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  • Fast record count in SQL Server using sp_spaceused

    December 7th, 2011 in Blog, SQL Server

    Just a quick tidbit today, but a very useful one. Ever need to do SELECT Count(*) on a very large table? It can take ages. Instead, use sp_spaceused EXEC sp_spaceused 'MyTable' It returns you a useful result set like name rows reserved data index_size unused MyTable 19690290 13637488 KB 3001688 KB 9986416 KB 649384 KB Not only does it also give you extra useful information about the table, but it comes back virtually instantly. Columns:…

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  • PowerPivot Vs QlikView 101 – SQLBits Video

    November 10th, 2011 in Analysis Services, Blog, Business Intelligence, PowerPivot, QlikView

    PowerPivot Vs QlikView 101 – SQLBits Video The video is now available from my PowerPivot and QlikView talk at SQLBits 9 in Liverpool in September 2011. You can download or watch the video here. In this 1 hour session I create interactive dashboards from scratch in both PowerPivot and QlikView, showing how to set up the data model, overcome common pitfalls and build the dashboards. I create almost identical dashboards in both systems and…

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  • SQLBits 9 Session – PowerPivot and QlikView 101

    October 15th, 2011 in Blog, Business Intelligence, Community, PowerPivot, QlikView, SQL Server

    Thank you to the SQLBits committee, speakers, helpers and attendees, for making SQLBits 9 one of the best yet. What a great example SQLBits is of the power of the SQL Server community coming together to help each other, and enjoy a few beers in the process! I was delighted to have my “PowerPivot & QlikView 101” session chosen by the committee, which I presented on Saturday afternoon. Thank you to all those who attended, great to…

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  • New UK SQL Server User Groups

    September 25th, 2011 in Blog, Community, SQL Server

    What an exciting few weeks we’ve got to look forward to! SQL Bits starts on Thursday this week which promises to be another fantastic event. I’m speaking on the Saturday, presenting a session on QlikView and PowerPivot. When I’m not speaking I’ve got a list of duties as long as my arm, from marshelling to room monitoring, and of course representing the Community Corner. If you’re interested in SQL events local to…

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  • Midlands SQL Server User Group now a PASS chapter

    August 17th, 2011 in Blog, Community

    Back in September 2010 I spent another evening with the Cardiff SQL Server User Group, run by Adam Morton. Having got so much out of the Cardiff group since its inception, both as an attendee and as a regular speaker, it struck me as a shame that there wasn’t a group represting the SQL community in my area of the UK, the Midlands. Following a few conversations with Adam Morton, Tony Rogerson, Chris Testa-O’Neil and others, Hollie (my…

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  • Pattern matching in SSIS using Regular Expressions and the Script component

    July 8th, 2011 in .Net, Blog, Integration Services

    One of my favourite features of SSIS is the script component, and I know I’m not alone. Why? Because it brings the entire might of the .NET framework to SSIS, providing C# (in SQL 2008 onwards) and VB.NET extensibility for all those times where SSIS doesn’t quite have enough functionality out of the box. Such as? Well a problem I’ve come across a number of times is string parsing. Trying to search for and extract a specific pattern of…

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  • SQL User Groups and SQLBits

    June 22nd, 2011 in Blog, Business Intelligence, Community, SQL Server

    SQLBits 9 It only seems like yesterday since the SQLBits crew put on their awesome 8th conference in Brighton. The next conference has just been announced, SQLBits will move to Liverpool for SQLBits 9 – “Query Across The Mersey” (…Really?!) between September 29th and October 1st. Registration’s not yet open, but you can find out more at www.SQLBits.com I’ve already submitted two sessions to present, “PowerPivot & QlikView…

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  • Video: Automating SSAS OLAP Cube documentation

    May 26th, 2011 in Analysis Services, Blog, Business Intelligence, Reporting Services

    Automating OLAP cube documentation – SQLBits presentation For anyone that missed my presentation at SQLBits 8 in April, the video is now available here. In this 1 hour session I present a method of automating the creation of documentation for SSAS OLAP cubes by using DMVs (dynamic management views) and spatial data, querying the metadata of the cube in realtime. The results include the BUS matrix, star schemas, attribute lists, hierarchies…

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  • The Business Intelligence Semantic Model (BISM)

    May 18th, 2011 in Analysis Services, Blog, Business Intelligence, PowerPivot

    I’m a happy chap. Why? Because I read a blog post yesterday by T.K. Anand (SSAS Principal Group Program Manager) about the vision and roadmap of Analysis Services. There were slightly concerning questions last November (following the PASS conference) surounding the future of Analysis Services, or more specifically the UDM, the dimensional model that we all know and love in SSAS 2005 & 2008. The arrival of PowerPivot into the Microsoft…

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  • SQL Server Art using Spatial Data

    May 11th, 2011 in Blog, SQL Server

    This post follows on from an earlier post on drawing with SQL Server, and explains how to create much more complex drawings using a couple of neat tricks and SQL Server spatial data. Firstly, apologies to those at my session at SQL Bits to whom I promised this blog post, I did say I’d try and get it posted in a week, and it’s been a month – but it’s here now! So, what are we trying to do? In my earlier post I demonstrated…

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