One of the benefits of SQL Server 2008 Reporting Services is the removal of the dependency on IIS. This architectural change is huge because it opens the door to Reporting Services for those IT shops that wouldn’t allow installations of SQL Server components on a Web server. Plus it removes one more layer of potential [...]

The dimension editor in SQL Server 2008 Analysis Services (in the July CTP) is supposed to improve the development experience by making it easier to work with attribute relationships. I read a comment from Vladimir Chtepa on Mosha’s blog that no UI improvement was needed for attribute relationship design, but from my experience this person’s opinion is not [...]

Once upon a time, there was such a thing as a talking car. I never owned one, but I did get to drive one for a week in Quebec while a colleague and I were working with a client up there back in the late 80s. Normally, we were supposed to rent a compact car when out [...]

In my previous post, I covered the new dimension wizard and mentioned there were options for creating time dimensions that I would cover later. Now I’ll explain those options further. Time Dimension Options in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services Let’s start with a quick review of what happens in SQL Server 2005 (referred to as [...]

While there are several new features slated for Analysis Services that haven’t been released in a CTP yet, the July CTP does include a new dimension wizard. This wizard is intended to simplify your work by streamlining the steps involved to set up a new dimension. Today, as I walk you through the new wizard [...]

In theory, using a Lookup transformation in SQL Server 2005 Integration Services is faster than trying to achieve the same goal with a SQL query. If you frequently use the Lookup transformation, you are probably aware of some of its limitations. One limitation in particular–the larger the reference table used in the lookup, the more likely [...]

As I was slogging through updating reports for a client recently, I was really wishing I could fast-forward in time, install SQL Server 2008 in my client’s environment, and use the new report designer demonstrated by Jason Carlson (Product Unit Manager of Reporting Services at Microsoft) at PASS 2007 in Denver a few weeks ago. In [...]