Professional SQL Server 2000 DTS (Data Transformation Services) - Softcover

Chaffin, Mark; Knight, Brian; Robinson, Todd

Softcover

ISBN 10: 1861004419 ISBN 13: 9781861004413

Publisher: WROX Press Ltd, 2000

Synopsis

One of the new outstanding features of SQL Server is Data Transformation Services (DTS). DTS can be used by both developers and database administrators (DBAs) and is attracting a lot of interest. There is a demand for information and currently no other books are available to satisfy this. DTS enables data to be moved between a wide variety of sources and destinations, as well as transforming the data along the way to suit your requirements. DTS can be used to maximum effect in data-driven applications, enabling dynamic data transfer across internet and intranet applications. This offers rapid and effective solutions to common problems such as:

Automatically transferring data into data warehouses Importing and exporting data to and from other applications for analysis and reporting Moving working copies of databases between servers

The capabilities of DTS are large and this book will give the reader a complete picture of how to use DTS to its fullest potential.

About this title

Review

A lot of corporate databases are what's behind the Internet revolution. Professional SQL Server 2000 DTS gives DBAs and programmers a handy guide to getting the most out of the Data Transformation Services (DTS)--a flexible set of tools that work on a wide variety of databases--that are available in SQL Server 2000.

The hands-on focus of the book makes it a win for readers of all backgrounds. While online help for DTS is not always easy to decipher, this book remedies the situation with plenty of screen shots of all the major tools in action. Early sections examine nearly two-dozen built-in tasks or functions in DTS--from the obvious (like copying data from one database to another) to the more esoteric (like sending files via FTP within DTS).

A gentle introduction to using VBScript and ActiveX objects gets at the DTS object model to design "custom tasks". Using this approach, you can automate and transform data reliably among different formats, including mainframe and Office documents. (Specific tips guide you in working with DB2 and Excel data.) A standout section looks at "linking" servers and querying data from heterogeneous sources.

You also learn how to build a Web front end (using ASPs) for a data application that uses SQL-DMO APIs to automate database tasks through a browser. Later, there's an excellent tutorial on data warehousing done the Microsoft way, from the basics of the star, snowflake and hybrid fact tables for a data mart, to setting up and loading the data using DTS and then running the database with Microsoft Analysis Services. The book closes with a thorough reference section that lists the objects and methods in the DTS object model.

Whether you are performing normal database administration or setting up a data warehouse--or you just want to work with data more effectively within your applications--Professional SQL Server 2000 DTS gives you all the information you need to be productive with a powerful (and sometimes overlooked) set of database tools and components. --Richard Dragan

About the Author

Mark Chaffin is Data Warehouse Architect for Encore Development (http://www.encoredev.com) and has developed numerous decision support systems for clients in such industries as technology, mortgage banking, retail, sports statistics, financial services, and insurance. He also has experience in clickstream analytics, data mining, transactional application architecture, Internet application architecture, database administration, and database design.

Brian Knight (MCSE, MCDBA) is a Senior Database Administrator at Alltel in Jacksonville, Florida, where he manages the mortgage enterprise database system. Brian focuses his developmental time on merging database technologies such as Oracle and DB2 into SQL Server, using DTS and OLAP. He also writes several weekly columns and co–runs the SQL Server area of Swynk.com (a BackOffice–focused Internet site) and writes columns for SQL Magazine.

Todd Robinson (MCP, MCP+I, MCP+SB, MCSE, MCSE+I, MCSD, MCDBA, MCT, CCNA) lives in Atlanta, Georgia, where he is an Internet application developer and data–warehousing guru for MetLife. He specializes in COM+, ASP, XML, SQL Server, and related Microsoft .net technologies. In addition to his normal job duties at MetLife, he is President of GradesNow.com, an Internet application service provider for the education community. GradesNow.com allows teachers, students and parents to communicate with one another and show grades online via a web browser.

Cary Beuershausen is a Client/Server Programming Consultant in the Internet Solutions group at Alltel (http://www.alltelmd.com) in Jacksonville, Florida. He has developed and implemented document management and workflow solutions in the education, legal, finance, and government sectors. His most recent work has been related to mortgage servicing and Electronic Bill Presentment and he′s looking forward to providing B2B solutions in the mortgage industry with ASP, XML, and just about any other acronym he can find. Cary′s tools of choice are Borland Delphi and Microsoft Visual Basic with a dose of SQL Server thrown in for good measure. In addition to being a full–time programmer, he has also found himself in the classroom teaching VBScript training classes that he developed. He has been pounding out code since his dad brought home a Timex Sinclair ZX–81 many, many years ago and he felt the rush of getting the computer to do what he told it to. Now he gets pumped up trying to figure out how to use the word "polymorphism" in every conversation.

Robin Dewson started out on the Sinclair ZX80 (but failing to run a power station, as they claimed), then worked his way through the ZX81 and Spectrum to studying computers at the Scottish College of Textiles, where he was instilled with the belief that mainframes were the future. After many years, he eventually saw the error of his ways and started using Clipper, FoxPro, and Visual Basic. Robin is currently working on a trading system called "Kojak" in a large US investment bank in London, and it was here that he owes a massive debt to Annette Kelly, Daniel Tarbotton, and Andy "I don′t really know, I′ve only been here a week" Sykes for giving him his "big break".

Trey Johnson is an international data–warehousing speaker and data–warehousing consultant employed by Encore Development, a provider of web–powered business solutions for Fortune 1000 and mid–market organizations. Trey has been delivering technology solutions with Microsoft SQL Server since version 4.x. Since this start, Trey′s love of data and databases has grown and led him to enterprise multi–terrabyte databases on the Microsoft SQL Server 2000 platform, leveraging the power of technologies like DTS. During the course of his career, Trey has utilized SQL Server and transformation technologies, like DTS, in the delivery of comprehensive Decision Support Solutions for diverse industries such as Health Care, Industrial Warehousing, Financial organizations, Retail, and other service firms.

Edition details

• Publisher: WROX Press Ltd
• Publication date: 2000
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 1861004419
• ISBN 13: 9781861004413
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 830