Paul S. Waters

SSIS Screen Scraper

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Sat, 28 Apr 2012 17:18:38 PDT

I wanted to save one of my co-workers a bunch of monkey work, so I wrote this screen scraper to get the html he needed.

Please use this sample at your own risk. It worked on my box and that is all I know. I stole, err, borrowed heavily from others. The three main victims are:

Script Component as Data Source

Screen Scraping by Tiberius OsBurn - I even left in his great comments.

Professional Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Integration Services

To run the sample you will need 2 tables created in a SQL database. I used SQL 2008 and my database name is SandBox.

The scripts to create the tables are in the SQL folder along with one to insert data into the SourceURLs table.

The SSIS package and SQL can be downloaded from my SkyDrive.

Have fun.

Policy-Based Management in SQL Server 2008

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Tue, 20 Jan 2009 16:28:04 PST

Here are some links I used to prepare for my presentation on Policy-Based Management in SQL Server 2008. SQL Books Online is also a great source of information.

SQL Server 2008 Policy Based Management Interview

http://edge.technet.com/Media/SQL-Server-2008-Policy-Based-Management-Interview/

Using Policy-Based Management in SQL Server 2008

http://www.mssqltips.com/tip.asp?tip=1492

Use Policy Based Management Features of SQL Server 2008 to Manage SQL Servers

http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/sqlserver/dd391551.aspx

SQL Server Policy-Based Management

This blog is dedicated to Policy-Based Management introduced in SQL Server 2008

http://blogs.msdn.com/sqlpbm/default.aspx

ExecuteWQL() in Policy Based Management

http://statisticsio.com/Home/tabid/36/articleType/ArticleView/articleId/283/ExecuteWQL-in-Policy-Based-Management.aspx

Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Feature Pack, October 2008

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=228DE03F-3B5A-428A-923F-58A033D316E1&displaylang=en

My highlights from the book sale

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Sat, 16 Aug 2008 08:31:53 PDT

The Really Good, Really Big, Really Cheap Book Sale in Greenville, SC is a fund raiser for the Greenville Literacy Association. I have looked forward to it every year I have been in Greenville. Here is just some of what I brought home today. The rest of my family made out great as well.

The first one is my biggest prize. Not only will it be a great course, but I only paid $5 for it. All the rest I paid $1 each for.

Einstein's Relativity and the Quantum Revolution: Modern Physics for Non-Scientists, 2nd Edition
4 DVD Set $254.95
http://snurl.com/3gv85-87021 [www_teach12_com]

Great Masters: Brahms—His Life and Music
8 Audio CDs 24.95
http://snurl.com/3guza-87021 [www_teach12_com]

Great Masters: Liszt—His Life and Music
8 Audio CDs 24.95
http://snurl.com/3gv0t-87021 [www_teach12_com]

Explaining Social Deviance
10 Lectures $39.95
http://snurl.com/3gvcw-87021 [www_teach12_com]

ATLAS SHRUGGED Abridged
http://snurl.com/3gvgl-87021 [www_amazon_com]

The Da Vinci Code Unabridged
http://snurl.com/3gvhc-87021 [www_amazon_com]

CHAOS Making a New Science
http://snurl.com/3gvhu-87021 [www_amazon_com]

Genetics For Dummies
http://snurl.com/3gvjb-87021 [www_amazon_com]

SC SQL Saturday Call for Speakers!

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Fri, 15 Aug 2008 06:21:50 PDT

Event: SC SQL Saturday
Date: Saturday October 11, 2008

Location: ECPI
Greenville Campus
1001 Keys Drive #100
Greenville, SC 29615
http://www.ecpi.edu/campus/greenville_sc/index.cfm

SC SQL Saturday 2008 is looking for speakers!

Call for speakers is open! Please submit any SQL Server content you'd like to present. With SQL Server 2008 RTM we’d love to see some presentations on it, but we also do not want to leave out SQL 2005. Presentations focused on developers using SQL Server are also welcome.

Please submit you presentation at http://snurl.com/3gc2l-87021 .

Thank you,

The SQL Saturday #9 Team

SSIS Tools, Tips and Tricks

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Tue, 01 Jul 2008 11:41:37 PDT

I posted my notes for the presentation I gave at the June 2008 SSIG meeting and Atlanta Code Camp 08 to www.ssig.org.

I also have them in a Word doc at http://cid-89384f23767a9a97.skydrive.live.com/browse.aspx/Public?uc=1

Microsoft Community Launch Greenville, SC

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Sun, 01 Jun 2008 08:21:44 PDT

Here are links from my presentation on new features in SQL Server 2008 Business Intelligence.

