About the book

Written by: Jayaram Krishnaswamy
Pages: 320
Publisher: Packt Publishing
ISBN-10: 1847193315
ISBN-13: 978-1847193315

Introduction

SQL Server 2005 introduced a radical upgrade to SQL Server 2000’s Data Transformation Services (DTS). The differences were so great that a new name was given to the tool—SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS). Whether or not you were a heavy user of DTS, SSIS can seem overwhelming when you first try to create a package. This book clears up the confusion and works you through a number of common scenarios to have you fluent in SSIS very quickly.

If you did any integration or transformations in SQL Server 2000, chances are you relied on Data Transformation Services DTS heavily. And, at times you felt limited in what you could do with DTS, often employing some workarounds. When you first heard of the improvements in SQL Server Integration Services, you couldn’t wait to get your hands on SQL Server 2005. If you’re like most people, the first time you opened SSIS, you were confused and overwhelmed by the differences. It turns out, SSIS is rather difficult to learn without a good description of its toolbox and a few good examples. Fortunately, such a guide has been published.

Review

The SSIS components are essentially extensions to Visual Studio 2005. If you’re familiar with VS, you’ll have no problems jumping right in. If you’re not familiar with VS, don’t worry, you’ll come up to speed quickly as you work through the first couple of chapters.

The first chapter is a detailed discussion on the basics of SSIS, including all items in the toolbox and what they are used for. I’ve found myself referring back to this chapter a number of times as I developed some recent SSIS packages.

Chapter 2 is where you actually start using SSIS, and if you’re not familiar with VS, where you will be familiarized with the development environment. After a discussion of how to create an SSIS package, several hands-on exercises lead you through creating and deploying a simple SSIS package. Much of this chapter includes a tour of VS so everyone will be at the same level of understanding for subsequent chapters.

So far, so good. Two chapters and we know all about the toolbox and how to create a package. What are the other 18 chapters for? We’ve been shown the simple stuff in the first two chapters, the rest of the book shows us how to accomplish common and specific tasks. These tasks include sending e-mail from a package, transferring data to and from text and Excel files, and creating XML.

Where SSIS processing is really powerful is in new tasks such as conditional splits, aggregations and data conversions. Three chapters cover each of these with hands-on examples. Additional chapters cover FTP, maintenance tasks and the improved scripting. Scripting now supports Python and JScript as well as VBScript. If you work with Oracle data, there’s even a chapter on transferring Oracle data, including how to install the free 10G XE version.

One scenario I would have liked to see in this book is the new fuzzy lookup and fuzzy grouping. These new tasks allow for the lookup or grouping of data which don’t match a condition exactly, but can be matched by relaxing some criteria. These take SSIS data flows to new levels, and are worth researching on your own as you become more experienced with SSIS.

Like all Packt books I’ve read, this book is very readable and heavily illustrated with screenshots. This makes it very easy to follow the chapters even if you’re not in front of your computer, and helps guide you if you are in front of your computer. And, although this book is oriented to SQL Server 2005, there are not major changes to SSIS in SQL Server 2008. What you gain from this book will serve you well for at least three more years.

Summary

If you’re feeling overwhelmed by how to get started with SSIS, you should definitely consider this book. You’ll go from clueless beginner to someone competent with SSIS very quickly, and the book serves as a nice reference even after you’ve worked with SSIS for a while. The title says this is a beginner’s guide, and that’s exactly what you’ll get here. You won’t become an SSIS guru, but you will have the foundation you need to grow through experience. And since there are not major changes to SSIS in SQL Server 2008, this book will be applicable for many more years.

About Rich Dudley

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