23Jun 2009 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

Learning Spatial Data in SQL Server 2008

PASS, Spatial Data
PASS just published a new Top 10 list of mine over at the their web site. This one is the Top 10 Articles on the web if you're trying to learn about spatial data. I'm not trying to say that I know what I'm doing with spatial data. I'm still feeling my way forward. These articles have proved to be the most useful in the learning I've done so far. I wanted to publish a little more information than we put into our Top 10 lists over at PASS. Having the list is good, but I thought it needed a bit of commentary to be complete. All these articles are good and all the web sites hosting the articles have good stuff on them. A few of the web sites stand out. Paul Randal's…
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17Jun 2009 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

Object Database Editorial

nHibernate, Object Relational Mapping, SQL Server
I never used to read editorials. Not in emails, magazines, newspapers, whatever. Now, I make it a point of always reading them. You can learn as much from an editorial as you can from the technical articles within, sometimes more. Tony Davis has just posted a guest-editorial over at SQL Server Central. Tony is normally the editor at Simple-Talk, where he also writes interesting editorials. This one is not to be missed. It makes a very clear, and concise case for why object databases have a fundamental flaw for most business needs (not all, not always, but a pretty hefty majority). It's worth a read.
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17Jun 2009 by Grant Fritchey 4 Comments

The Best Thing I learned at PASS

PASS
And if you think keeping this below 250 words was easy... You try it. I've received a lot from the PASS conference. I've attended technical sessions that blew my socks off and made me twitch in my seat, fighting the urge to start writing TSQL code, immediately. I don't think any of that is the best thing I learned at PASS. No, the best thing I learned at PASS is summed up in a single phrase, You Can. My first summit, I ventured out of the hotel room and met people volunteering with PASS. They were having fun. I asked if I could join in. You Can, just volunteer. I volunteered and began to meet people online. The next summit, I met more people, names, people I had learned from. I asked them, can I hang…
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14Jun 2009 by Grant Fritchey 4 Comments

Powershell White Paper

PowerShell
Allen White, who introduced me to the wonders of PowerShell at last year's PASS Summit, has published a white paper on using PowerShell within SQL Server 2008 with Microsoft. This is great news. If you're, as Brent Ozar so nicely put it, a noob like me in working with Powershell, this is going to be a great resource. Congratulations Allen, and thanks.
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11Jun 2009 by Grant Fritchey 2 Comments

More Spatial Headaches

Spatial Data, T-SQL
I keep thinking I've got a handle on spatial data and I keep finding out I'm wrong. I rewrote the cursor that my co-worker used into a query that joined the list of test criteria onto our list of locations. I used an OUTER APPLY to more or less run a check for each of the test criteria since, except for the proximity to the locations, there's no actual relationship between the test criteria and the location data for me to join on. The query looked something like this: SELECT a .CriteriaDesc ,a.CriteriaLoc ,l.[Location].Lat AS LocationLatitude ,l.[Location].Long AS LocationLongitude ,l.LocationDesc FROM dbo.Alert AS a OUTER APPLY (SELECT x.[Location] FROM dbo.MyLocs x WHERE x.OrgID = 42 AND x.[Location].STDistance(a.AlertLocation) < 50000) AS l The cursor was taking almost a full minute to…
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10Jun 2009 by Grant Fritchey 9 Comments

PASS Summit Session Preview

PASS
The Pre/Post Conference Sessions and the Spotlight Sessions for the PASS Summit 2009 have been announced. Go check it out. This is going to be a fantastic conference this year based on the topics and the people presenting (and I'm still humbled to be included with that group). I wasn't aware that they had shifted the structure of the conference so that it takes place from Tuesday-Thursday instead of Wednesday-Friday. I'm not sure I like that. I'm not sure I dislike that. In addition to the Pre/Post conferences, a special new session, and program, has been put together by Andy Warren on networking. Since networking is one of the very best reasons to attend the PASS Summit (although pure geek joy can be had in the sessions), this should be very…
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09Jun 2009 by Grant Fritchey 3 Comments

Spatial Indexes and a Lack of Data

Spatial Data, T-SQL
I was feeling quite confident about my new-found abilities with spatial indexes so I did a presentation for my team, to share what I had learned. I had also been sharing with one co-worker as I developed the knowledge of spatial indexes. While I was preparing my presentation, he was preparing his. I had focused on finding a set of data that showed it's proximity to a test location and then showing how retrieving that set of data was faster because of the spatial index. He took a different approach. He took the idea of saying, here's a list of different test locations, let's see which one of our internal locations meet the proximity test. At the same time, he tried three different spatial indexes, one with high granularity, one with medium and a final…
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08Jun 2009 by Grant Fritchey No Comments

Microsoft SQL Server Premier Field Engineers

SQL Server, T-SQL
Joe Sack has started a new team blog for the Microsoft SQL Server Premier Field Engineers. If you don't know who they are, you should. The first post is just introductory, but this blog is likely to become a great resource. These are the guys that MS zip lines into tough situations with the expectations that they'll improve them. I'd strongly suspect these are fellows worth listening to.
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05Jun 2009 by Grant Fritchey 6 Comments

Coconuts?

Misc
I'm a bit of an old school geek, I prefer stone knives & bear skins... “So You’re On A Deserted Island With WiFi and you’re still on the clock at work.  Okay, so not a very good situational exercise here, but let’s roll with it; we’ll call it a virtual deserted island.  Perhaps what I should simply ask is if you had a month without any walk-up work, no projects due, no performance issues that require you to devote time from anything other than a wishlist of items you’ve been wanting to get accomplished at work but keep getting pulled away from I ask this question: what would be the top items that would get your attention?”  Brent Ozar has passed me this interesting little question, and called me a noob…
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03Jun 2009 by Grant Fritchey 7 Comments

SQL Server Central Track at Connections

Misc
This year at SQL Connections, there will be a new track, the SQL Server Central track (scroll down). I've been honored to be selected to present two different sessions on that track, MUQt or More Unecessary Query tuning (pronounced MUCK) and Scouting Out Execution Plans. I'm on a list with a bunch of speakers that... well, WOW is all I can say. I almost wish I wasn't presenting (almost) so I can just attend their sessions & learn stuff. Anyway, for those that won't or can't make the PASS Summit in Seattle, I hope I catch up with you in Las Vegas (where I'm told that anything that happens will remain in place, or something, is it a transaction rollback do you think?).
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