SQL DB Pros

Author: Phil Steffek

  • Easy SQL Server Snapshot Script / Proc

    Man!!!! Why is the code to create a database snapshot so ridiculously complicated? Actually, I guess I understand why but how about allowing it to be done through SSMS and then setting a bunch of the parameters as defaults for us? Come on Microsoft! Help a SQL brother out! Well luckily, where Microsoft fails, I’m […]

  • DBFit and SQL Server: How to connect and create your first test

    I love the idea of DBFit (being able to run tests against every database system under the sun) but have found it very challenging to get up and running. There is documentation but it seems to assume a level of familiarity with FitNesse that I definitely did not have. The primary hurdle for me was […]

  • DBFit and SQL Server and JDBC: Missing JDBC Driver.

    If you are using the java version of DBFit and you want to connect to SQL Server you may start to think it can’t be done. Fear not! It is possible! I’ll summarize the required steps as well as all the error messages I received along the way. Running through these steps will enable you […]

  • Cygwin and Git – Tired of typing your password? Cache it!

    I’m a git and cygwin noob. Despite that I like using the command line. It’s a bit of mental gymnastics and keeps the mundane from getting mundane. One thing that irritated me though was having to constantly retype my password when pushing or pulling from remote. Through dumb luck I stumbled across the secret config […]

  • GreenPlum and DBFit

    Just a quick little stub of a post to track progress using the DBFit Test Driven Database Development Tool with our GreenPlum installation. DBFit seemed like a great option since it will theoretically support both GreenPlum and SQL Server.   I ran through the getting started documentation on the DBFit site fairly quickly and had the initial […]

  • Postgres/Greenplum Get The Last Two Values In A Delimited String

    Yuck. This works and I’m recording it here in case I need it again but yuck. Here’s the scenario: there is a column in a database with a delimited string. The number of delimited values can vary. SOmetimes there will be one delimited value, sometimes there will be twenty. For this specific case I needed […]

  • Configuring Kdiff3 and Git with Cygwin (now with Spaces!)

    Oh my word. I don’t know what else to say. This was waaaay harder than I thought it would be. The goal was to able to open up two files from different branches and see the changes between them. the git command “difftool” looked to be the secret sauce and everything was working great until […]

  • Finding all the checkins in a git branch (aka finding all the files with a commit)

    Identifying files which have changed between two branches in git using the cygwin command line. (Note: I assume this works for any command line git tool). 1. If the files were checked in using windows there may be issues with line endings. To make your git command line ignore line ending differences in files perform […]

  • Find Your SSRS Target Server URL

    If you are looking to deploy your SSRS (SQL Server Reporting Service) reports directly from Visual Studio you will need to set the Target Server URL in the Properties of your project in the deployment section.  The trick here is that this is not the URL for your Report Manager. What you are in fact […]

  • How Do I Figure Out My SSRS ReportServer URL If It Is Not The Default?

    Don’t you love how what should be a simple little tasks can become the most time consuming of the day? While trying to set up Visual Studio so that I could deploy directly to a development server I realized I would need the path to the SSRS ReportServer. Not the Report Manager mind you but […]