Spin out a cutting edge report with Power BI under 10 minutes

PowerBI presetnly in preview is available free for users in USA. You only have to agree to licese terms and you are on your way to creating a great looking report under 10 minutes. Any programming requirements? None.

What do you need to get this great report going?

You need to get the PowerBI and download it to your machine from here:
http://www.powerbi.com/

PowerBI00.png

Launch it and connect to your data. Here is a screen shot of PowerBi designer right after launching it. It is the starting page. It looks like a Office page with ribbon and a main menu.

PowerBI08
To author a report, you will have to provide information about your datasource. In the present post PowerBI was used to connect to SQL Server 2012. The Sales.SalesPerson table in AdventureWorks2012 database was used to generate the report.

You also have to provide connection information and more importantly information about what you want to report upon. This involves choosing the preferred table or view.There was no programming involved. If you have worked with Power View reports in SQL Server 2012 you sail through very easily, even otherwise it is intuitive.

If you want a thorough grinding in Power View, I have a whole chapter on Power View in my illustrated book, Learn SQL Server 2012 Reporting Services shown below:

As I emphasized earlier you have to know what you are reporting about and server authentication.

Here SalesLastYear and SalesYTD for some of the store personnel is reported. The fields are the ones you choose and voila you a report ready.

PowerBI is still in preview and by the time it gets released it will have gotten input from so many you will be getting a very superior product.

You can find a more descriptive post on my other site in a day or two:
http://hodentekMSSS.blogspot.com

 

You want to do real-time business with real-time insight, download SQL Server 2014 right now

You can download SQL Server 2014 from the Technet Evaluation Center here:
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-US/evalcenter/dn205290.aspx

You can also download the express version here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-US/evalcenter/dn434042.aspx

You get the following programs in the express edition:

• LocalDB (SqlLocalDB)
• Express(SQLEXPR)--Database Engine only
• Express with Tools(SQLEXPRT)---Install & Configure database server+ SSMS
• SQL Server Management Studio Express(SQLManagementStudio)
• Express with Advanced Services(SQLEXPRADV)--includes Full Text Search & Reporting Services

Summary of some basic requirements:

• .NET 3.5 SP1 is a requirement and is not installed by set up.

Download the above from here:

http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=22

• .NET 4.0 is also a requirement but the installaiton program downlaods and installs it.
• PowerShell 2.0 is also a prerequisite and you have to install it if it is not present.

Operating Systems on which you can install:

Full list can be accessed here:
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms143506(v=sql.120).aspx#hwswr

• Enterprise and Business Intelligence versions installs only on Windows Servers (2012 and 2008 R2)
• Standard Edition can be installed on Windows 7(x32 and x64) and windows 7 SP1(Ultimate to Professional)
• SQL Developer covers the widest Windows operating Systems.
• SQL Express can be installed on above mentioned Servers as well Windows 8, Windows 8.1 and windows 7 SP1

 

SSDT BI templates for SQL Server 2012 CTP2

You will get SQL Server 2014 CTP2 Data Tools BI Project templates if you install Microsoft SQL Server 2014 Data Tools BI for Microsoft Visual Studio 2012, CTP2. Note that this does not work with Microsoft SQL Server 2012. It is supported only on x64 architecture of Windows Servers 2208 R2 and 2012 but on both X32 and X64 for Windows 7 and Windows 8.

Download link here
http://www.microsoft.com/en-us/download/details.aspx?id=40736

This installs the Microsoft SQL Server 2014 CTP2 Data Tools Business Intelligence project templates for Analysis Services, Integration Services, and Reporting Services.

Make sure you have these on the computer as prerequisites:
•Microsoft .NET Framework 4.5
•Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 Shell (Isolated) Redistributable Package
•Microsoft Visual Studio 2012 Shell (Integrated) Redistributable Package
•Microsoft Visual Studio Tools for Applications 2012
•Microsoft Report Viewer 2012 Runtime
For more support information follow this link here.

Looking at Oracle Express after a long break

The version I am now looking at is Oracle 11G Express. It is also entry level like its predecessor 10G, free with a small foot print. If you are looking at getting acquainted with Oracle you may sample the express which is based on the Oracle 11g Release 2 code base. The download link is here:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/products/express-edition/overview/index.html

The last express version of Oracle I looked at was 10G XE. Here are the links (earliest last) to my previous Oracle 10G XE articles. It is possible some links are broken.

In many cases, exporting a table to create an XML file is easy, but importing an XML file to create a table is much more difficult. This is true for Oracle 10G XE, as you will see in the following article:
 
Loading and Unloading XML Files Using Oracle 10G XE

Queries are quantitative questions you pose to a database. Questions such as "how many employees make more than $20,000.00 a year?" or "which employee has worked for more than two years?" are typical examples. In some cases, to answer questions like the ones above, you may go no further than looking it up in one table. However some questions may need more than one table, and it is not uncommon that several tables must be used to provide the answer. Here is how you query multiple tables in Oracle.

