Voice of the DBA

Author: way0utwest

  • Daily Coping 1 Mar 2022

    I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.

    Today’s tip is to make a plan to change your daily routine for a day and see how you feel.

    I tend to follow the same routines often, usually work, gym, cook, maybe some fix or chore. Changing up a routine is good, but it can be hard.

    For me, I don’t sit still well. I usually have plenty of things to do, and I try to tackle something when I have free time. This might sound strange, but I don’t do well with taking days off. I’m either doing chores, fixing something, or coaching. Even my breaks for something like watching a football game are while I’m cooking or looking at the condensed game while playing guitar.

    I wasn’t sure what to do with this tip, but last weekend we didn’t have plans. Or I didn’t. My wife had to work, but we had a weekend off from coaching, no plans, weather wasn’t great, so I decided to relax. I read in bed, watched some Netflix, played some guitar, but didn’t work on anything new.

    I had a relaxed day, went to the gym later and sat on a bike for an hour, pedaling relatively slowly. Just taking it easy and doing a little work. I went to the store for groceries and had a relaxing time cooking dinner.

    It was an odd, low stress, no hurry day for me. Unlike most of my life. I enjoyed the leisure, but felt the next day like I hadn’t done enough. I’d wasted time.

    I accepted that, didn’t chastise myself, and moved on. Not likely to take many of those days, but I will take a few.

  • A New Command Palette in SQL Prompt

    I’ve gotten used to using the Command Palette in VS Code/ADS/Sublime Text regularly to find some setting or change something. What felt strange at first has become a habit for me. I actually like having this one place to search and get things done.

    It’s now in SQL Prompt.

    If I press ALT+S, I see this in SSMS. A large command prompt with lots of entries.

    2022-02-22 12_33_20-SQLQuery1.sql - ARISTOTLE_SQL2017.sandbox (ARISTOTLE_Steve (54))_ - Microsoft SQ

    This popup lets me do a few things. If I start typing, I can get to most any object or SQL Prompt command from here. It’s like a global search for all things Prompt.

    As an example, I can highlight an object and then ALT+S, type “object ex” and I’ll see this:

    2022-02-22 12_35_27-SQL Prompt_ Command Palette

    If I select the “Select in Object Explorer” (or click), the OE will navigate to that item.

    2022-02-22 12_36_57-

    Simple, and I could get there in other ways, but having all this in one searchable place, rather than right clicking and looking through a menu, or looking at the top menu bar, is easy. I even see the shortcut in the command palette (CTRL+F12) if I want to memorize it.

    I can also use this for commands like insert semicolons, which I can never remember the shortcut for.

    2022-02-22 12_38_50-SQL Prompt_ Command Palette

    I can look for objects, commands, or options, filtering my results with the selection at the top. Or I can look in all areas. I can even look at the see the status of options in the palette, as shown here.

    2022-02-22 12_41_38-SQL Prompt_ Command Palette

    I have some things memorized, and the ALT+S isn’t quite in my muscle memory, but I am finding that I use it when I don’t know where something is located, or can’t remember a shortcut.

    It’s a new feature, and the team is looking for feedback, so give it a try and let them know what you think.

    If you don’t have SQL Prompt for SSMS and SQL Server, download an eval today and give it a try.

  • Less is More

    The world of Information Technology has changed a lot during my career, but in some ways, many things remain the same. There are still mainframes in use, and plenty of jobs. Lots of companies maintain their infrastructure in data centers, even though some are turning to private clouds for their infrastructure. There are plenty of jobs in that area as well.

    There is a trend to consolidate resources into a bucket and then allocate those as needed for various applications and services. This is what mainframes do, albeit at a very high degree of reliability (and cost). The cloud seeks to replicate this, not with high reliability, but with redundancy, expecting systems to fail. In fact, plenty of the data centers these days involve a lot of similar hardware systems tied together with software, with failed systems being left in place rather than replaced.

    This trend aims towards a lights-out data center, where humans don’t work inside the location with servers. As someone that used to keep a coat by my desk in the summertime for trips inside the locked “computer room”, it’s a welcome trend. While a few people might actually need to check a cable or service an AC or UPS unit, most of us these days never see the systems we work on, whether those systems are owned by our company or rented in the cloud.

    This doesn’t mean that we won’t have as much work. In fact, I think that most of the trends in computing over the last three decades have opened up opportunities for workers. This article talks about some of those changes that allow workers to morph along with technology to tackle different aspects of similar jobs. I certainly expect that anyone who wants to improve their skills and adapt to the new data center of the future to have plenty of work.

    This reminds me of a scene from Aliens, where workers use enhanced suits to load heavy crates. I think this is the type of future I see, where humans work alongside new technology rather than being displaced by it. The need for humans to monitor, manage, adjust, and configure software systems and physically work alongside high-tech software is not going away anytime soon. The more that we adapt new technology, the more it seems that we add humans to work alongside it in some new way.

    Continue to learn, adapt, and adjust your skillset and you can remain employed for a long time.

    Steve Jones

    Listen to the podcast at Libsyn, Stitcher, Spotify, or iTunes.

  • Daily Coping 28 Feb 2022

    I started to add a daily coping tip to the SQLServerCentral newsletter and to the Community Circle, which is helping me deal with the issues in the world. I’m adding my responses for each day here. All my coping tips are under this tag.

    Today’s tip is to appreciate the good qualities of someone in your life.

    I’m very lucky with family and friends. I get to see a lot of people, sometimes more than I want, and for the most part the interactions are very enjoyable.

    A few years ago I was traveling for work to an event. I met someone before the event and we got to chatting about things. It was a very pleasant 10-15 minutes. We talked a bit later in the day, and I came home with good memories.

    After that day, this person reached out on Linked In to wish me a happy holiday a few months later. I responded, and since that day, this person has checked in every few months, asking how I am and sharing info about their life and family. We had talked about those things when we saw each other.

    This person has been a friend, someone that I only met once, but we correspond and catch up, usually at their initiation, and I appreciate the kind words and thoughts. I appreciate the genuine curiosity and caring.

    Each time I see a message, I smile.