Reed Me : annoyances

Degenerate dimensions in VSTS DB edition GDR R2 (a.k.a. TSD03136)

reedme — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 19:54:42 GMT

This is a common pattern in many BI projects that I’ve been involved with in the past four or five years for deriving degenerate dimensions without expending the effort to build and maintain star schema or snowflake tables in a data mart or data warehouse. (I’m not passing judgment, just making an observation. I’m ambivalent about them.)

CREATE VIEW [dbo].[SomeNewDegenerateDimension]
AS
SELECT DISTINCT([OneColumnOrAnother])
FROM [dbo].[SomeFactTableOrViewOrAnother]

GO

I know that they didn’t work in Data Dude before, but I had hopes that GDR R2 would’ve fixed it. GDR R2 is still fun to say. Yeah, it’s been that kind of week. In the immortal words of the Dread Pirate Wesley, “Get used to disappointment.”

Fortunately, it’s an easy fix. Unless you’ve got ~750 of them to fix in a large project that you’re trying to import into source control for change management and team development purposes... Just copy-n-paste the column name after an AS at the end of the SELECT clause.

CREATE VIEW [dbo].[SomeNewDegenerateDimension]
AS
SELECT DISTINCT([OneColumnOrAnother]) AS [OneColumnOrAnother]
FROM [dbo].[SomeFactTableOrViewOrAnother]

GO

In other news, I forgot today was the department summer party. Everybody else is @ the beach. I’m jousting with Visual Studio. In the immortal words of Dilbert, “Yay, life!”

erR? TSD03006. Doh!

reedme — Fri, 07 Aug 2009 02:17:39 GMT

I’m often skeptical when I read things like this that make absolute statements:

To resolve this problem, upgrade to Microsoft Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition GDR R2.

FIX: When you access a table source in a referenced project by using an alias in VSTS 2008 Database Edition GDR, if you refer to the table source by using a three-part or four-part name, you receive TSD03006 errors or TSD04151 warnings

In my particular case for a new project where I have imported schemas created by Someone Else™ who overzealously fully qualified all the object names in every view definition and stored procedure in eight out of 12 databases in the solution (even when the views reference objects in the same database)... it’s NOT true.

Grrr.

Visual Studio beats me because she loves me. *pout*

Not sure how I missed GDR R2. That’s fun to say. GDR R2. Like magma. Magma is a funny word. GDR R2. Or maybe I left a note2self somewhere that I forgot to read. Huh.

Anyway, I got around to downloading it:

Download Details: Microsoft® Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition GDR R2

But it didn’t magically fix all the errors that GDR reported for tri-part names for me. The following valid object definitions are reported as build errors:

View definitions that contain a three part name that includes the database containing the object. The Add Database Reference interface will not allow me to add a self-reference, so the fix seems to be to remove the database name. Editing ~300 object script files.
View definitions that contain a three part name in which the referenced database (which has a valid database reference in the project) name is “quoted” in square brackets. Removing the brackets allows Data Dude to resolve the reference correctly. Yay! Only ~200 object script files to edit (which incidentally were EXPORTED BY DATA DUDE in the first place).
[Edit] Database reference names are case-sensitive and must match the referenced database project name exactly, even in case-insensitive database projects. Yeah, yeah. Make them match in case and everything’s fine.

It’s apparently too much to expect full parity with the database engine parser or that there’s a way to flag specific errors generated from otherwise valid T-SQL to be ignored without a blanket ignore for an entire error code @ the project level... because some day somebody else might actually produce a bug in that class that I want the build to catch. (Nah, I’d never do that myself. *wink*)

The oversight of quoted identifiers for the database reference name is [censored], but, yes, I agree that self-references are silly in views for the database name (I can imagine several scenarios about how they happened, though), but I’ve 774 more errors in this solution to clean up before I can check in all the schemas that I just imported into Data Dude.

#@%&!!!

Vista SP2 Compatibility Mode Builds Character... on Windows 7

reedme — Tue, 21 Jul 2009 09:20:34 GMT

The kids have gotten to the age where they’re pestering us to play Dungeons & Dragons with them. Well, my oldest son is and he’s dragging his sister along (kicking and screaming, metaphorically-speaking). Heh.

