Okay, okay, it has been more than two months since my original post. I fully intend to blog more often in the new year, once the site is truly up and running. But since I also promised myself that I would make another post before the end of the year, I needed to get something blogged and soon.
So, what have I been doing in the past two months, and how is it related to MS SQL Server? I can barely remember what I had for breakfast yesterday, let alone the past two months. But I will try my best to summarize just about everything as best I can.
Since October, I have had the opportunity to load the new SQL Server Management Studio onto my desktop here at work. Now, we do not have any instances of SS2K5 running (yet), but I figured it would be a good way for me to become familiar with the new tools, even if all the bells and whistles were not working. While I like most of the new features (Job Activity Monitor, ability to view system, application, and security as well as sql log files, ability to easily import previously registered servers), there are some that I simply do not like at all.
For example, when viewing the list of users in a database, you are given the name and the create date. In the old world of Enterprise Manager, you were given the server login name, the database username, and the database access rights. This was very useful in identifying a login that would be out of synch with master. If you saw a username listed without an appropriate login name, then you could see that there would be an issue with that login. However, the new SMS does not allow you to see that easily, since they do not include the server login name.
Another annoying feature (at least to me) is when I list all of the stored procedures. When I double click on one of them, the parameters folder appears, whereas I was expecting to see either the properties for the proc (at worst) or to have the code for the proc be displayed (preferred). Having to right click in order to display either of those two things is some re-programming for me to endure, and I will over time, but I can still blog that I find it annoying for now.
Overall I am quite excited to use SMS, and hope to have an instance of SS2K5 up and running soon so that I can get the ‘full effect’. I am hoping to dive into the SQLCMD features, as we rely on a lot of osql and xp_cmdshell for our in-house monitoring tools. Replacing that code is on our ‘to-do’ list for 2006.
Well, there it is. The final blog for 2005. I will see you in 2006.