Multi-Table Queries with Oracle 10G XE

If you need to dealing with moving legacy data  to more recent databases, this article might help.
It will show you how to move data from an MS Excel file into an Oracle 10G XE table.

Importing a CSV Text File into Oracle 10G XE

Creating tables is one of the most basic tasks you will be doing. Oracle 10G XE provides a wizard to help you create a table. The wizard walks you through several steps for creating a table, taking you to the next step after you have entered valid entries for the current step. While scripts can be used to create a table, creating a table using the visual, form-based creation process is a lot simpler and less prone to errors. This tutorial describes a table to be created in the HR database with all the necessary ingredients for a typical database. This article shows you how.

Creating a Table using Oracle 10G XE

If you're a DBA, one of your basic tasks involves managing users: dropping, adding, and changing
permissions. Even if you aren't a DBA, if you use a database, you may find it helpful to know the
tasks that a DBA performs. This article explains the basics for how to perform these tasks in Oracle
10G XE. Here is a 101 level explanation.

Oracle 10G XE User Management 101

If you have ever loaded data into an Oracle table, you know that it is a rather complicated process.
You will be surprised at how much easier it is to do in Oracle 10G XE. Keep reading to find out.

Loading Spread Sheet Data into Oracle 10G XE

In a previous article, a set of tables from Oracle 10G XE were transferred to SQL 2005 Server using
SQL 2005 Server's Export/Import Wizard. This article is about migrating a table from Oracle 10G XE to SQL Anywhere 10. Someone commented why would anyone want to do this.

Migrating from Oracle 10G XE to SQL Anywhere 10

This tutorial takes you through the process of creating a web service client using the
ApplicationBuilder interface in Oracle 10g XE. The client will access the services offered by a web
service created using the Visual Studio 2005.

Creating an Oracle Web Service Client for a Web Service Created in VS 2005

Oracle 10G XE is versatile. You can also create applications.
This tutorial shows you how to create a report based on a table in the Oracle 10g XE database without stepping out of the IDE. It will show you how to manipulate the report and create a UI.

Developing Applications on Oracle 10g XE: Generating a Report

In an earlier tutorial we saw how to use SQL commands in the Oracle 10g Express Edition, or simply
Oracle XE. We also saw how to use the PL/SQL commands as well. In another tutorial we saw how to use the Query Builder, the graphical interface for fashioning and running SQL in the Oracle XE. The
present tutorial describes the SQL scripting support in Oracle XE. In order to bring out the basic
features of scripting support a few example scripts are considered in the discussion.

SQL Script Support in Oracle 10G Express Edition

Here is my favorite. Learning step-by-step everything you want to do, the technique in all my books so far.
Many enterprises need to move data from one kind of data source to another. This tutorial guides you through the steps necessary to move data from Oracle XE into a SQL 2005 Server database.

Step-By-Step Guide to Importing Data from Oracle XE to SQL 2005

In an earlier tutorial we saw how to use SQL commands in the Oracle 10g Express Edition, or simply
Oracle XE. We also saw how to use the PL/SQL commands as well. In this tutorial we will see how to use the Query Builder, the graphical interface for fashioning and running SQL in the Oracle XE. The
tutorial shows how to interact with the query builder to create a SELECT query in the context of a
single table as well as a SELECT query from two related tables.

Using Query Builder in the Oracle 10g Express Edition

Querying the database is one of the most common tasks that you may have to carry out routinely. This tutorial shows you the options for running SQL queries and how to run the queries against the database in the Oracle Express Edition, Oracle XE for short.

Learning to Query in Oracle XE

There are plenty of companies that produce large, expensive database programs with lots of features. But if you're a small company, you don't need to spend a lot of money to get a database that suits your needs; in fact, you may not need to spend any money at all. This article introduces you to Oracle 10g XE, a free database with a friendly user interface.

Experience the Possibilities with Oracle 10g Express Edition

Here is an article from my book:

"SQL Server Integration Services Using Visual Studio 2005", Chapter 13: Package to Copy a Table from Oracle XE', Packt Publishing, Birmingham and Mumbai, 978-1-847193-31-5, 2007".

This book is a real low cost option to learn SSIS with very little effort from your side.
Image

Oracle 11G XE

It is very easy to  install and work with Oracle 11G XE. Here are some Oracle 11g XE installation slides. After downloading run the setup (319662 KB) program. Here are some installation slides:

Make sure you choose a password for the SYSTEM here. It is not very stringent as in Windows Azure.

After installation you would have a shortcut like this one on your desktop.

You just double click it to launch as shown.

You are in. Login to start your session.

Make sure you read the following to explore Oracle 11G XE further:

http://www.oracle.com/technetwork/articles/sql/11g-xe-quicktour-498681.html

Enjoy.

Mahalo
 

SQL Saturday in Honolulu, August 2, 2012

Guys here in Honolulu are serious and proactive when it comes to SQL Server. They had the
SQL Saturday event two days ahead of Saturday on 8/2/2012. The event was held at the Honolulu Community College.

