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NashSQL Meeting: SQL Server 2008 Change Data Capture

May 27, 2009 Leave a comment

Mark your calendars! The Nashville SQL Server User Group, also known as NashSQL, is having our monthly meeting this Friday, May 29th at 11:30am.

This month we’re welcoming Whitney Weaver, Principal Consultant with Magenic Technologies. In his session, Whitney will demonstrate how to implement the new SQL Server 2008 Change Data Capture (CDC) feature as a method for tracking changes made in an instance. The session will cover the implementation of CDC, the pain points removed by the feature, and the process of retrieving captured data.

Food and drinks will are provided and there is no charge for the event. Who says there isn’t such a thing as a free lunch? But as a courtesy, you’re requested to RSVP.

For more information visit our web site at http://nashville.sqlpass.org/.

For more information on Change Data Capture, visit these resources:

Cheers and I hope to see you there!

Joe

Filed under Events, Resources

Book Review – Learning SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services

May 20, 2009 4 Comments

I recently received a copy of “Learning SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services” by Jayaram Krishnaswamy published by Packt Publishing.

If you are relatively new to SQL Server Reporting Services and you’re a Tactile/Kinesthetic learner (one that learns best by doing rather than listening or reading), this may be the book to help you to quickly get up to speed on Reporting Services.

The author teaches by example throughout most of the book, using the Hands-On exercises to deliver much of the book’s content. I’d dare say that 70% to 80% of the book is in the form of Hands-On exercises.

The book is replete with screen shots to help those less familiar with Reporting Services follow along. For example, Hands-On Exercise 1.1 guides you through installing SQL Server 2008. The author goes to great lengths to ensure each step of the process is clear and unambiguous, using screen shots and commentary to guide the reader through each step. Exercise 1.1 is 25 pages.

If you are already well steeped in the SSRS, this book may be a bit on the remedial side for your tastes, though I suspect you’ll be able to glean some useful tidbits of information about the differences from prior version of the product.

The publisher has made a chapter of the book available for download if you’d like to take a peek before making your buying decision. EDIT: The link seemed to be for a limited time only so I’ve removed it from the blog post to eliminate confusion.

If you read this book, I’d love to hear you thoughts in the comments section below.

Cheers!

Joe

Filed under Book Reviews, Reporting Services, Resources, SQLServerPedia Syndication

Free book available on SQL Server XML Schema Collections

April 27, 2009 1 Comment

XML Schema Collections in SQL Server can be a source of great optimism and a bit of confusion for many people. So I was glad to hear my friend and fellow SQL Server MVP, Jacob Sebastian, undertook the task of writing a book on the subject. For those of you not familar with Jacob, he is a mainstay on the MSDN SQL Server Forums where he regularly offers great advice to those seeking help.

I’ve just downloaded the book from Red-Gate’s web site and I’m eager to begin reading it. I’ll post a book review soon. In the meantime, I wanted to make sure you were aware of it.

Enjoy!

Joe