The Second Half of 2021

Posted on July 6, 2021 by way0utwest

July is starting, and with it we move to the second half of 2021, or H2 2021 for those of you that like the planning shorthand on roadmaps and project manager boards.

The first half of 2021 has felt like a big of progress in the world, as we try to recover from the pandemic that froze time for most of 2020. I felt like most of last year was one grinding day after another, with little change, lots of limitations, and a constant “sameness” in my life from day to day. While I like routine, I also like some changes and little alterations that keep life interesting.

I know the first quarter of this year felt like that as well, but slowly in the US things started to change. I got my vaccine does, something I didn’t expect until this month or later. The US and a few other countries have deployed so many vaccine doses that life has started to change and open a bit. I know many other countries aren’t as lucky, and I do hope that more assistance and sharing comes from the US and other privileged countries to ensure that we can end this pandemic.

As things change, I’m more hopeful than I was six months ago that we will move towards a more normal way of life, albeit likely will still some changes. I know I see less masks in the US, but not zero. We still have precautions in many places, and most people seem willing to follow whatever rules a business wants. More offices are opening up, although partial remote work seems to be the accepted practice. I’ve seen a few music and other entertainment events start to take place, so maybe we’ll see more technical events. There were good decent number of people at DevConnections in Florida, so that was a hopeful sign as well.

We are all emerging from the pandemic at different rates, with vastly different risk tolerances. Not only are countries taking different approaches, but even within a country like the US, the experience can vary. On a few recent trips, it seemed to me that we all need to be flexibly and respectful of others, willing to adapt to the situations as they occur.

The second half of 2021 will be interesting, but likely very different from the last year. No matter where you are, and how you feel, I do hope that life improves and you can enjoy yourself, both at work and away from work.

Steve Jones

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Daily Coping 6 Jul 2021

Posted on July 6, 2021 by way0utwest

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 be willing to ask for help when you need it.

This is hard for me. I tend to work independently, whether at my job or at home, but I am learning to be a little more vulnerable and open. A couple examples from this year where I learned this recently.

At work, I was a little overloaded. I talked with my boss and we moved a couple things to other people. Not big things, but they were recurring and a small bit of stress when I get busy. We also talked about shifting a few things in my job, working them in a new way. She had some suggestions that helped me rework how I get things done.

At my last 1:1, we noticed my stress and coping were more positive.

At home, I tend to just tackle work that needs to be done. However, I have started to be better about not doing everything myself. I asked a kid to help me change implements on the tractor. I also asked another one to help me add a hitch to my wife’s car. I could have used some tools or leverage to get things done, but I also could have thrown out my back. Asking for help was a better idea, and the kids learned something.

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Getting the Script from the SQL Compare Command Line

Posted on July 5, 2021 by way0utwest

In the last few posts, I’ve written about using the SQL Compare command line for a specific object and shown how to get a report. This post will look at getting the actual script.

This is part of a series I have on SQL Compare from Redgate Software. It’s an amazing piece of software that you should try if you haven’t. Download an eval today.

When we run the command line or generate the report, we see what’s changed, and even the details of the chances, but how will that get deployed? The actual script is often important to a DBA to ensure that these changes won’t cause problems in a live environment.

To get the script, there is a /scriptfile parameter (or /sf) that will output the file. You add this in similar way as you do the report file, including the path. The important thing here is to ensure that you have write access to the path.

I have added a few differences in my databases, and you can see them in my complete report:

2021-06-11 12_35_45-cmd

If I want to see what will be run for all these changes, I can add the /sf and get the script. In this case, I’ll add this to the end of the CLI call:

/sf:C:\Users\Steve\Documents\changes.sql

This produces a script that looks like this:

2021-06-11 12_40_29-changes.sql - boardofdirectors - Visual Studio Code

It’s a normal “SQL Compare” script, with comments at the top as well as the various transaction items.

This is good, because I can see there is a table drop in here. I actually renamed a table, so this is a problem. I might want to then decide how to handle this, or not to deploy this change.

Note: Using SQL Source Control or SQL Change Automation allows this to be handled in other ways.

I can also combine this with a single table inclusion to check one item. For example, I can run this:

sqlcompare /server1:Aristotle\SQL2017 /server2:Aristotle\SQL2017 /database1:compare1 /database2:compare2 /include:table:mytable /sf:C:\Users\Steve\Documents\mytable1.sql

When I do that, I see my script has a table rebuild in it, which is something else I might be concerned about.

2021-06-11 12_45_19-mytable1.sql - boardofdirectors - Visual Studio Code

With the other posts on the SQL Compare CLI, we can now choose what to compare, get a report, and see the actual scripts being run. This should allow us to choose the way that we want to deploy changes with SQL Compare from the command line.

I don’t know that these are the best way to deploy to production, but when you need to sync something quickly, get a report and script, and then decide if this works for you.

There are lots of options and ways to use SQL Compare, and I’d urge you to explore a bit as you look to improve your database deployments. If you don’t have it yet, download an eval and give it a try.

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Daily Coping 5 Jul 2021

Posted on July 5, 2021 by way0utwest

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 some vacation plans for the future.

Some of us have started to do more things as the pandemic eases; some have not. Your ability to do things varies by country, employers, comfort level, and more. I’ve been doing a few things, and actually had a few vacations this year. Short, but still, I’ve had some.

I want more, especially as many things still aren’t normal. My wife and I started to look forward and plan some vacations. Some plans are more likely, and some are very speculative. We’d like to go to Machu Picchu in Peru, but the country and been opening and closing, and it feels too unstable to really plan something.

However, we have been looking at perhaps going to Alaska. It’s open, outdoors, and less risky than other places. It’s also a bucket list item for both of us, so we’re trying to make some semi-firm plans for the early fall.

We have other ideas as well, like going back to New Zealand. We know we can’t go. Yet, but we’re making some plans for when we can.

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