Data Profiling

For this demo the following blog posts were combined.

http://blogs.conchango.com/jamiethomson/archive/2008/03/02/ssis-data-profiling-task-part-1-introduction.aspx

http://agilebi.com/cs/blogs/jwelch/archive/2008/03/11/using-the-data-profiling-task-to-profile-all-the-tables-in-a-database.aspx

From John Welch's post the tables are limited to the following from Jamie's post.

SSIS: Data Profiling Task: Part 2 - Column Length Distribution
SSIS: Data Profiling Task: Part 8 - Candidate Key
[HumanResources].[Department].[GroupName]
SSIS: Data Profiling Task: Part 3 - Column Null Ratio
[Person].[Contact].[MiddleName]
SSIS: Data Profiling Task: Part 4 - Column Pattern
[Production].[Product].[ProductNumber]
SSIS: Data Profiling Task: Part 5 - Column Statistics
[Sales].[SalesOrderDetail].[UnitPriceDiscount]

Katmai: SSIS: Lookup component gets a makeover
http://blogs.conchango.com/jamiethomson/archive/2007/11/16/Katmai_3A00_-SSIS_3A00_-Lookup-component-gets-a-makeover.aspx

Star Schema Performance
http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/magazine/cc434693.aspx

Reporting Services
Teo Lachev’s blog: http://prologika.com/CS/blogs/blog/archive/2007/08/29/under-the-hood.aspx

Enterprise Scale Reporting webcast: https://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/content/content.aspx?ContentID=6082

SQL 2008 BOL
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb630410(SQL.100).aspx

Analysis Services

What's New (Analysis Services - Data Mining):
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/bb510513(SQL.100).aspx

Introducing the SQL Server 2005 Data Mining Add-ins for Office 2007
http://www.sqlserverdatamining.com/ssdm/Home/DataMiningAddinsLaunch/tabid/69/Default.aspx
Advanced Manageability for Analysis Services 2008 webcast: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032352698&Culture=en-US

Advanced Manageability for Analysis Services 2008 webcast: http://msevents.microsoft.com/CUI/EventDetail.aspx?EventID=1032352698&Culture=en-US

Teo Lachev’s blog: http://prologika.com/CS/blogs/blog/archive/2007/08/29/under-the-hood.aspx

Enterprise Scale Reporting webcast: https://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/content/content.aspx?ContentID=6082

Reporting Services Tablix
http://prologika.com/CS/blogs/blog/archive/2007/08/12/tablix-the-crown-jewel.aspx

Design and build sites for Office SharePoint Server 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Wed, 13 Feb 2008 04:55:34 PST

SharePoint Server 2007 is a big thing to get your arms around let alone your brain to fully understand it. Thankfully Microsoft understands this and is continuing to improve its documentation and guidance for implementing a variety of solutions with it.

The TechNet section for Office SharePoint Server 2007 is continually being updated with richer and richer content. Currently my favorite section is the Design and build sites for Office SharePoint Server 2007. With out understanding the concepts here and following the recommended approach to your desired solution mistakes are bond to happen. Even small mistakes in design early on can have costly consequences in the future

GSATC Gadgetfest

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Wed, 12 Dec 2007 10:06:16 PST

At the GSATC Gadgetfest today I demonstrated some DIY technology. Aside from forgetting to turn on the power to the servo for my robotic tea steeper it went O.K. and it was a lot of fun.

The servo controller used in the robotic tea steeper can be purchased at Parallax.

The Cuff Light only took about 2 hours to make and it is a great project to learn very basic circuits.

Mitch Altman’s Brain Machine plans can be found on Make Magazine’s site and this thing really works.

WSS, MOSS, and WebSphere Resources

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Thu, 15 Nov 2007 06:27:38 PST

I am putting together a list of resourses for people who may be looking at depolying either WSS, MOSS, or WebSphere in their organization. Here are some helpful resourses I have found.