This PASS event was organized locally by the Pacific Center for Advanced Technology Training.
These were the talks delivered at the event:

SQL Server 2012 EIM (SSIS, DQS, and MDS) at intermediate level was delivered by Matt Hollingsworth of Microsoft. He gave a reasonably good demo of data cleansing using all of the three tools. He barely touched on Project Barcelona (new data lineage and impact analysis) still under wraps.

Rushabh Mehta of SolidQ gave talks on:
A beginner level Introduction to Data Quality Services (DqS)
An intermediate lelvel introduction to Master Data Management
and
SSIS 2012 Management Considerations and Best Practices

I only attended the 3rd talk which was very good. Lots of enhancements to SSIS since I published my book on SSIS.

Matt gave two other talks:
Building a BI Semantic Model for Power View
SQL Server 2012 Always On Enhancements

I have not dabelled with SharePoint but Wen He of eWorld gave two talks on
Reporting Nirvana -SQL 2012 and SharePoint 2010
Self_service BI with SharePoint

Power View rhymes with Power Point!

I attended the first one which was reasonably good.

There was also a lunch break vendor talk from Nimble Storage. The talk was around Nimble Storage Solutions, I only caught the last bit.

Are you ready for SQL Server 2008 SP2?

The Service Pack 2 is ready for downloading from this site here:
To download the SQL Server 2008 SP2 release please select from the links below:
 •SQL Server 2008 SP2: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=196550
 •SQL Server 2008 SP2 Express: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=196551
 •SQL Server 2008 SP2 Feature Packs: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink/?LinkId=202815
Note


 This is a service pack for the 2008 server and not the 2008 R2.

I have only Express editions and this executable (SQLServer2008SP2-KB2285068-x86-ENU.exe, 284MB ) from the above link applied the service pack to the two SQL Express servers on my notebook computer (Aspire 4810TZ-4011) with Windows 7 Ultimate.

I ran Select @@version on each of them and got these responses:

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 (SP2) - 10.0.4000.0 (Intel X86)   Sep 16 2010 20:09:22   Copyright (c) 1988-2008 Microsoft Corporation  Express Edition with Advanced Services on Windows NT 6.1 <X86> (Build 7600: )
Microsoft SQL Server 2008 (SP2) - 10.0.4000.0 (Intel X86)   Sep 16 2010 20:09:22   Copyright (c) 1988-2008 Microsoft Corporation  Express Edition on Windows NT 6.1 <X86> (Build 7600: )[I call this the Vanilla]
The first of these has Reporting Services server.

So what does this service pack accomplish?
* Reporting Services in Sharepoint Integrated Mode. It also helped SQL Server 2008 R2 to integrate with Sharepoint 2007 Products.
* SQL Server 2008 R2 Application and Multiserver Management Compatibility with SQL Server 2008
    *SQL Server 2008 Instance Management. You can enroll SQL Server 2008 with SQL Server 2008 R2 Utility Control Point as a managed instance.
    *Data-Tier Application(DAC) support. With the SP2 applied I can do all the DAC Operations just like in SQL Server 2008 R2. However I am using the      SSMS tool that was installed with SQL Server 2008 R2.
     Here is an example of the DACs that you can do with SQLExpress (vanilla).

You want to jump start on DAC, the coolest feature of SQL Server, then make sure you read these articles:
http://hodentekmsss.blogspot.com/2010/07/sql-server-2008-r2-and-data-tier.html
or
here
http://hodentek.blogspot.com/2010/02/working-with-data-gotten-lot-easier.html

Have some fun!

Troubleshooting a SQL Server 2008 R2 CTP Windows 7

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 was recently released. It is a major upgrade with many new features and a 'Cloud ready' database server. Accessing SQL Azure has become very easy and new features such as 'Mars' are added frequently. SQL Azure being a subset of SQL Server 2008 R2 is sure to expand to support most of the major features.


Installing SQL Server 2008 on more recent OS versions such as Vista, Windows 7, Windows Server 2008 will continue to draw attention.Installation of SQL Servers; modifying them; adding feauters and removing features / software has become very easy thanks to Microsoft in this endeavor. However it is not always a repeatable process. Read my article on installing an earlier version of SQL Server 2008 here

What makes it frustrating is the fact that there is no repeatability. For example, although this version of SQL Server software is supported on Windows XP Professional with SP3, I have not been able to install it successfully. I have not tried it recently as installation and repair of SQL Servers is neither what I do routinely nor for another reason.
I could install SQL Server 2008 R2 November-CTP easily on a new Windows 7 RC but not on this version in this article. Another reason for all this could be that being a CTP the guarantee that it is supported on a given OS is not rock solid.

This article is for an installation of SQL Server 2008 R2 NOV-CTP (x32) on a notebook computer after a fresh install of Windows 7 ultimate(x32). The download of the server software is from the Microsoft site which unpacks to a tree-view folder structure that has the file to start installing the software and all required files. The article describes the installation and troubleshooting of the installation and the work around.

Read the full article here:

SSWUG.ORG
http://www.sswug.org/articles/viewarticle.aspx?id=48766

To read it without becoming a member register as a guest.