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Catastrophic Failure

February 18, 2012 in SQL Server, Visual Studio | No comments

Here’s a nice error message for a Friday afternoon:

Ouch, catastrophic failure! Hang on, “catastrophic’”, really?? My computer didn’t explode, I’m still alive, I can even click the OK button to make the catastrophe go away. Okay, what I was trying to achieve wasn’t possible for some reason, but to call it catastrophic is a little exaggerated.

But I guess it beats the useless “an unexpected error has occurred” message any time. Because, an error, isn’t that by definition unexpected? Unless you have an application with a button called Generate Error!

I had the pleasure of encountering this message while attempting to add a new Analysis Services connection to my SSIS project. For some reason, probably a DLL that didn’t load as usual, not all controls were available and when I specified the server name, I got that message after clicking the OK button.

Here’s another variation, received through another button on that same screen:

So now it’s catastrophic and unexpected, sounds more like it! Smile We even got the error number: 0x8000FFFF, well of course!

Most important: I was able to “fix” this issue by restarting my BIDS (2008).

Have fun!

Valentino.

Tags: BIDS, bug, Visual Studio 2008

12 Hours of SQL Server 2012

February 9, 2012 in Events, SQL Server | No comments

Want to get a quick start on SQL Server 2012? Then save the date because here’s your chance to get 12 hours of free training!

Microsoft is organizing an online event featuring 12 breathtaking live presentations about the newest functionality of our favorite software product, SQL Server 2012.

When? Friday February 24, 2012!

What time? From 1212 ‘till 0012.

The twelve sessions will be presented by both Belgian and international speakers. Experienced speakers from Microsoft and Microsoft partners. And guess what: one of my colleagues at Ordina, Koen Verbeeck, is one of them! He’s going to give a great talk about Data Quality Services. Certainly looking forward to that!

Need even more convincing material? Well, if you happen to be a citizen of Belgium or Luxembourg, you’ve got a chance to win a Windows Phone!

Have a look at the agenda, or if you’re already convinced: register now!

Tags: Community Event, SQL Server 2012

SSIS: Highlight Unused Package Variables

January 9, 2012 in Integration Services | No comments

Quick post to ask a moment of your time.

Have you ever wanted a feature in the BIDS to quickly identify package variables which have become obsolete? Well, I’ve been involved in the cleanup of existing packages and I can tell you, that feature would be very handy!

After a search on the internet, it turns out that one of the planned features for the BIDS Helper contains exactly that. The request is a bit wider than what I need, but at least “highlight unused variables” is part of it.

All I’m asking now is just a minute of your time to vote for that feature request.

Have fun, and thank you!

Valentino.

Tags: BIDS, BIDS Helper, Integration Services, SSIS

Posting An Issue To Microsoft Connect

January 4, 2012 in General, SQL Server | 1 comment

I’ve been a user of the Microsoft Connect site for several years now. A regular user who now and then casts an Up vote or clicks the “I can reproduce it!” link. Not as a content poster. Well, I did post some comments in the past, but I never filed an issue or suggestion.

So, a couple of weeks ago I decided to post my first bug to Microsoft Connect, an issue which I had discovered in SQL Server 2012 RC0. Because this process took me more time than I’d expected, I‘m now blogging about my experience.

The hardest part about the whole experience was finding the actual page that needs to be used to enter and submit the content.

Submitting Content To Microsoft Connect

Are you in for a ride on the Connect site? Here we go!

Step 1: Search For Your Product on The Connect Home Page

On the Home page, enter a search term with which you can locate your favorite product. If you’re not signed in yet, do that first.

Step 2: Click To Participate

Once the search engine has produced the output, locate your favorite product and click the Participate action next to it.

Step 3: Submit Product Feedback

Click Submit Product Feedback to submit product feedback.

After clicking Participate, the following overwhelming screen appears. The link that you’re looking for is called Submit Product Feedback.

Step 4: The Feedback Center

After clicking Submit Product Feedback, you end up at the Feedback Center.

Do not use the Submit link, use Search first to check if your issue already exists.

Looking at the screen above, you’d think that the yellow Submit Feedback button can be used to open the page where you’d need to enter the bug details. Well, it doesn’t…

You need to search for your issue first, to ensure it doesn’t exist already.

Step 5: The Submit Feedback Button Has Been Found, Eureka!

The Submit Feedback button on the Product Search Results screen.

After you’ve performed the search for your issue, you get to the following page above. Finally, on that page you can click a real Submit Feedback button that will bring you to the Select Feedback Form page.

Step 6: Select Your Feedback Form Of Choice

Select SQL Server Bug Form to file a SQL Server issue, or SQL Server Suggestion Form for a suggestion.

On the Select Feedback Form page, select SQL Server Bug Form to file a SQL Server issue, or select SQL Server Suggestion Form to enter a suggestion.

Step 7: Fill Out The Textboxes

The "Submit A Bug" Form for SQL Server.

Finally, the page we’ve been trying to locate when we started the adventure, quest accomplished! With this new knowledge, we can now skip directly to step 6 through the following link: Select Feedback Form

Disclaimer: please ensure that you’re not creating duplicate bugs or suggestions, but use whatever search engine your prefer to achieve that goal!

So, here’s my New Year’s present to all of you! And remember: have fun!

Valentino.

References

Microsoft Connect

Feedback Center

Select Feedback Form

Tags: bug, Microsoft Connect, SQL Server

Where’s My SSIS Toolbox?!

December 22, 2011 in Integration Services | 1 comment

When I opened an existing SSIS project in the new SQL Server 2012 RC0, I came to an interesting discovery: an empty Toolbox pane! Even with an SSIS package open in the designer. Hmm, that’s funny! So where are my SSIS components?

Take a good look at the following screenshot:

The Toolbox is no longer the SSIS Toolbox but the new SSIS Toolbox is!

That’s right, they are not in the Toolbox anymore but in the SSIS Toolbox instead. This new toolbox is a bit different from the old one. Besides the grouping of components that has changed, the most important change is that it will automatically detect any custom components. You no longer need to right-click, select Choose Items, go fetch a coffee, wait until it cools down a bit, drink it and finally … select your custom component. No, you’ll have to find another reason to get that coffee shot. Actually, that’s not entirely true: you still need to right-click and then click Refresh Toolbox and then the custom components will be shown.

Another difference is that it’s split in two parts. The bottom half of the pane now contains a description of the selected item, including a link that should lead to samples and a link to the Books Online.

The new SSIS Toolbox shows a description of the selected=

Out of curiosity I tried the Find Samples link a couple of times, but for now it doesn’t seem to deliver much content:

Not many results through Find Samples link

Okay, so one thing remains: how do you open the new SSIS Toolbox pane? According to the Books Online it should be opened automatically when you open an existing project. Well, apparently not all the time!

The first place I’d look is in the View menu. But alas, SSIS Toolbox is not one of the menu items. Not even in the Other Windows submenu. Why oh why?!

Long story short: do you see those two buttons in the below screenshot? They’re new!

Package designer has gotten two new buttons

The first button leads to the Variables pane, the second button will open the SSIS Toolbox. Good to know isn’t it?!

Further investigation led me to the following: according to the Books Online, the SSIS Toolbox item should actually be located in the View > Other Windows menu. As that is not the case and I think it’s only logical to have that pane added to the View menu as well, I’ve filed a bug on Microsoft Connect. Go ahead and vote!

Have fun!

Valentino.

References

SSIS Toolbox

Tags: Integration Services, SQL Server 2012, SSIS

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