WSS 3.0
Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 Technical Library
WSS Demo Site
Developer Introduction to Workflows for Windows SharePoint Services 3.0 and SharePoint Server 2007
Microsoft Podcasts
Microsoft Webcasts

MOSS
Taxonomy/Tagging Starter Kit for SharePoint Server
Microsoft Enterprise Content Management (ECM) Team Blog
Office Business Applications (OBA)
Office Developer Center
Community Kit for SharePoint
Community Kit for SharePoint User Group Addition
SharePoint Blogs
SharePoint WebCasts
Microsoft Podcasts
Microsoft Webcasts

WebSphere
IBM WebSphere
IBM WebSphere Site
Global WebSphere Community

An XO for the Holidays

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Tue, 13 Nov 2007 17:34:13 PST

Today my family and I donated and bought an XO Laptop. I can envision this being a world changing project so, yes I am glad to play a small roll in helping out, yes I am glad to help a total stranger in a strange land have one, yes I will deduct it on my taxes. Also, I am a geek at heart so, yes I'll keep checking my email for the UPS tracking number, yes I will be monitoring is progress on route to me, yes I will be taking pictures of the box being opening for the first time, yes I will stroke its smooth green exterior and its rubbery keyboard, and of course I am going to write some activities (XO for software applications) for it.
As a parent, I am looking forward to watching how my kids interact with it and how we can us it has a fun and enlightening education tool.

If you would like get one and give one go to the OLPT Give One Get One Site.

No more bitter brew

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Sat, 03 Nov 2007 17:05:05 PDT

While watching the DARPA Grand Urban Challenge I solved a major problem in my life; bitter tea. A good cup of Earl Grey gets pretty bitter after steeping for more then 3 minutes. Quite often I get focused on my work and forget about the tea. Yes, a timer would work, but if I am focusing, it is normally for a reason and I do not want to break my concentration. The answer is to automate the steeping process. Here is my working prototype made from some spare robot parts and a USB servo controller from Parallax.

From DARPA Urban G...

Game Development in Education with XNA

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Wed, 24 Oct 2007 05:38:19 PDT

Here are some links I found related to using Microsoft’s XNA Game Platform in the classroom to teach game programming. My goal when searching for this information was to find a 2 year college using game programming to teach business software development skills.
Since most students are more familiar with video games then order fulfillment, distribution centers, and accounting, my thinking is through the problems encountered in game development students can learn the skills required for business application development.

If anyone has any comments about this or information on who might be working on curriculum along these lines please share them by posting a comment.

Resource links

Alfred Thompson
Blog: http://blogs.msdn.com/alfredth/default.aspx

http://blogs.msdn.com/alfredth/archive/2007/05/15/xna-in-the-classroom.aspx

Daniel Webster College Press release regarding Grant
http://www.dwc.edu/news/2006-2007/goulding2grant.shtml

Microsoft 4 Me
Site focused on Microsoft Technology for Students
http://www.microsoft4me.com/index.htm

XNA Resource Links for Education
http://www.microsoft4me.com/faculty/resource_Gaming/index.htm

XNA Creators Club
http://creators.xna.com/

Microsoft’s MSDN XNA Developer Site
http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/xna/default.aspx

Tough day to work on a Sunday

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Sun, 11 Mar 2007 12:21:16 PDT

This is the view from the back door of my office with Greenville's Irish Festival below. Enough said.

From Downtown Gree...

Atlanta Code Camp 2007

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 19:14:38 PST

If it is never to late to give compliments then this post is not 2 weeks over due.

Even though I did not have the tofu on a stick, the Atlanta Code Camp was awesome. It was very well organized, great turn out, great topics, great presenters, abundant SWAG; I won 2 things myself, and I think Al G did even better.
As some one who help put together the South Carolina Code Camp 2.0 and will most likely take part in getting together 4.0, I learned a lot from the way the Atlanta group did things and they raised the bar for putting together a code camp.

In case you were wondering where SC Code Camp 3.0 went, it will be this September in Charleston, SC. No Business Intelligence talk for me there. My presentation will be on the Microsoft Robotics Studio.

Web 2.0

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Sun, 04 Feb 2007 18:46:58 PST

Jumpstart TV

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Tue, 02 Jan 2007 20:47:40 PST

My new favorite web site.

JumpStartTV

South Carolina Code Camp 2.0

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Thu, 25 Jan 2007 05:49:48 PST

Registration for South Carolina Code Camp 2.0 is well under way. Take a look at the site and reserve your spot today.

GotDotNet and BI Too

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Mon, 07 Aug 2006 19:56:37 PDT

Here are a few projects in the GotDotNet Workspaces related to Microsoft SQL 2005 Business Intelligence.

Business Intelligence Architecture and Design Guide - I have just skimmed it so far, but it looks like a must read.

SQL Server 2005 Report Packs - No one responsible for developing or administering SSIS should be without the SSIS report pack.

SQL Server Integration Services ( SSIS ) - Contains some great SSIS resources.