Unfortunately, this isn’t his Grandpa’s D&D anymore (or his Dad’s). We didn’t have none o’ them crazy software gadgets when we played D&D! We had slate tablets with chalk to write on, just like Abe Lincoln and Gary Gygax. And we were grateful for it!! Heh. As my beard gets grayer, people seem to expect old codger stories...

Wizards of the Coast seems to have turned out a great little widget in the Character Builder. A little paranoid about copyrights and DRM, for my taste but once I got it working, I like it.

However, like most small companies that outsource their software development and technical support (I don’t know that to be fact, it just seems that way from the outside looking in), they’re not exactly on the cutting edge. It is a .NET 3.5 SP1 application (according to their website), which is a good start, but...

Their Character Builder FAQ wasn’t any real help, since I’m running Win7. And I get really irritated when the answer to a badly implemented application is “run it as Administrator”. Grrr. But I tried that first anyway... to no avail.

Right-click | Run as administrator didn’t change the symptoms: “Logon Failed. You do not have access to this application.” whenever I tried to update the content for the first time on a fresh install of CB. Maybe that worked on Vista, but it didn’t seem to solve the problem on Win7.

WotC technical support verified that I’m a paid up and member in good standing for D&DI, so I tried forcing it to run in Vista compatibility mode. Hooray for backward compatibility. Good job, Win7 team! (I’m still working on forgiving you for removing my “restore folders at logon” option from Explorer, though.)

Just for giggles, I watched the directory in Program Files as Character Builder was updating, and sure enough they’re writing directly to the privileged directory during unelevated execution. Bad form, guys. That’s sooo Windows 95. Time to get with the modern development paradigm!

Attention WotC developer types! You should have the downloader dump files to a temporary folder, kick off a new process and prompt for elevation using Windows Installer to patch your app properly!! Otherwise you’re going to suffer breakage and other problems at uninstall time... and it’s just wrong anyway to write to a privileged directory without explicit user permission AND even then only during setup or patching!

I shudder to think how they’re probably ignoring the multiple users problem, among other things. Yup, no Vista-certified logo to be found. Doh.

But now I’m up and running and building character! All so that I can use my children as guinea pigs to prove my nefarious theory that roleplaying has therapeutic benefits for children with autism toward learning appropriate social interaction. How else are my little aspies supposed to learn what to do when they actually meet a dragon?

We need to do $@#%ing research to learn this?

reedme — Tue, 14 Jul 2009 00:39:48 GMT

Speaking on behalf of all men with a workshop or a garage (which reminds me, I have a top 10 list that I need to post somewhere from a couple weekends back), this research is a big “Duh!” Why do people get paid to do research like this? How can I get paid to do research like this?

"Swearing has been around for centuries and is an almost universal human linguistic phenomenon," says Stephens.

...

"What is clear is that swearing triggers not only an emotional response, but a physical one too, which may explain why the centuries-old practice of cursing developed and still persists today," he said.

Swearing can make you feel better, lessen pain | Lifestyle | Reuters

Thank you, Captain Obvious. Only centuries old? I’ll take the 200,000 year slot in the pool for whoever’s taking odds. In fact, I’ll even go so far as to posit that curse words were among the first 50 words we invented... Thumb. Rock. @#$&!!!

Next, how ‘bout we get Captain Obvious to hook up a PET scanner and watch the brain activity of somebody that I’m swearing at? I betcha that they have an emotional and physical response to being the object of profanity, too. Heh.

This explains so many things... Scott Adams explains compensation modeling?

reedme — Thu, 09 Jul 2009 23:06:23 GMT

This metaphor can probably be extended to ‘splain corporate and governmental policies of all kinds!

Of course, it would actually be worse (at least for me) if compensation was tied to the performance of friends and family. Heh!

For the record, I used to work there... and I still ain’t laffing.

