Articles by ROBERT SHELDON

Implementing Lookup Logic in SQL Server Integration Services

With SSIS, you can perform a lookup on data in the course of a task, using referenced data from any OLE DB source. It is a useful feature that enables you to check on the validity of data, or interpret it before proceeding. Robert Sheldon explains.

Implementing Foreach Looping Logic in SSIS

By Robert Sheldon

With SSIS, it is possible to implement looping logic into SSIS's control flow in order to define a repeating workflow in a package for each member of a collection of objects. Rob Sheldon explains how to use this valuable feature of SSIS

Working with Variables in SQL Server Integration Services

By Robert Sheldon

There are a number of ways that you can incorporated variables into your SSIS Scripts. Robert Sheldon demonstrates how.

Converting String Data to XML and XML to String Data

By Robert Sheldon

We all appreciate that, in general, XML documents or fragments are held in strings as text markup. In SQL Server, XML variables and columns are instead tokenised to allow rapid access to the data within. This is fine, but can cause some odd problems, auch as...

Incorporating XML into your Database Objects

By Robert Sheldon

XML data can become a full participant in a SQL Server Database, and can be used in views, functions, check constraints, computed columns and defaults. Views and table-valued functions can be used to provide a tabular view of XML data that can be used in SQL...

The XML Methods in SQL Server

By Robert Sheldon

The XML Data type has definite uses, but the way of interrogating, retrieving, and manipulating the values of properties and attributes within XML have been so foreign to the SQL language as to be somewhat of a barrier to their use. Fortunately, Robert Sheldon...

Working with the XML Data Type in SQL Server

By Robert Sheldon

The XML data type, introduced in SQL Server 2005, is a powerful construct. When used wisely, it can provide useful extensions to SQL Server. Robert Sheldon, in the first part of a series, describes how create and index an XML column in a table, and discusses...

Implementing Checkpoints in an SSIS Package

By Robert Sheldon

Like any other application, an SSIS package can fail. Once the problem has been resolved, you'll usually restart the package, but if you implement SSIS checkpoints, then you have another option: you can restart from the point of failure.

Debugging Data Flow in SQL Server Integration Services

By Robert Sheldon

You can save a lot of time by using the SSIS Troubleshooting tools. These enable you to work with reduced data samples, monitor row counts, use data viewers, configure error-handling and monitoring package execution. Although you can develop SSIS packages without...

XML Configuration files in SQL Server Integration Services

By Robert Sheldon

Package configuration files are a great way of providing the values of SSIS package properties so that packages can be used in a far more versatile way. They make the deployment of SSIS packages easier and can provide parameters that are based on the server...