The Database Job Market in the US

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Mon, 08 May 2006 19:26:13 PDT

Here is an interesting article a friend sent me on the US Database job market from the O'REILY radar web site. The presentation was given at a MySQL conference and is targeted at that audience, but information for other leading DBMS vendors are also included.

qv: http://tinyurl.com/z7mpz

SyncToy 1.1 is Ready to Download

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Mon, 08 May 2006 19:25:46 PDT

The program I have been using to synchronize my files from my laptop to my USB thumb drive has been given an upgrade. SyncToy is now at version 1.1 and can be downloaded from the link below. Best of all, it is still free provided you did not steal your copy of Windows XP.

qv: http://tinyurl.com/7dlru

My first book review.

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Tue, 17 Jan 2006 14:33:19 PST

"Applied Microsoft Analysis Services 2005 : And Microsoft Business Intelligence Platform" by Teo Lachev is the first book written by someone living, that I felt compelled to write a review for.

qv: http://www.prologika.com/

AirSet - A Personal, Family, and Group Events Aggregator and Much More. - Maybe

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Fri, 05 Jan 2007 00:01:48 PST

The Personal Productivity Show #13 featured Brian Dougherty, CEO of AIREANA. There flagship WEB 2.0 product is AirSet. Currently, I am evaluating this to help increase the harmony in my relationship with my wife. It is great when after over 7 years of marriage one of your biggest challenges is knowing when to schedule a doctors appointment or what night I have a meeting to attend, and who's birthday or special event is coming up.

Since I have my own Exchange server at home, sharing Outlook calendars seemed like a solution. However, this solution turned out to be to clunky and only worked with calendars on our local Exchange server.

My wife and I are now evaluating AirSet to help with our scheduling and contact management.

I will keep you posted when I learn more about how this works for us.

Take a look at the Tablet PC Form Factor

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Wed, 16 Nov 2005 10:00:06 PST

Do to my last Toshiba purchase I had $1000 to spend on a new Laptop. I decided a while back to get a convertible PC. They are Laptop computers that can also work as a Tablet or Slate PC.

Since I wanted the unit to have a GPU for performance, I was limited to the Toshiba convertibles. It seems only Toshiba does not use shared memory for video in there high end lines. At first I wanted the Toshiba M4 with its 14" screen. I felt I could go no smaller then 14" and still feel comfortable writing software and database applications. Then I started to think if the extra size and weight would discourage me from using it has a tablet.

After months of research and sole searching (Yes geeks search there soles for the perfect technology. Why else do you think it makes us feel so fulfilled?) I decided to choose the M200 with its 12.1" screen.

Not wanting to pay the $1900 for a new one I set an eBay search to look for all Toshiba M200's and M205's. I looked at each listing for about 6 months and once I got the trend cycles recognized I felt comfortable to start bidding.

A month went by and one came across with the specs and the warranty I wanted and I bid on it. For $910 I got one with over 1000 days left on the warranty. Not to bad.

I love the weight, the feel, the 1400 x 1050 resolution screen and it even recognizes my cursive handwriting.

I still was not sure of my decision to opt for the smaller screen until last night at the GSP Developers Guild meeting. It though I would be the stand out with my M200, but Tobin Titus came with a Gateway Tablet, and Bill Ryan with a Toshiba Satellite and someone else with a slate. I guess the form factor might finally be catching on.

Aside from the slate the others were 14" screens and, for me, not very comfortable to hold and weighed way more then I wanted.

I encourage everyone to look at the Tablet PC form factor. In my first week, I have already used it in ways I could not have used any other computer.

Last few weeks big for Microsoft SQL Server 2005

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Tue, 01 Nov 2005 14:29:15 PST

Here is what has happened.

The new Microsoft SQL 2005 certifications were announced.
The first SQL 2005 Exam Prep Guide was released (Exam 70-431)
Not new, but worth noting, is that much of the training for Exam 70-431 can be found for free at Microsoft Learning.
Of course the biggest news, by far, is SQL Server 2005 is now in RTM status and available for download to MSDN subscribers.

This is all very exciting indeed. However, there is lots of work ahead to turn Microsoft’s achievements into value for our customers.

MindManager Maps in SharePoint

noreply@blogger.com (Paul S. Waters) — Thu, 20 Oct 2005 09:00:50 PDT

Janson Burton just sent me this link on how to index MindManager 2002 mindmaps in SharePoint.

Thank you Jason.

qv: http://tinyurl.com/7ln77