David Boschmans' Weblog

Moving my blog to http://blogs.msdn.com/davbosch/

Since I joined Microsoft Belux last year I've been thinking about moving my blog to MSDN. But ever since I didn't really saw the added value of moving my blog as both sites are using the same platform: CommunityServer. But since a couple of weeks I've heard a lot of very positive feedback on the recently deployed 2.0 version of CommunityServer that powers the MSDN and TechNet blogger sites. So far the experience is far better than on DonNetJunkies. Today I finally decided to move my blog to http://blogs.msdn.com/davbosch/. I want to thank Donny for hosting my blog since August 2004.

So please subscribe to my new blog on the MSDN blogs:

• Blog home: http://blogs.msdn.com/davbosch/default.aspx
• RSS 2.0 Feed: http://blogs.msdn.com/davbosch/rss.aspx
• Atom 1.0 Feed: http://blogs.msdn.com/davbosch/atom.aspx

Thanks for reading my blog and I hope you will continue to do so at http://blogs.msdn.com/davbosch/default.aspx!

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver

In December at JavaPolis 2005 Microsoft showed some of the capabilities of a beta version of the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver.

Since last Friday the final release of the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver is available for download from the Microsoft Download Center. This JDBC driver is a Type 4 JDBC driver that provides database connectivity through the standard JDBC application program interfaces (APIs) available in J2EE (Java2 Enterprise Edition). The release of this Java Database Connectivity driver is important and shows Microsoft's continued commitment to interoperability. The SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver download is available to all SQL Server users at no additional charge, and provides access to SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server 2005 from any Java application, application server, or Java-enabled applet.

The SQL Server 2005 JDBC Driver is JDBC 3.0 compliant and runs on the Java Development Kit (JDK) version 1.4 and higher. It has been tested against all major application servers including BEA WebLogic, IBM WebSphere, JBoss, and Sun.

Case Studies Visual Studio 2005 - SQL Server 2005

The case-studies that we leveraged during our Belgian Launch Event of Visual Studio 2005, SQL Server 2005 and BizTalk Server 2006 are available on-line. Check them out at http://www.microsoft.com/belux/nl/events/ready/casestudies.aspx 

AlfaPrint
AlfaPrint started up as a DTP-bureau ten years ago, but devotes itself today entirely to software. AlfaPrint has carved out a strong position in the international market with its own ADAM software (active digital asset management).
AlfaPrint started using Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 to convert the ADAM software to .NET Framework 2.0. The converted version of the ADAM software will integrate well with the new functionality offered by Microsoft SQL Server 2005.
Read AlfaPrint's case study

DLV
DLV is part of the DLV Advisory Group, an international network of about 400 specialists that provides services and gives advice to agricultural and related sectors.
In 2002, Microsoft partner Dolmen developed a tailor-made application. Dolmen converted the Microsoft SQL Server 2000 into an Microsoft SQL Server 2005 without a hitch and used the new features to do so.
Read DLV's case study

Nuon
Since the liberalisation of the energy market in 2003 Nuon has been active in Belgium as a supplier of energy to homes and businesses. It currently has 400.000 electricity and gas connections in Flanders.
Based on Microsoft SQL Server 2005's business intelligence module the diagnostic software 'Dr. Nuon' was developed. It compares information from the different sources with each other.
Read Nuon's case study

ProTime
Protime is a leading developer of time registration software. Protime was established in 1995 and has approximately 50 employees.
Protime joined the Microsoft Ascend programme and more than six months prior to the launch started working with Microsoft Visual Studio 2005. Protime build the team planning application entirely with Visual Studio 2005. The ProTeam software was build according to the smart client principle and uses the '1 click' installation principle.
Read Protime's case study

Solvay
Solvay, an international chemical and pharmaceutical Belgian group employs 30.000 people in 50 countries and in 2004 achieved turnover of 7.9 billion €.
With the support of Microsoft and EZOS, the SQL Server Migration Assistant for Oracle (SSMA) made light work of migration the existing database, both data and procedures, to Microsoft SQL Server.
Read Solvay's case study

KPIUtil: Integration between AS 2005 KPIs and BSM KPIs

Sometimes customers inquire about where they should define their KPIs. As you know we have the possibility to create KPIs (definition, targets, banding, thresholds,…) in both SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services as in the Business Scorecard Manager 2005. KPIUtil tool allows for integration and synchronization between both solutions.

