jwcolby
jwcolby at colbyconsulting.com
Tue Mar 25 20:03:20 CDT 2008
I am not criticizing anybody, I am simply pointing out that there are many different jobs. Mine is not SQL Server Administrator, nor SQL Server programmer. Mine is SQL Server user. SQL Server is an immensely powerful system where the human interface is just emerging from the stone age. Like anyone familiar with the stone age tools, they are good enough to get the job done, if you happen to be familiar with the stone age tools. If you are familiar with high powered rifles and razor sharp knives,and airplanes to get to the hunt, the stone age hunting tools are ... well.. Stone age. I understand perfectly well that Sql server can do immensely useful things, so can Linux. But Windows is king for a reason, having nothing to do with the ability to get the job done, but rather to do with making the job easier to get done. In fact I still do write databases. I just write them using modern tools. I am in the process of writing a complex system with dozens of tables to track clients, jobs, orders, billing etc, all with the data store in SQL Server. I would not consider writing the application as TSQL in files on the disk. Sorry, ain't happening. I am using VB.Net, with libraries to allow me to automate getting at the email attachments, read order data out of spreadsheets (my client's requirements), automate building disk structures, automate exporting data out to CSVs for the address validation, automate directory watching to sense when the files pop back out of the address validation software, automate reimportation to SQL Server, automate exporting to flat file, encrypting the files when the client asks, log errors, log my machine time for billing, automate billing, and so forth and so on. Could I write it all in TSQL? No clue at all, but I can tell you that IF IT IS POSSIBLE, it would take me years to get good enough to write a reliable system in TSQL. It will take me weeks of coding to do it in VBA but it will look and work like modern software when I am done. Harness the power of SQL Server for what it does best, and the power of .Net for what it does best. You know as well as I that there is no one tool that does everything. RIGHT NOW, for the next few weeks, I need a quick and dirty script. And I can tell you that it is extremely unlikely that BOL will ever be my friend. My job does not require BOL. As for not knowing how to drive... That is plain silly. I am criticizing the car for having no dashboard. Sorry, but the dash board is missing. It has an immensely powerful engine, I will hand you that. And as you and many others have pointed out, I can go BUY a dashboard from other companies. I am just trying to get some quick things done, EASY things... IF you have been doing SQL Server admin for 10 years. The dashboard is missing. In the end I will use VB.Net to build a custom dashboard but in the here and now, quick and dirty the lack of a dashboard simply reminds me how stone age the tool is. John W. Colby Colby Consulting www.ColbyConsulting.com -----Original Message----- From: dba-sqlserver-bounces at databaseadvisors.com [mailto:dba-sqlserver-bounces at databaseadvisors.com] On Behalf Of Francisco Tapia Sent: Tuesday, March 25, 2008 7:21 PM To: Discussion concerning MS SQL Server Subject: Re: [dba-SQLServer] Copy a database using a store procedureorfunction John, You "used" to write databases. and that "Used To" mean you wrote "SQL" code. Granted that Access SQL is nowhere in the realm of TSQL, but neither is TSQL and VBA, even though you can practically do it all from TSQL (but you would not want to). BOL is a manual you "Have To" learn to use. I say "Have To" because as long as you plan on using Sql Server, you should plan on making BOL and Google your best friend. There are many things that I am constantly learning about this engine, and I've been working on as an Administrator for over 5 years. You can't know everything, and it's great that resources such as this list and the internet exists. The term "Amazingly useful" is a subjective term. However the kindness you receive despite your spammer database is more "amazing useful" than I ever thought you'd get. I mean more power to you that you are banking in on your knowledge of databases and explotation of people's personal information and putting it to good use to make good $$. In programming (not just VB) there are many roads on how to get there. Not all of them are bad choices, some just make more logical sense. btw, Critizing the car because the driver doesn't know how to drive is also useless. -- Francisco