Last week when RC0 was released, the updated installer for ''Juneau'' (SQL Server Data Tools) was not available. Depending on how you tried to get it, you either ended up on a blank search page, or a page offering the CTP3 bits. Important note: the CTP3 Juneau bits are not compatible with SQL Server 2012 RC0. If you already have Visual Studio ...

At the PASS Summit, one of the most anticipated announcements was the release date, and marketing label, for SQL Server code-named ''Denali'' - the release date is ''first half of 2012'' (which probably means somewhere around June 25th), and the official name is SQL Server 2012. The logo was revealed on stage, and in a previous blog post, I ...

One of the biggest complaints I see developers raising about SSIS since it was released in 2005 is that the only way to debug Script Components is the distinctly simplistic and old fashioned method of sticking up message boxes - there is no way to step through the code as it executes (something that Microsoft developers have ...

I've already had a few good days in Seattle/Redmond this week, meeting with the Microsoft SQL Server program teams and with other Microsoft SQL Server MVPs. I was as excited as a squeeling Justin Beiber fangirl waiting for his new video, wishing I could tell you all of the cool things I learned at Redmond about the future of SQL Server. But as ...

At PASS I am giving a presentation on Denali SQL Server 2012 - What's New in Engine and Tools. In previous blog posts I've compiled a list of resources and, now that CTP3 is out, I thought I'd compile a much larger list that flows somewhat like my slide deck. Here is the deck and sample files:http://bit.ly/AB-PASS-2012   The second demo ...

Since installing Juneau, I've had various issues accomplishing even the simplest of tasks. I would get errors saying that the SqlCeManager could not be initialized or ''object reference not set to an instance of an object.'' Depending on what I tried to do I might also see a big error dialog that suggested installing the fix from KB #974247, ...

After reading the headline, you're probably quite excited - but sadly, no, Denali does not introduce the ability to govern I/O. But there are some cool additions here that you will be able to take advantage of. For now I'll just talk about these enhancements in short form but will hopefully elaborate on them later. Note that these changes are not ...

I have been using the SQL Server 2008 audit feature on a regular basis and generally like it a lot. No doubt there is still room for improvement to make it practically more useful. Here are three changes I would love to see. ·         You can’t really just audit the SELECT statements. Yes, you can pick ...

In Denali we have a new date-related function called EOMONTH() - it comes straight to us from VBA so many Excel and Access users will know exactly what it does. For those that don't, it returns the last day of the month for the date passed in, returning the same data type as the input. There is an optional argument, month_to_add (probably should ...

Its no great secret that Juneau, a collection of features in the forthcoming SQL Server codenamed Denali, will be in the next version of Visual Studio but its nice to have it confirmed all the same. I have installed the first publicly available drop of that next version (known as Visual Studio 11 Developer Preview, download from here) that was ...