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Month: November 2024

Obtaining VisualIDs for Visuals in a Power BI Report

Published 2024-11-22 by Kevin Feasel

Sandeep Pawar checks for ID:

Log Analytics and Workspace Monitoring in Fabric logs all the activities of datasets in a workspace. These logs contain dataset, report, visual IDs which the user has to decipher to get the full picture. Dataset, report ids are straightforward but it’s not easy to get visual IDs programmatically. Chris Webb already has a blog on couple of different ways to get the visual IDs. That blog was published in 2022 and in the Fabric world we now have a couple of more options.

Read on for two additional methods you can use.

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Comparing Collation Speed in Postgres

Published 2024-11-22 by Kevin Feasel

Cristophe Pettus has the need for speed:

In previous installments in this series about locales and collations in PostgreSQL, we’ve made some vague allusions to the speed of the various collation functions. Let’s be a bit more analytical now.

The data here was gathered on a 4GB Linode instance running Ubuntu 24.04 and PostgreSQL 17.1. The test data was 1,000,000 records, each one a string of 64 random 7-bit ASCII characters. For each of the configurations, the test data was loaded into a table:

It’s a fairly simple test, but the results are quite interesting.

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Working with the Microsoft Fabric API for GraphQL

Published 2024-11-22 by Kevin Feasel

Nikola Ilic parses some data:

“We are creating a custom dashboard using code, and we need the data stored inside Microsoft Fabric. Can we access it in another way than via SQL Analytics Endpoint?”

This is a real-life customer requirement we’ve encountered recently. And the short answer is: Yes, you can! For the longer answer, we encourage you to read this article and understand how to leverage the Fabric API for GraphQL feature for enhanced data retrieval experience compared to the traditional REST API approach.  

Click through for an excerpt from a book that Nikola and Ben Weissman are writing.

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CPU Monitoring in SQL Server with Datadog

Published 2024-11-22 by Kevin Feasel

Kendra Little has a recommendation:

What makes me a raving fan is the flexibility of Datadog’s notebooks and dashboards, combined with the ability to create all sorts of custom metrics and monitors. There are always things in SQL Server monitoring packs that I have strong opinions about. Datadog lets me take what I want, build what I need that isn’t contained in that, and ignore the rest. For a team that has the budget to afford Datadog paired with dedicated database staff with the time and resources to do this work, this can be a great fit.

One of the weirdest and worst parts of the Datadog SQL Server monitoring tooling, though, is how it handles wait stats. In my opinion, it’s a case of someone reinventing a wheel that didn’t need to be reinvented, and then not documenting what they did clearly (at least not in a way I can find).

Two of the most confusing Datadog “waits” are labeled “CPU” and “Waiting on CPU”. I opened a support ticket with Datadog a while back to ask what these are, because I couldn’t find any way they correspond to actual wait stats in SQL Server. I learned they aren’t wait stats at all. In fact, I think you should largely ignore them. Here’s why.

Read on for the full story.

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Roles and Privileges in Oracle versus PostgreSQL

Published 2024-11-22 by Kevin Feasel

Umair Shahid continues a series on migrating from Oracle to Postgres:

When moving from Oracle to PostgreSQL, one of the key differences lies in how each database handles roles and privileges. Oracle’s privilege model is deeply ingrained in enterprise systems, with fine-grained user controls and a strict distinction between users and roles. PostgreSQL, while just as capable, approaches roles and privileges differently, offering flexibility and simplicity, but it also requires a shift in mindset for Oracle users.

This article provides a practical guide for Oracle experts to understand and implement roles and privileges in PostgreSQL, addressing the structural differences, common challenges, and best practices to make this transition smooth.

Read on for the differences between the two platforms.

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SQL ConstantCare Population Report for Fall 2024

Published 2024-11-21 by Kevin Feasel

Brent Ozar announces the numbers:

Every quarter, we publish adoption rate data showing how quickly people are adopting new versions of SQL Server. Today it’s time for the fall 2024 version of our SQL ConstantCare® population report.

SQL Server 2019 is still the king of the hill with almost 3X more market share than any other version!

Here’s how adoption is trending over time, with the most recent data at the right:

Every time I do this, I always lay in the caveat that this is a specific example of a specific customer base for a specific product and so there will be differences from the broader population of SQL Server/Azure SQL installations. But every time, I also say that this is still a useful indicator to review over time.

Given that Microsoft has announced SQL Server 2025, my guess is that 2022’s adoption curve will look a lot like 2017’s, where it never eclipses the prior version (2016 or 2019). Instead, companies will likely move directly to 2025 from 2019.

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A Review of Stellar Repair for MSSQL

Published 2024-11-21 by Kevin Feasel

Mika Sutinen shares a product review:

Stellar Repair for MS SQL is a tool that greatly simplifies one of all time most dreaded tasks of DBAs and DBREs. Recovering a database that has, for one reason or another, become corrupt.

In this post, I go through one of the more common types of database corruption scenarios, and using Stellar Repair for MS SQL to get the database back up and running.

Click through for the review.

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Custom Fonts in Power BI Reports

Published 2024-11-21 by Kevin Feasel

Elena Drakulevska opens a can of worms:

You’re presenting an amazing Power BI report filled with insights, but it feels like something’s missing. The visuals are great, but the default font? Meh. It’s like wearing flip-flops to a black-tie party.

That’s where custom fonts in Power BI come in to elevate your report and add that personal touch. Fonts do more than look good—they set the tone, show off your brand, and make your reports more engaging and easier to read. In short, they help your reports stand out.

Read on to see how, as well as important reasons why you might not want to use them.

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Setting a Default Destination for Fabric Dataflows Gen2

Published 2024-11-21 by Kevin Feasel

Jon Voge wants to spend less time copying and pasting:

Ever had a Dataflow Gen2 in which you needed to map the output of several queries to the same Warehouse or Lakehouse? Takes a while to setup, right?

If you wish to add a Default Destination to your Dataflow, all you need to do is to create the Dataflow from inside your desired destination. This works for both Warehouses, Lakehouses and KQL Databases:

Click through for an example of how it works.

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