Voice of the DBA

Category: Blog

  • Daily Coping 22 Sep 2021

    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 leave positive messages for yourself to see regularly.

    I haven’t ever really done this in a physical sense. I have tried to keep positive messages in mind, notice the good things in life, nature, and others, and in general try to keep my attitude positive. It doesn’t always work, but I have gotten better at realizing when I am being negative.

    I decided to do this digitally. I have a couple friends that will reach out at times and send a positive note. That’s always good and I thought I’d leave myself a note digitally. I made myself an appointment for a random date and time. A small, 5 min item.

    2021-09-17 09_46_38-Remember a positive thing that happened yesterday and smile - Appointment

    When this comes up, I’ll look at it, take a minute to remember, and then I’ll set another positive message for myself for a random 6-9 days in the future.

  • Daily Coping 21 Sep 2021

    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 find a caring, calming phrase to use when you feel low.

    I have emotional swings, much like most people. I certainly feel low at times, and I’ve noticed them more during the pandemic.

    It might seem silly, and it’s a bit of a family joke, but the phrase from Stuart Smalley character of Al Franken often used is helpful.

    “I’m good enough, I’m smart enough, and doggone it, people like me.”

    It lightens my mood, makes me smile, and it helps me to take a step back from whatever is bothering me. My wife has used this on me a few times, and I’m trying to adopt it as a way to cope.

  • Removing a Deleted Column from a Data Masker Masking Set

    Data Masker for SQL Server is a great tool ensuring the data you use in non-production environments is compliant with any regulations by obfuscating and changing sensitive data. This is part of a series of posts on Data Masker from Redgate Software.

    Recently I was testing a scenario for a customer and had an error while running an existing masking set. I had opened the set up and run it, a pre-test before I altered it for this customer. I immediately got this while running the masking set:

    2021-09-10 10_20_22-

    This is a common problem. Schemas evolve, and while fixing the data set should be part of the development and deployment process, the timing is difficult. I can’t change a masking set before the change is deployed into production. When it is, I don’t want to wait too long before I make the update.

    In any case, when I click OK, I see the error location:

    2021-09-10 10_20_32-Masking Set Run Errors

    This isn’t that helpful, but if I click the “All Errors in the Masking Rules” tab, I get something that is useful.

    2021-09-10 10_20_37-Masking Set Run Errors

    This is the situation I described above. I had deployed part of a demo that moved data around and deleted a column. However, the masking set wasn’t changed. This makes sense as I often reset the demo, but in this case my copy of the database had the column.

    Fixing the Error

    I have two choices. I could add the column back, but that wouldn’t help with this post Winking smile

    In this case, I’ll open rule 01-0013 by highlighting it and clicking “Edit Rule”, as shown below.

    2021-09-10 10_26_44-simpletalk(unsaved)_ Data Masker for SQL Server

    In this dialog, I see all the columns I’m masking. At the bottom, I can see the taxid, which doesn’t exist any longer. In this case, I can highlight the column and click the “Delete” button at the bottom.

    2021-09-10 10_32_26-

    I click “Update Substitution Rule” to save the changes and then I can run the entire set again. I’m looking for more errors, which are possible. In this case, I had to correct another column error. Then I got this:

    2021-09-10 10_34_10-

    Now I’m ready to actually set up the customer situation and help them fix their issue.

    Data Masker is an incredibly powerful tool for protecting sensitive data. I see more and more customers using it all the time to comply with GDPR and other government regulations. If you’ve never tried it, download an eval today and check out our library of articles.

  • Daily Coping 20 Sep 2021

    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 if you’re busy, allow yourself to pause and take a break.

    I suck at this. I mean, I am really bad at this. When I’m busy, I usually go from task to task. I get in the flow of some things, but often I have a disparate set of items to tackle, and I’ll keep going, forgetting to get up and take a break. I even sometimes make a pot of coffee, have one cup, and look up to find it’s 1:00pm. I’ve been at my desk for hours.

    I do feel the stress sometimes, and I am trying to remind myself that taking 2-3 minutes to walk outside or stop and stare is OK. I might get lightly distracted on the Internet, but that’s not the same. I really should just take a break.

    In the past I have had mixed success. Even the week I am writing this (13-17 Sep), I’m slightly better, but really it’s because I’m in a different environment.

    I’ll try to keep this in mind in the coming days when I’m back at home. Stop, get up, take a break.