For want of a chainsaw, the trip was lost...

reedme — Fri, 15 May 2009 22:30:51 GMT

About two or three weekends back, we took the Sequoia up toward the Glacier Peak Wilderness loaded with the family (wife, kids, me) and various pieces of what-if back country gear: important stuff like MREs, bonus water, rope and rappelling stuff, tire repair bits, etc. Of course, by now, you’ve figured out that I “forgot” something.

Well, you can’t really forget something that you don’t own. Can you?

If you look down the road further, you’ll see lots more downed trees. Even if we pulled the first couple out of the way with the tow chain, we’d still never have made it more than another 10 miles from Darrington before sundown. C’est la guerre. We still had fun playing in the April snow.

The upside is that now I have “permission” from the Mrs. to buy a chainsaw. Bwahahahahaha!!

Log Shipping + Database Snapshots == Bummer, dude!!

reedme — Fri, 24 Apr 2009 18:29:47 GMT

So, like most funny stories (involving me), this one starts with “Yesterday, I had this bright idea...” and goes downhill from there.

Database mirroring is great. Full stop. But there’s this one little catch: it can only have a single mirror copy of the principal. Awesome for HA, but not so good for scale out.

Because database mirroring with SQL Server 2005 and 2008 makes available this great way to leverage your failover partner database for reporting purposes (to get some value out of your high availability solution besides insurance and a good night’s sleep) using database snapshots... well, you just had the same idea that I did, right?

It only seemed logical that log shipping would allow for the same AND allow for multiple target servers/databases, right?

Not so much.

With 2005, the log shipping target in a warm standby mode is in a perpetually restoring state (sort of like a mirror copy, eh? *grumble*), but you can’t take a snap of a database in restoring mode. Of course, I tried it. Wouldn’t you?

And even though Katmai exposes the feature in the UI now that allows for a log shipping target database to be online and query-able in read-only mode (if memory serves, you could do it the “hard way” in Yukon), it’s not possible to take a database snap shot of it... because it’s read-only. Did you know that creating a database snapshot actually modifies the database being snapped? I’d never thought about it. And now I know the answer!

The error message when creating the snap of a read-only database isn’t intuitive, either (if you read from the bottom up – the first one’s pretty clear – don’t ask): “A database snapshot cannot be created because it failed to start.” Huh?

Read-only standby mode shows some promised BUT you’ve got to close all open connections to the database and put it in a restoring mode in order to restore future tran log backups to it as part of your log shipping. Doh!

Needless to say, it would be pretty handy [if this worked] for a scale out scenario where I need to keep, oh, say, 44 copies of the same database continuously in sync AND available 100% of the time for customers to query, but nooo... It couldn’t possibly be that simple.

But you know, I probably wouldn’t be happy (or have a fun job) if it was that simple. Heh. Besides, not I get to go Visio up a more complicated solution, right?

Ooops. Better luck next time!

reedme — Wed, 04 Mar 2009 19:23:00 GMT

Another Tunguska might’ve been fun!

Space rock gives Earth a close shave

Of course, a mass extinction might have been less fun, so let’s not and say we did?

PFT 1: Me 0 (belated January 2009 Update)

reedme — Fri, 06 Feb 2009 05:17:22 GMT

My fitness duel with Steve is ongoing, but I’m saddened by my progress to date. Nonetheless, the January-ish test (actually done on 2/2/2009) of my progress has hardened my resolve. I did manage to drop ~15# in January, but since I’ve still got another ~50# to drop in order to hit my goal weight by the marathon in June. (Wow, that seems like a long way to go and not very much time...)

I just want to say one thing: the elliptical machine lies!! I thought I was making awesome six-mile progress (it probably helped my cardio some and saved further knee damage), but there’s no way that it compares at all with running on the street. Ouch. Have to start taking more Advil pre-workout and running on the street exclusively to keep abreast of my current, actual running progress.

We did agree along the way (I have email to prove it!) to increase the challenge by adding pushups to the duel using the abdominal crunch column in the Marine PFT matrix to compute points, same 120-second time limit. Also, our three-mile run time in June will be computed as 1/4 of our half-marathon time. *cringe*

My beloved, blushing bride of nearly 17 years witnessed my attempt at the PFT (and mocked me as I richly deserved). At least after this many years, I still have somebody to go to the gym with and hold my ankles as I struggle through the ab crunches, despite my sweatiness. (I love you, Samia!) Any discrepancies between my age 18 record below and what DODMERB may have on file can be attributed to my middle-aged dementia.

