Ralf Eisenreich

Importing Date values e.g. from Flat Files it can happen that the format of the date is different to the Host System date formatting of the regional settings. Especial the date setting for English (UK: day/month/year) and English (US: month/day/year) are often very problematic.

In SSIS a solution for this issue can be realized with a ScriptComponent as follows.

1. Date column
   First of all you should import your Date column as nvarchar type. In this example let us assume we are going to import a Birthday column in Germany format on a host system with US-based regional setting.
2. Script Component: Columns
   We specify as import column the BIRTHDAY_STR column (nvarchar) from the Flat File and as export column we specify a column of type date named BIRTHDAY_DATE.
3. ScriptComponent: Code
   In the Script we are using the TryParse method which is stable and flexible enough. But in order to import the German date we have to create a culture object.

   
Dim dt As DateTime
Dim culture As Globalization.CultureInfo
culture = Globalization.CultureInfo.CreateSpecificCulture("de-DE")
Try
If DateTime.TryParse(CStr(Row.BIRTHDAY_STR), culture, Globalization.DateTimeStyles.None, dt) Then
Row.BIRTHDAY_DATE = dt
Else
Row.BIRTHDAY_DATE_IsNull = True
End If
Catch ex As Exception
Row.BIRTHDAY_DATE_IsNull = True
End Try


This example should help you to import the dates of different regional settings.

Here I would like to show you a solution for following problem.
One source row coming from Excel contains several values within one column. Each one of these values should be reflected in a separate row in the data destination.
So the basic problem is that there we have a “list column” whose contents should be result in separate rows.

To make the problem more complex: The number of values in the “list column” is variable and there is a second column which contains corresponding values.

Excel Source

Excel Sheet

solution: SSIS Script Component

To implement a solution for the problem we use the most adequate item – the Script Component.

1. We start with a data flow task in our package and add an OLE DB Excel Source component (that returns the source data above).
   We can use following SQL statement:
   
SELECT
F1,F2,F3
FROM
[sheet1$B1:D5]

   The imported columns can be named as KEY, PERSON, DEPARTMENT.
   
   

   Excel Source

2. Then we add a Derived Column Component to the data flow as well.
   
   

   Derived Column

   In order to replace the CRs with commas we replace the imported columns with following formula:
   
REPLACE(REPLACE(REPLACE(REPLACE(PERSON,"\n",",")," ",""),",,",","),",,",",")
REPLACE(REPLACE(REPLACE(REPLACE(DEPARTMENT,"\n",",")," ",""),",,",","),",,",",")

   

   

   Derived Column Settings

3. As result we receive following list of elements:
   • – -
   • row 1
   • PERSON: Mr. Wayne,Mr. Kent,Mr. Parker
   • DEPARTMENT: Heros/Batman,Heros/Superman,Heros/Spiderman
   • – -
   • row 2
   • PERSON: Mr. Kirk,Ms. Janeway
   • DEPARTMENT: StarTrek/Classic,StartTrek/Voyager
   • – -
   • row 3
   • PERSON: “Mr. Wrong”
   • DEPARTMENT: Wrong entry 1,Wrong entry 2
   • – -
4. Now we add a Script Component to the data flow.
   When we are prompted to select the type of the component we choose Transformation.
   

   Script Component

5. Then we right-click on the Script Component and choose Edit. In the Script Transformation Editor dialog box we select all three columns to make them available as input columns. Now these column are available in the Script code.
   
   

   Script Component Columns

6. Since the tranformation is going to produce more output rows than it receives input rows we have to mark the transformation as asynchronous. This is done by setting the SynchronousInputID property of the output to None.
   
   

   Script Component Settings

7. Next, we have to specify the output columns that the output buffer will contain. So we select the transformation’s output and click Add Column and set the properties (column name and data type).
   
   

   Script Component Input / Output rows

8. Now we can add the code by clicking on the Design Script button.
   
   

   Script Component - Design Script

9. Following Code is splitting our list of items into rows:
   
' Variables
Dim i As Integer = 0
Dim itemList_PERSON As String = Row.PERSON
Dim itemList_DEPARTMENT As String = Row.DEPARTMENT
Dim delimiter As String = ','
If Not (String.IsNullOrEmpty(itemList_PERSON) Or String.IsNullOrEmpty(itemList_DEPARTMENT)) Then
Dim inputListArray_Wer() As String = itemList_PERSON.Split(New String() {delimiter}, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)
Dim inputListArray_Abt() As String = itemList_DEPARTMENT.Split(New String() {delimiter}, StringSplitOptions.RemoveEmptyEntries)
If (inputListArray_Wer.Length = inputListArray_Abt.Length) Then
' new rows
For Each item As String In inputListArray_Wer
With Output0Buffer
.AddRow()
.KEY = CInt(Row.KEY)
.PERSON = item
.DEPARTMENT = inputListArray_Abt(i).ToString()
End With
' increase counter
i = i + 1
Next
Else
' Filtered Rows
With Output1Buffer
.AddRow()
.KEY = CInt(Row.KEY)
.PERSON = Row.PERSON
.DEPARTMENT = Row.DEPARTMENT
End With
End If
End If

   The code shows that there are two outputs. Whenever a record set cannot be split or the columns PERSON and DEPARTMENT have a different number of itemss the rows is redirected to the second output (here Output1).
10. In order to receive the output from the Script Component we add a Union All Component. Additionally we add two Data Viewer Components, since we want to see the resulting outputs from the Script Component.
    
    

    Union ALL

11. Running the SSIS package will bring the following result.
    
    

    Data Flow completed

12. As we can see, the first DataViewer Component show us the valid rows produced by our Script Component.
    
    

    Data Viewer valid rows

13. The second DataViewer Component show us the invalid rows produced by our Script Component.
    
    

    Data Viewer invalid rows

download
Of course I provide you the solution as download.

SQL Server: Version, Service Pack, Edition

Just run following command within Management Studio:
SELECT
@@VERSION,
SERVERPROPERTY('productversion'),
SERVERPROPERTY ('productlevel'),
SERVERPROPERTY ('edition')

As result you receive something like:

Microsoft SQL Server 2005 - ... Windows NT 5.2 (Build 3790: SP 2)
  9.00.4035.00
  SP3
  Standard Edition (64-bit)

How to disable caching in SQL Server Reporting Services for Visual Studio in Preview Mode?

SQL Server 2005 Service Pack 1 brings a new feature: caching data in BIDS (Business Intelligence Development Studio) Report Designer. Following objects are cached: all the data query, parameter value and credentials for previewing a report. Sometimes this feature can be annoying, if changes in preview mode should be visible immediately.

In order to disable the caching feature, following key has to be added to the config file ‘RSReportDesigner.config‘.

Key:
<Add Key="CacheDataForPreview" value="False" />

Location:
C:\Program Files\Microsoft Visual Studio 8\Common7\IDE\PrivateAssemblies\RSReportDesigner.config
To clear the cache you can also delete the *.data cache file which is located in the report RDL directory.

SSRS: Caching Files (Preview Mode)

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