SQLCMD VS OSQL

In SQL Server 2005, Microsoft introduced a new command line utility, SQLCMD, as a replacement for osql and isql.
In this article you will find some advantage you will gain when you use SQLCMD instead of OSQL.
Migration from OSQL to SQLCMD will be very simple because most of the command line switches are similar,the only difference is that SQLCMD support additional switches.To see the difference between then type OSQL /? and SQLCMD /? at the command prompt.

1) SQLCMD supports parameterized variables
SQLCMD can be useful for running some SQL scripts which require you to pass different parameters specific to a certain environment.Environment variables and declared variables can be used in various places in the script The following is an example:
-- c:\sqlvariable.sql
DECLARE @myVar varchar(255)
SET @myVar = '$(myVar)'
SET @myVar = @myVariable + ' ' + suser_sname()
PRINT @myVar

You can run it from a command prompt:
SQLCMD -E -i"c:\sqlvariable.sql" -v myVar="You are connected as "
Result:
You are connected as ABOUHMEID02\Administrator

2) !!
This command allows you to execute an Operating System Command on the client without having to connect and use xp_cmdshell. For example while connected to SQLCMD type !!dir

3) Management Studio's query editor in the SQLCMD mode
SQLCMD can be run both in the DOS screen as well as in the MS SQL Server 2005 Management Studio's query editor in the SQLCMD mode. If you want to use scripting, which brings in features like color coding, parsing and executing scripts, and others, this must be enabled. Enabling SQLCMD allows you to write SQL Commands as well as T-SQL Statements. You can set this in Tools Options or click the button with the Red

4) Performance
It allows you to connect to any instance of SQL Server via OLE DB (rather than via older technologies such as DB-library and ODBC, used by OSQL and ISQL, respectively) which is a much better performer

5) Remote Dedicated Admin Connection (DAC)
If you use the -A switch, you can get into a server that might otherwise be hung. You can kill an offending process and restore order to the universe - without a reboot!

6) SQLCMD support Customized editor
In SQLCMD, if you type ed, it will invoke a text editor and put the last command you run in the editor buffer. The default editor is Edit.com You can change the default editor to your own preferred editor,to do this: Open a DOS prompt; Type set sqlcmdeditor=notepad Go to sqlcmd, enter and execute a sql statement, then type ed; The notepad opens.Do the modifcations you want to do, save and close.

7) SQLCMDINI
This allows you to set default parameters and even create a default query to execute on the server as soon as you connect. This helps you to automate your connection properties and to some degree your environment in command line mode. For example: Create a script file named :
-- c:\Init.SQL
-- Begin script
set nocount on go
print 'You are connected to ' + rtrim(CONVERT(char(20), SERVERPROPERTY('servername'))) + ' (' + rtrim(CONVERT(char(20), SERVERPROPERTY('productversion'))) + ')' + ' '
+ rtrim(CONVERT(char(30), SERVERPROPERTY('Edition'))) + ' '
+ rtrim(CONVERT(char(20), SERVERPROPERTY('ProductLevel')))
+ char(10)
set nocount off go
--End script
In Command prompt, type: set sqlcmdini=c:\Init.SQL Here are some sample results: C:\DOCUME~1\ADMINI~1>sqlcmd You are connected to ABOUHMEID02 (8.00.760) Developer Edition SP3 1>

8) :XML [ONOFF]
Specifies if XML output resulting from FOR XML clause will be output as a continuous stream.

9) :Connect server_name[ \instance_name][timeout] [ user_name[ password]]
From within a single script, you can connect to multiple SQL Server instances and execute commands. This allows for a great deal of automation possibilities, such as backup from one server, restore to another server. Also, you could execute a configuration change script on all servers in production.

10) :Error STDERRSTDOUT
There's pretty much all you need in some combination of these to gracefully deal with run-time problems. That is so much better than piping out and digging through log files! It Redirects all error output to the file specified by filename, to stderr or to stdout. The Error option can appear multiple times in a script. Error output is sent to stderr by default.

11) :Perftrace STDERRSTDOUT
Redirect all performance trace information to the file specified by filename, to stderr or to stdout. Performance trace output is sent to stdout by default. It lets you put your statistics (IO, TIME, ShowPlan) out to a separate file for later viewing as so not to clutter the results file output.

How to create and use partition in SQL SERVER 2005:

Basically partitions help in improving the performance, scalability and managing of the large
tables. As the table grows larger and larger the performance in accessing the data is affected, scalability and managing issues arises. With
the help of partitioning a table we can achieve a great level of performance and managing of tables.
Let us see in how we can create partitioned tables in detail. The procedure for creating a partitioned table is as follows.

1) Creation of Filegroups
Beginning with this we have to have various filegroups for the database if we need to place the partitioned tables on different filegroups. To
create a filegroup, there are different ways one is using the Alter command and the second is using the Interface. Let us see each of them

a) Using the Alter Command
The syntax is as follows
ALTER DATABASE Database Name ADD FILEGROUP Filegroup name

After adding a filegroup we need to add files to the filegroup. We can add one or more files. The syntax is as follows
ALTER DATABASE Database Name
ADD FILE
(
NAME = File Name,
FILENAME = Path,
SIZE = Size,
MAXSIZE = Size,
FILEGROWTH = Size
)
TO FILEGROUP Filegroup Name;

b) Using the Interface
The following steps show how we can create using the interface
a) Login to the Microsoft SQL SERVER Management Studio
b) Select the Database and right click and select properties.
c) Select the Filegroup section and add the necessary details and click the add button.
d) Next we will click on the Files section and add a new file and associate this file to the FG2 filegroup .
e) Then finally click on the OK button.
This is procedure for create a filegroup using the interface.

