Hodentek: November 2018

Friday, November 30, 2018

Bring TEXT/CSV file data inot PowerBI

It is quite easy as long as you have a good Text/CSV file.

I have previously used this file FFD.txt in earlier posts.

https://hodentekmsss.blogspot.com/2016/12/creating-csv-file-from-sql-server-2012.html

I am going to use the same file in this post.

Launch PowerBI and Click GetData.

Click Text/CSV submenu item. This brings up an 'Open' window as shown which lets you search through your folder system.

Locate the FFD.txt file on your drive and click Open. The file is displayed in the PowerUI as shown.

Click Load at the bottom of the above.

The data gets loaded as shown.

Now click on Data in the left as shown and the data is displayed.

This is all folks. It is quite easy to bring in Text/CSV data into PowerBI

Thursday, November 29, 2018

Restoring a legacy database to SQL Server 2017

Northwind database is a legacy database from earlier times and this post shows it can be restored to the latest SQL Server.

The short answer is, Yes.

Azure Data Studio (ADS) is a cross-platform database management tool for managing SQL Servers and it was previously named SQL Operations Studio.

If you do not know what Azure Data Studio, Please review this.

If you want to install Azure Data Studio, Please review this.

In what follows, just follow the indicated steps after launching Azure Data Studio. As a preparation you need to:

Connect to SQL Server 2017 from within ADS
Have in hand the backup file (*.bak)
Make sure you place the above in the Public folder

I am connected to SQL Server 2017 which is installed on my desktop (laptop). It is a default installation as described in the links above.

After I launch ADS and connecting to SQL Server 2017 (default instance), this is what I see. I have no User Database. You are seeing only the System Databases,

I click on the Restore in Tasks and the following page opens. I am restoring from a File and use the handle for Restore from and change it to file and then browse for the backup file which is in my case,

Northwnd.bak.

I browse my computer for the legacy database file (Northwind.bak) and browse to its location in the Public folder as shown.

The rest of the fields you can accept the defaults unless you want to change, as shown. As soon as you indicate the file, it gets displayed as shown.

Click Restore and it gets restored. You see it in the ADS user interface as shown.

Before Restore

After the restore operation

It took ridiculously three steps to restore.

You can verify it in SSMS version 17.9.1

You need to Restore before you see the new object in Object Explorer.

Wednesday, November 28, 2018

It is very easy to install SQL Server 2017

Installing SQL Server has gotten a lot easier compared to versions earlier than 2016. Installing SQL Server 2017 (a default installation) is a breeze. After you install SQL Server you are guided to install the required client tool, the SQL Server Management Studio.

Here are some screen shots with some explanations. They are mostly sequential.

Installing SQL Server 2017

Click to enlarge the picture and follow the link [ https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/sql-server/sql-server-downloads ] to the download page and choose a on-premises, developer edition. The next images on this post assumes a Windows 10 platform. You can get SQL Server 2017 on LINUX and MacOS as well.

Click double click the downloaded file to begin importing files and installing.

I chose the Basic option. When you click it the background turns blue.

Before proceeding you need to accept the license terms.

It starts installing and shows the progress.

Well, you have a default instance of SQL Server 2017 installed. Boy! was it easy. It also starts the SQL Server Database Engine Service immediatley. You may have to restart the computer at this point.

Installation is a Success!

The following shortcuts were added to my All Programs.

I opened up the SQL Server 2017 Configuration Manager from the above and checked out that the Server indeed installed.

Installing SQL Server Management Studio

If you need to work with SQL Server 2017 there is no better visual aid than SQL Server Managment Studio.

Clicking InstallSSMS button on the previous image maked [Installation is a Success! ]takes you to the next site. You may need to do nothing for this to install. In my case, it did not complete. My download was interrupted and only got a partial file.

I downloaded the SSMS file from here.

This is the executable for SSMS.

Double cliking the executable begins installing the SQL Server Management Stuido 17.9.1.

Click Install.

Installation is complete.

Although I was expecting only SSMS, a whole lot of programs were added. Is it real, or the others shortcuts were added after SQL Server 2017 installation and restart of the computer, I cannot say,

Starting the SQL Server Maangement and Connecting to the SQL Server 2017

First check if the Windows Service for SQL Server 2017 Database Engine has started and if it has not you can start here.

Now click the SQL Server 2017 Management Studio in your All Programs menu above.

Now display the SQL Server 2017 from the lis tof Database engines as shown and click connect. You do not need to do anything else as the installaiton program has set you up as the Owner with your Windows Login.

In the Browse for Servers window highlight the Database instance [Hodentek9-New in this post] and click OK. The Server name appears in the window left to it and click Connect.

After a little checking you get connected. Now you can expand the Object Explorer to have the first look at the objects on your default instance as shown.