SQL views. A third solution is to split UDM per a data source – a SQL Server UDM and another UDM for the second data source. Then, you can link the dimensions and measure groups from one UDM to another. As you have probably guessed it, all of the above approaches may present maintenance and operational challenges. It will be great if a service pack of a future release solve this issue and honors the cartridges with heterogeneous queries.
Chris Webb tells us that the MDX Solutions book, which we co-wrote with other MDX gurus, is soon to be released. Based on the resources available on the publisher’s website, the book looks like a very promising read and I am looking forward to get my hands on it. Unfortunately, during my Applied Microsoft Analysis Services 2005 book project, I didn’t have the time to fully research the vast MDX changes in SSAS 2005 and devote the space they deserve. This is where MDX Solutions comes in. I enjoyed the previous edition by George Spofford. I am sure that I will enjoy the sequel as well.
I’ve just learned that I’ve been selected to present at TechEd 2006 US in Boston! I’ve been honored to present Reporting Services for three consecutive years at TechEd. This time, I will change things a bit and instead of focusing on the development area, I will talk about integrating Reporting Services and Analysis Services. As of now, the main topics I am planning to include are:
1. SSAS report actions
2. MDX Query Designer
3. Server aggregates
4. Building data mining reports
5. Ad-hoc reporting
6. CLR integration
See you in the “hub”!
In the first part of this article, you saw how to use the Windows Forms version of the ReportViewer control. The second installment walks you through the differences and discusses the process for using the Web version of the control.
Nick Barclay from Australia has good things to say about my book “Applied Microsoft Analysis Services in Action”. No, I didn’t sweat blood, but I have to admit that writing this one wasn’t easy! It took me almost twice as long to write it as my previous “Microsoft Reporting Services in Action” book. For the most part, that was because Analysis Services is a focal point of many technologies, including OLAP, data mining, data integration, reporting, performance management, etc. Not to mention that, as Nick said it, it was like trying to hit a moving target because the product was constantly evolving on the way to RTM.
The other main factor for taking so long is that I just can’t write short. I am a firm believer that knowing a product is knowing its limitations. I usually put myself in my reader’s shoes and try to address all possible questions the reader may ask while reading the book. I am committed to point out not only the tool strengths but also its weaknesses (nothing is perfect, right). Of course, this takes time, lots of, lots of time …
