Voice of the DBA

Tag: syndicated

  • I did my part – Helping others

    Let’s raise some money, people.

    TL;DR Donate to Doctors Without Borders, the Argenis Without Borders campaign.

    What started out as a joke has grown, and we’re really looking to raise some money for this charity. I did my part

    Photo Aug 28, 11 21 01 AM

    I started shopping, and I’ll be rainbow decked for the PASS Summit, and maybe a few other events. It’s all in good fun and to raise awareness and funds. Doctors Without Borders is a highly rated charity, and a great cause. If you feel the need, please donate to the Argenis Without Borders campaign.

  • Better Presentations–Hide those Windows

    This is part of a series of tips for speakers to make your presentations better.

    I wanted to give some specific SQL Server presentation items that have bothered me recently. These aren’t big things, but they do cause problems for attendees, and that might mean the difference between someone learning what you are presenting and getting lost because they can’t easily see.

    Windows

    How does this look?

    badpresent_thumb1

    It’s bad. Imagine if you were 15 feet back from the presenter, which is how this looks on a screen. I can barely see code.

    If you look at the Object Explorer, there’s this little item in there .I’ve highlighted it below.

    objcet_explorer_a_thumb3

    There’s also one on the Properties window.

    properties_a_thumb1

    In fact, my SQL Test window at the bottom, most SSMS add ins and  Visual Studio windows have them.

    Click them. They’ll hide the windows, like so.

    badpresent2_thumb1

    This is a much cleaner view of things.

    But, Steve, you’ll say. I need those windows. I get it, I need them, too. They’re on the side of your screen and you can pop them open. They’ll stay open when you work in them, and disappear when you don’t.

    Gone when I don’t need it.

    oe1_thumb1

    Here when I do:

    oe3_thumb1

    It’s a quick tip, and it’s easy to learn. Once you practice with hiding and using windows, I’m sure you’ll find that you work more efficiently all the time, not just when on stage.

  • The ALS Ice Bucket Challenge

    A few friends challenged me yesterday, including Grant Fritchey and Aaron Bertrand. Last night, when I got to the Denver SQL Server User Group meeting, Todd Kleinhans was ready to take the challenge and asked if I’d participate.

    I was speaking, but happy to do it afterwards. Here we are:

    I tagged Allen White, Erin Stellato, and Jes Borland.

  • Updating tsqlt

    I was looking to write a new test with the tsqlt framework recently. I wanted to isolate a stored procedure’s logic and planned on using the FakeFunction procedure available in tsqlt.

    I wrote my test, using a template from the Pluralsight course on tsqlt and the documentation. I tried to execute the test and get a “tsqlt.fakefunction does not exist” error.

    I was slightly confused at first, but checking my list of functions and stored procedures showed that I didn’t have the FakeFunction procedure available. It’s a relatively recent addition to tsqlt, so I needed and update.

    After downloading the framework (a zip file), I opened it up to find this:

    tsqlt_a

    A number of files there, but the tsqlt.class.sql is the important one. I double clicked it from the zip and it opened in SSMS.

    tsqlt_b

    It’s a standard T-SQL script, albeit a long one. I executed it and it ran fine. My framework was updated to the latest version and I now had the function I needed.

    tsqlt_c

    Of course, I used my test to ensure this worked as expected and I was pleased to see it work well.