A relatively common requirement in ETL processing is to break records into disparate outputs based on an alphabetical split on a range of letters. A practical example of this would be a work queue for collections staff based on last name; records would be pulled from a common source and then separated into multiple outputs based on a the Customer…
So for the latest database geek meme, Paul Randal started this thing off and tagged Tom LaRock, who enlisted Grant Fritchey, who finally tagged me. This one simply asks, “What 3 things or events brought you to where you are today?” The Eyes Barely a year out of high school, I was working full time in retail and occasionally attending…
So the question came up earlier today about the RIGHT() and LEFT() functions in the SSIS expression language. Like the Transact-SQL functions, one might assume that these functions would exist in SSIS expression language to snatch a specified subset of a string. That assumption would be only half right. Don’t go digging for a LEFT() function in the expression language,…
So I’d planned to already have this done and published before the new year rolled around, but life got in the way… and I mean that in a good way! I’ve said this before but it bears mentioning again that creating and sharing a list of goals helps to serve as a reminder and a means of accountability for meeting…
The new year is less than 24 hours old and I’ve already been blessed with two different honors. I shared earlier this morning that I received word of my selection as a Microsoft SQL Server MVP for 2010. Just four hours later, I was notified that I have been elected to the board of the North Texas SQL Server User…
I received a notification e-mail earlier this morning that I’ve been selected as a Microsoft MVP for SQL Server! I’m both surprised and honored by this distinction. This is my first MVP award, so I’m still trying to wrap my head around it, but one thing is for certain – I’m in good company. The SQL Server community just rocks….
Late last year, I blogged about some goals I had set for myself to accomplish during 2009. No goal-setting session is complete until you spend some time reviewing your completion of, or progress toward, those goals. To that end, I’ll address those goals and how well I did for each of them during the past 12 months. Presenting: I give…
There are few things more reassuring for a data professional than having clean, consistent data to back up critical business decisions. The numbers don’t lie, or so they say. But can the right data lead to wrong conclusions? Sadly, yes, and I suspect that it happens more often than we’d like to admit. Recently, as part of a large hospital…
In the previous post in this series, I discussed the obstacles to implementing electronic health data systems. Because of these obstacles, many providers are resistant to replacing their paper-based “databases” with true EHR systems. But assuming the best case scenarios, that all healthcare providers and vendors convert from paper (or quasi-paper) to digital, that still doesn’t fully solve the problem…
So now that we’re 7 days removed from the end of the SQL PASS summit, I’ve finally managed to arrange my thoughts and put together some notes about an incredible week in Seattle. This was only my 2nd summit, and the two experiences were vastly different (for my review of the 2005 summit, read “Don’t Be This Guy”). Just a…