A Fine Slice Of SQL Server
Colin Gillespie and Myles Mitchell share some updates:
The latest release of Posit Package Manager introduces several enhancements, including:
- Python Git Builders: Build Python packages (wheels) directly from Git.
- Blocklists: Easily block specific packages or versions.
- Improved Documentation: Clearer and more accessible information.
Read on for one more big change to Posit Package Manager, as well as how diffify fits into the mix.
Comments closedAndy Yun does a bit of data recovery:
Almost all of us have experienced a time when someone incorrectly modifies or deletes a subset of data in a database. And usually the only recourse is to run a database restore to get the data that we need back.
But… what if we cannot simply run a RESTORE operation over the entire database. Maybe the accident occurred a few hours prior and you cannot roll everything back. You need to do a side-by-side RESTORE.
But… what if the database in question is absolutely massive and will take hours to restore? And what if your server doesn’t have enough available storage to fit a second copy of that database at all?
Andy has answers to these questions. Granted, they require some expensive (and very good) hardware and a proper configuration of said hardware, but it does work beautifully.
Comments closedKurt Buhler does a bit of recycling:
If you build Power BI reports, then you know how much time it costs to format visuals so that they work and look the way that you want them to. This applies not only when you make new reports, but also when you need to maintain or make changes to existing ones. When a report gets fancy in its design (sometimes unnecessarily so, if we are frank), then, often, this is accompanied by a need for many formatting tweaks and changes. Inevitably, this formatting becomes time consuming (and sometimes frustrating) to deal with when there is a problem to fix or a modification to make. How can we make formatting and maintaining Power BI reports both more convenient and more efficient?
Read on for the answer.
Comments closedSoheil Bakhshi shares some advice:
Within the regular Power BI Desktop, there are also two flavours:
- Power BI Desktop (Store Version)
- Power BI Desktop (Download Version)
These flavours, though similar in functionality, offer different features and experiences. In this blog, we’ll examine why these two versions exist, how they differ, and which version might suit your needs and why you might want both.
Read on to learn about the differences between the two and when you might prefer one to the other.
Comments closedEugene Meidinger breaks out the abacus:
First, a disclaimer: I am not a data engineer, and I have never worked with Fabric in a professional capacity. With the announcement of Fabric SQL DBs, there’s been some discussion on whether they are better for Power BI import than Lakehouses. I was hoping to do some tests, but along the way I ended up on an extensive Yak Shaving expedition.
I have likely done some of these tests inefficiently. I have posted as much detail and source code as I can and if there is a better way for any of these, I’m happy to redo the tests and update the results.
Part one focuses on loading CSV files to the files portion of a lakehouse. Future benchmarks look at CSV to delta and PBI imports.
I think Eugene did a fine job documenting everything in the process, and it was interesting to see relative price differences between different techniques for uploading a very large CSV file.
Comments closedTomaz Kastrun continues a series on Azure AI. First up is a visual review of the Azure AI Document service:
Vision and Document services gives your apps the ability to analyze images, process documents and use technologies for optical character recognition (OCR) with combinations to machine learning.
That product has gone through a few name iterations, including Document Recognizer. But wait, there’s more!
Tomaz also takes a look at the Python SDK:
Vision and Document SDK for Python gives you extra extensibility of the services to add it to your apps.
Using Vision and Document SDK with Python, you will need to have the resource up and running (for the starters go with free pricing tier (F0)) and get the Document intelligence API Key and Endpoint address.
Click through for an example of how that works.
Comments closedPhil Factor shares some musings:
What can be so difficult in creating a sensible standard for Structured Data Documents? To understand why they tend to get improved into unusable complexity, I’ll need to explain a bit of background.
Structured Data Documents come in three different flavors. There are the text files that represent object data, text files that represent tabular data (rows and columns) and text data for the values of the settings, initialization or configuration of applications.
Read on for Phil’s take on the matter.
Comments closedAndrei Lepikhov digs into an interesting finding:
While the user notices the positive aspects of technology, a developer, usually encountering limitations, shortcomings or bugs, watches the product from a completely different perspective. The same stuff happened at this time: after the publication of the comparative testing results, where Join-Order-Benchmark queries were passed on a database with and without partitions, I couldn’t push away the feeling that I had missed something. In my mind, Postgres should build a worse plan with partitions than without them. And this should not be just a bug but a technological limitation. After a second thought, I found a weak spot – queries with limits.
Read on to see what Andrei came up with.
Comments closedMicrosoft releases the classic SQL Server every couple of years, with some functionality added through regular updates. On the other hand, the SQL Server offering in Azure (Azure SQL Database and Managed Instance) receives the latest features earlier.
This post highlights some of the T-SQL functions currently available in Azure SQL but not yet in classic SQL Server. However, with the recent announcement of SQL Server 2025, this might change next year. Keep in mind that some of these functions are in preview, so their behavior might evolve as they reach general availability.
Click through for those examples.
Comments closedKellyn Gorman embraces the better part of valor:
For many DBAs, the thought of running Oracle on a Windows OS induces a collective cringe. Even for someone like me, with a career spanning both Microsoft and Oracle technologies, it’s a combination I typically avoid.
However, there are scenarios—driven by licensing, software requirements, or other factors—where deploying Oracle on Windows becomes the logical choice.
Read on for some pain points and a few tips to minimize them.
Comments closed