Everyone is still recovering from the November conference weeks (reminds me of sweeps week on TV). As a "SQL guy" the conferences in the last three weeks that would interest me include: SQLPASS-US, SQL Connections, TechEd Europe, PDC, and SQLBits. Why folks insist on holding all of them in the same three week period is beyond me. I've spent last week paving virtual machines with new CTP/beta versions of almost every software product I use.

I'm sure there were some neat demos during "conference sweeps". Maybe people thought I did some in my talks. And I haven't had a chance to go through everything yet. But I wanted to write about two demos I found pretty cool.

At the PDC, talk SVR33 included Ed Katibah, Torsten Grabs and Olivier Meyer. Olivier did demos of "the spatially enabled spreadsheet" (that is, an Excel add-in that encapsulates the SQL Server spatial library plus geocoding). Torsten use StreamInsight and combined spatial functions with LINQ queries that were registered to query data in a stream as it arrived "on the fly" from (a simulation of) Microsoft's shuttle system. This was a nice outside the box example showing the synergy between two seemingly unrelated parts of the SQL Server product.

You can catch a video of it here.

No, the secret word for tonight is not "mudshark", although it does begin with the letter M. It's modeling. SQL Server data can be modeled in a variety of ways and, after the last few weeks, there's even more.

When I think of relational database modeling, I think of the IDEF1X language and visual modeling tools like ERWIN. Those database diagrams that took up two (and sometimes three) of my cubicle walls. Data defined using functional decomposition based on a series of normal form rules. 

Or Peter Chen's Entity-Relationship modeling. The Entity Framework and Linq to SQL allow mapping relational models to object models, and VS2008-2010 include visual modelers based on crow's foot diagrams. And let's not forget Object Role Modeling and UML (a general purpose modeling language), both of which are supported by Microsoft's Visio product (there's an add-in for ORM).

But in SQL Server, there's even more. With Analysis Services 2005, the Unified Dimensional Model was introduced as "a thin layer over the data source" to provide a "more readily understood model of the data". Report models are also used in SQL Server Reporting Services to isolate the user from the database structure and make it easier to produce reports.

The lastest CTP of SQL Server 2008 R2 includes Master Data Services, an offering to help an organization manage master data, and with it, a way to define models of master data (think customer list or product line, the items that companies buy other companies to acquire). Master data models are stored in SQL Server and are visualized using a specialized web application.

And last week Project Oslo became SQL Server Modeling Services, which uses SQL Server to store and manage enterprise models and helps in building enterprise applications. You design models non-graphically, although, once it's stored in the repository, you can graphically visualize it with the Quadrant application. Currently it includes "domain models" for UML, T-SQL and others (like a domain for System.Identity).

So it seems that SQL Server and the data stack is almost awash in a sea of models, repositories, and visualizers. Maybe time for some data modeling redux... Or at least something like a tool I once used called "Paradigm Plus" which (among other things) could convert (graphics and all) from one model to another, depending on which modeler was in the room at the time.

I've been busy for the last few weeks putting together a "manifesto" whitepaper about the .NET-based data access stacks and also the possibilities for .NET programmers in the SQL Server product itself. The whitepaper's direct link is here, although its also available via both the MSDN Data Developer Center and the SQL Server 2008 Application Development website. I don't see the arbitrary distinction between application developers who use databases and SQL developers that some do, so writing this paper and covering both was a good fit.

This whitepaper is quite a bit more high-level than others that I've written, meant to be an all-embracing introduction to .NET and SQL Server and point out the possibilities for .NET programmer. While writing this I was stunned at how many integration points there are between .NET and SQL Server. Every part of the SQL Server product uses .NET in one form or another. Check it out.

Even though there's a quite a bit of coverage of futures, the platform is so fluid that it doesn't include the announcement on the rename of ADO.NET Data Services to WCF Data Services and also the announcement of the Open Data Protocol (OData). Follow the links to these announcements.

Hope you like the paper, I had fun writing it...Cheers.

My latest MSDN magazine column on Visualizing Spatial Data is out in the Novemeber issue. It covers three ways to visualize SQL Server 2008 spatial data:

SQL Server 2008 R2 Reporting Services Map Control
ESRI MapIt Version 1.0
MapPoint Add-In for SQL Server 2008

Interestingly because the lead times are rather long for the column, we've already seen new versions of some of these.

SQL Server 2008 R2 November CTP was available last week with updates to the Map Control
ESRI MapIt Version 1.1 shipped this week

Oh well...so its now better and richer than the software I originally wrote about. More about that as I get caught up from TechEd last week.

Enjoy!

I had a great time at TechEd Europe in Berlin last week. Spent a lot of time in the SQL Server booth, meeting, greeting, and answering questions. It was nice to see you'all again.

Monday evening I had the occasion to be a part of the 20th anniversary of the Berlin Wall's falling. Wednesday night, I was able to attend a get-together of the PowerShell MVPs, who declared me an honorary PowerShell MVP for the occasion.

My talks seemed to be particularly well received. And, as promised, the demos are available on the SQLskills website here. Hope you had as good of a time as I did.

Last night (here in Europe) I started to receive notices about SQL Server 2008 R2 CTP3 being available for MSDN/Technet customers. Among the list of nice features (especially surrounding PowerPivot and SSRS see Teo's nice summary here) is the first release of SQL Server Master Data Services. I'm especially interested in the fuzzy matching and data cleansing features, but for a complete view reference the CTP3 BOL and the whitepapers on the SQL Server MDS site.

I've been remiss, October 2009 was the first month with no blog entries in a long while. I'm been heads down, working on some projects that will come to fruition soon. And there's also the freak "leaf recycle bin accident" that's left be on my back for most of last week. But this week...I'm traveling.

I'm here in Berlin for TechEd Europe and the weather reminds me of home, overcast and drizzling. Heading off in a few minutes to seek the Berlin Messe via S-Bahn and U-Bahn.

Unlike most other conferences I've been a part of this year, they've sold out TechEd Europe once again. It is, however, one week of combined conference rather than one developer week and one ITPro week as in past. With the large number of conferences in this timeframe (e.g. PDC is next week, SQL Connections is this week, SQLPASS US was last week), it will also be interesting to see the makeup of the attendees compared with years past.

I'll be doing a few talks on SQL Server performance and one on compliance/auditing, but I'll also be spending some time in the SQL Server booth at the Technical Learning Centre. If you're around, drop by and say hi.

This should have actually been posted this morning, but the network and blog software thought otherwise. Just returned from day 1 and from the Berlin 20th anniversary of the wall's dismantling. A good time all 'round!