	Me (age 18)	December 2008	January 2009	January 2009 Point Total
BMI	22.59	34.21	31.87	Lower than Steve’s – I win!!!
Dead-hang Pull-ups	11	0 (fail)	2**	0
Abdominal Crunches in 120-seconds	75	50	57	57
Pushups in 120-seconds	62	27	36**	0
3-Mile Run	18:35	42:11	34:43**	0

** Almost, but still FAIL. *sigh*

Since we added an “event” to the challenge, and my performance is substandard compared with the Marine Corps PFT matrix in three out of four, I’ve got a whopping 57 of 400 possible points.

Doh!

Back to the gym... Will register for the marathon tomorrow to get the early entrance fee.

Game on! Steve's going down...

reedme — Tue, 30 Dec 2008 08:17:32 GMT

My buddy, one of the Steves, has gotten nostalgic for his girlish figure of yore... for reasons inexplicable to me. Round is a shape, right? He's very much in shape now! Come to think of it, so am I. *sigh*

But, because he likes to lose at contests, he has challenged me to a fitness duel:

Seriously, I used to be in Shape. (bigfatbeep.blogspot.com)

All right, Walrus-boy. You're on. Heh.

One way or another, Steve's going down. He might lose weight in 2009, but I'll smoke him at the run and at the Marine Corps fitness test... and I can already touch my toes. Ongoing martial arts training gives me an edge. Hee-hee. Oh, wait a second... How far is half a marathon? Can't we race motorcycles or something?

I'll even up the ante: the man with the biggest reduction in BMI (without surgery) wins. As I calculate it now, mine's... No, really? 34.21? Almost Class 2 obesity. Doh. Round indeed.

FotR, I hate New Year's resolutions.

SHIFT+TAB? How I miss thee... in IE.

reedme — Thu, 19 Jun 2008 20:00:45 GMT

At least on Vista, my mouse-hating keyboard reflexes have been stymied for a while. (I don't really hate mice, I just hate having to move the mouse when I shouldn't have to. I'm sorry, I'm old. I was born before computer mice were invented, and I developed my computer usage habits long before every PC shipped with a PS/2 port or a mouse.)

With apologies to Bill Cosby, I'm not sure when I lost it; I'm not sure how I lost it. But I know it used to work in Vista... and it still works on Windows Server 2008 in IE7 and Windows XP in IE7. I just tested it on both. [I figured out the root cause while writing this post, but more on that later.]

Grrr.

I've got half a dozen PCs, notebooks and tablets running Vista that I spend most of my time on, and it's really starting to chap my hindquarters when I have to touch the mouse just to back up one field in a web-based form! Inside Microsoft, a lot of things get done (most things?) in web-based forms... and it's always faster to key than to mouse+key.

If this keeps up, I'm going to have to switch to Windows Server 2008 everywhere and get a divorce from the Windows Sidebar (which I love) because it apparently doesn't work on Windows Server 2008, at least on x64, but then neither does many important pieces of Office 2007, such Internet Fax. Double grrr. But nagging teams that don't ship x64 editions of software is another rant for another day.

(Compiling and testing for native x64 isn't hard, people. I realize that it explodes your test matrix by a factor of 2x, but for the love of recycled bits, please budget for that and ship it! I know I said another day, I will!!)

I won't eureka, but I can speculate that focusing on my angst about SHIFT+TAB to type this stream of consciousness probably help me figure out what eeevil possessed my beloved browser and forced it stop responding to SHIFT+TAB on all my Windows Vista machines, but not on my Windows Server 2008 and Window XP boxes... The Windows Live Toolbar, dammit! I never use it except for the Blog This! button anyway (which I can have without the toolbar), so I uninstalled WLT, rebooted and voilá! I have my long-missed SHIFT+TAB back on web pages and forms again. Hooray!

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