Check out KPIUtil.exe at http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=556E01A4-49A2-4A61-BEC5-0260B42DCF1B&displaylang=en

KPIUtil.exe is a tool that allows users to connect to both a Microsoft® Office Business Scorecard Manager 2005 server and a Microsoft SQL Server™ 2005 Analysis Services server to do the following:

• Generate SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services key performance indicators (KPIs) from Business Scorecard Manager KPIs.
• Generate Business Scorecard Manager KPIs from SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services KPIs.
• Save a configuration file that contains parameters (including the connection information to the SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services server and the Business Scorecard Manager server) that you entered by using KPIUtil.exe. You can use the saved configuration file either to generate KPIs from a command prompt or to open the configuration file in KPIUtil.exe at a later time.

Enhancing Developer Productivity by Using SQL Server 2005

This document on the Microsoft Download Center has a detailed discussion on SQL Server 2005 common language runtime (CLR) support to increase developer productivity and create a flexible pricing application solution at Microsoft.

Files in this download: DevProdSQL2005TCS.doc and DevProdSQL2005TCSPpt.ppt

SQL Server 2005 Express - SSEUtil

Earlier this week Microsoft released on the MSDN Download Center the SQL Server Express Utility, a tool that lets you easily interact with SQL Server.

SSEUtil.exe is a tool that lets you easily interact with SQL Server. Among other things, it allows you to:

• Connect to the main instance or user-instance of SQL Server.
• Create, attach, detach, and list databases on the server.
• Upgrade database files to match the version of the server.
• Execute SQL statements via the console (similar to SQLCMD).
• Retrieve the version of SQL Server running.
• Enable and disable trace flags (for example, to trace SQL statements sent to the server by any client application)
• List the instances of SQL Server on the local machine or on remote machines.
• Checkpoint and shrink a database
• Measure the performance of executing specific queries.
• Create and playback lists of SQL commands for the server to execute.
• Log all input and output.

If you're looking for an overview of SQL Server Express check this MSDN article: SQL Server 2005 Express Edition Overview. Fabrice Romelard provides us with an article covering the installation of SQL Server 2005 Express Edition on the ASP-PHP community site.

Other SQL Server 2005 related donwloads:

• Application Platform (SQL Server, Visual Studio, and BizTalk Server) White Paper: This paper outlines the Microsoft application platform—the confluence of servers, clients, and devices that can help connect people with business-critical information across the enterprise, thus driving overall business success. This paper focuses on Microsoft’s latest investments in business intelligence, integration, and developer productivity with updated releases of Microsoft SQL Server 2005, Microsoft BizTalk Server 2006, and Microsoft Visual Studio 2005, respectively.
• Using SQL Server 2005 Integration Services in a Scalable Business Intelligence Solution: Discussion on how Microsoft IT used SQL Server 2005 Integration Services to create a flexible and scalable business intelligence solution. By using SQL Server 2005 Integration Services, Microsoft IT was able to reduce data processing time by 80 percent.
• AdventureWorks OLTP Database Diagram: Download a diagram of the AdventureWorks sample OLTP database. The AdventureWorks sample OLTP database is used in samples for SQL Server 2005 and product documentation for SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2005 Express Edition. The diagram is available in both HTML and Visio 2003 format.
• SQL Server Health and History Tool (SQLH2): This version of SQLH2 supports SQL Server 2005 RTM collection.SQLH2 collects four main types of information:

1. Feature Usage – What services/features are installed, running and level of workload on the service.
2. Configuration Settings – Machine, OS and SQL configuration settings, SQL instance and database metadata.
3. Uptime of the SQL Server service
4. Performance Counters (optional) – Used to determine performance trends

Uninstall instructions for pre-RTM builds

With the availability of the RTM ve