Author Archives: ddarden

SQL Server Analysis Services ‘Project Helper’

Posted on September 19, 2009 by ddarden

A little while back I spent an afternoon prototyping some functionality for Analysis Services.  I’ve been working a bit on improving the collaborative development story around SSAS, and I was after Building a SQL Server Analysis Services .ASDatabase file from … Continue reading →

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Filtering Objects in PowerShell based on a List of Accepted Values

Posted on June 10, 2009 by ddarden

I was writing a script the other day where I want to return a collection of Services based on the name.  It took me a few minutes to figure out how to do this, so I thought I’d jot it … Continue reading →

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Building a SQL Server Analysis Services .ASDatabase file from a Visual Studio SSAS Project

Posted on May 31, 2009 by ddarden

There are several methods available for deploying Analysis Services databases once you’ve build your solution, including direct connections, generating XMLA to deploy, and using the Deployment Wizard with answer files.  Still, building and deploying AS Databases can sometimes be a … Continue reading →

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Using PowerShell to Manipulate SQL Server Analysis Services Traces

Posted on May 29, 2009 by ddarden

I recently started using SSAS Server Traces a lot with SQL Server Analysis Services.  This type of trace is basically the same trace you can create with SQL Server Profiler, but it runs without Profiler, uses less resources, and can … Continue reading →

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SQL Server Analysis Services Projects with Multiple Developers

Posted on May 26, 2009 by ddarden

A topic that often comes up when discussing enterprise level development with SSAS is how to have multiple developers work on the same project at the same time.  This issue doesn’t come up for many installations… a lot of teams … Continue reading →

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SQL Database Tuning Advisor Output Renamer

Posted on May 19, 2009 by ddarden

I’ve uploaded the ‘Database Tuning Advisor Output Renamer’ at http://DtaOutputRenamer.codeplex.com/. OK… so Friday marked the first day I’ve ever gotten sunburned while coding.  I had a little bit of free time while at an outdoor event, and whipped up a … Continue reading →

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PowerShell Script to reset the local instance of SQL Server

Posted on April 6, 2009 by ddarden

I use virtual machines a lot for development and testing.  I typically start with a sysprepped base image that I then initialize every time I need a new machine.  One issue is that SQL Server doesn’t know it has been … Continue reading →

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Analysis Services Error: The attribute key cannot be found when processing a dimension

Posted on January 6, 2009 by ddarden

I was processing a SSAS database to test some aggregations today, and I noticed some errors and came across some unexpected behavior.  When I was processing the User dimension (among others), I got an error similar to the following: Errors … Continue reading →

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New Features for Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition

Posted on December 12, 2008 by ddarden

Today I was creating a new project in Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition, and needed to import a SQL Server 2008 DB.  I went looking for a SQL Server 2008 template for Visual Studio… instead, I found the Microsoft® … Continue reading →

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SQL Load Generator Tool

Posted on December 10, 2008 by ddarden

A few weeks ago I spoke at PASS on using the Resource Governor in SQL Server 2008.  For my demo, I created a little application that could fire off multiple queries against SQL Server to simulate different users/applications.  This tool… … Continue reading →

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