Automated DB Source Control (1 of 5): Overview and Setup

Josh,

So you've run into a situation where a SQL Database is considered the container of production and/or development code.  You would like to source control all the tables, views, stored procedures, and other database objects.  However, saving the TSQL to the appropriate files/project and checking it in can be very cumbersome.  It would be nice if the developer could just focus on getting the appropriate changes in the database they are working on and let the source control be automatically updated each night.  Here is the solution you came up for this...

Case Sensitive SQL Statements

Josh,

So, you have a column with some upper case and lower case values.  By default, SQL Server treats upper case and lower case the same.  The case sensitivity can be set at the Server, Database, or Column level as well as on a query by query basis...

SSAS Sorting Attribute Member by Secondary Attribute

Josh,

So you have an attribute like Month that contains values of "January", "February", etc.  By default this attribute will sort by text order, but this can be changed to sort off another attribute (i.e. Month Value).

SSRS Embedded Images Best Practices

Josh,

So you want to use some images in an SSRS report, keep these tips in mind to ensure they look great!

SSRS Display Zero for Nulls

Josh,

So you have a report where there are null values in some of the text boxes.  To display zero instead, use this handy expression.

SQL Derived Table from Values

Josh,

So you have a small set of data you want to use in a query.  The data is static and temporary in nature so you don't really want to store it in a table.  A derived table from values might do the trick!

Install MDS Plugin for Excel 2010

Josh,

So, you were attempting to install the Master Data Services Plugin for Excel, but couldn't get the install to actually process due to it saying the prerequisites are not installed:

You have made sure you have the right version (32 bit) to match the version of excel (2010), and have the full version of .net 4.5 installed. If you try to install the full version of .net 4.0, you are told that the newer (4.5) version already is installed.