2) Creation of Partition Function
The partition function is created for setting the range partitions. The ranges can be set for a lower or upper threshold. The syntax is as follows
CREATE PARTITION FUNCTION Function Name (Data Type)
AS
RANGE LEFT/RIGHT FOR VALUES (value1,value2,…)

3) Creation of Partition Scheme
The next step is to create the partition scheme after the partition function is created. This is needed for associating the partitions to a specific
filegroups.

The syntax is as follows
CREATE PARTITION SCHEME Partition Scheme Name
AS
PARTITION Partition Function Name
TO (Filegroup1,Filegroup2,….)

4) Creation of Partition Table
The next step is to create the partitioned table which would be associated with the defined partition scheme.

The syntax is as follows
CREATE TABLE Table Name
(
Column Name1 Datatype,
Column Name2 Datatype,
……..
)
ON Partition Scheme Name ( Column Name)

The above four steps clearly states how to create a partitioned table.
Querying a Partitioned Table
After the creation of a partitioned table, now let us see how to query the data from the partitioned tables.
Let us see the various cases in querying

a) Querying the data from a particular partition
Syntax
SELECT Column Name1…/* FROM Table Name WHERE $PARTITION.Partition Function Name(Column Name) =
Partition Number

The Partition number refers to first partition range or second partition range and so on, The first partition range is referred as 1 , second as 2
and so on.

b) Querying for Knowing the Partition Number
Syntax
SELECT $PARTITION.Partition Function Name(Column Name) = Partition Range Value

c) Querying to find the count of records in each partition
Syntax
SELECT $PARTITION.Partition Function Name(Column Name), COUNT(*) FROM Table Name GROUP BY $PARTITION.
Partition Function Name(Column Name)

SPLITTING OF PARTITION
The partitions can be split by splitting the partition ranges. The splitting is done by using the alter partition command. We have to note that
before we split the partition there should be a additional filegroup already associated in the partition scheme. If there is no unused filegroup
available then we cannot split. So before splitting we have to ensure that a filegroup is added to the partition scheme. This is as shown below.

SYNTAX
ALTER PARTITION FUNCTION Partition Function Name () SPLIT RANGE (PARITITION RANGE VALUE)

MERGING OF PARTITION
The partitions can be merged by merging the partition ranges. The partition range value mentioned will merge that to the next greater
partition range value into a singe partition. This is as shown below.

SYNTAX
ALTER PARTITION FUNCTION Partition Function Name () MERGE RANGE (PARITITION RANGE VALUE)

ALTERING PARTITION SCHEME
The partition scheme is altered to add new filegroup which may be required when partitions are splitted.

SYNTAX
ALTER PARTITION SCHEME Partition Scheme Name NEXT USED Filegroup Name

DROPPING OF PARTITION
Let us see now how to drop partitions .

a) Drop a Partition Function
To drop a partition function it should not have any partition scheme associated with it.

Syntax
DROP PARTITION FUNCTION Partition Function Name

b) Drop a Partition Scheme
To drop a partition scheme it should not have any table associated with it.

Syntax
DROP PARTITION SCHEME Partition Scheme Name

Partition Function Information
The Partition Function Information is obtained from the sys.partition_functions table as shown below
SELECT * FROM SYS.PARTITION_FUNCTIONS
Partition Range Information
The Partition Range information is obtained from the sys.partition_range_values as shown below
SELECT * FROM SYS.PARTITION_RANGE_VALUES
Partition Scheme Information
The Partition Scheme information is obtained from the sys.partition_scheme as shown below
SELECT * FROM SYS.PARTITION_SCHEME
Partitions Information
The Partition information can be obtained from the sys.partitions table as shown below.
SELECT * FROM SYS.PARTITIONS

Click here to download an example : partition.sql

SQL Server 2005 TableDiff utility

While testing the Replication in SQL 2005, I found one of the command line utilities that came with SQL Server 2005 named TableDiff. It's is primarily designed for comparing replicated tables, but we can take advantage of its functionality to compare tables in the same database or in different databases. The objective of this article is to demonstrate how we can take advantage of its functionality to compare tables.
Let us assume that we have a table named TEST1 in the database TESTDB1,and a table named TEST2 in the database TESTDB2,the both tables TEST1 and TEST2 having the same structure,we will use the tablediff utility to generate script that will make the data in TEST2 exactly the same as TEST1,we can do the reverse by switching the source and the destination options parameter of Tablediff utility
N.B: The unique key is important for the data comparison

set quoted_identifier off
go
USE [master]
GO
IF EXISTS (SELECT name FROM sys.databases
WHERE name = N'TESTDB1')
DROP DATABASE [TESTDB1]
go
create database TESTDB1
go
use TESTDB1
go
create table TEST1 (id int primary key,
name varchar(100),
sal money)
go

ALTER TABLE TEST1 ADD UNIQUE
( [ID] ASC )
go

insert into TEST1 select 1,"Name1",1000
insert into TEST1 select 2,"Name2",2000
insert into TEST1 select 3,"Name3",3000
insert into TEST1 select 4,"Name4",4000
go
USE [master]
GO
IF EXISTS (SELECT name FROM sys.databases
WHERE name = N'TESTDB2')
DROP DATABASE [TESTDB2]
go
Create database TESTDB2
go
use TESTDB2
go

create table TEST2 (id int primary key,
name varchar(100),
sal money)
go

ALTER TABLE TEST2 ADD UNIQUE
( [ID] ASC )
go

insert into TEST2 select 1,"Name1",1000
insert into TEST2 select 2,"Name2",2000
insert into TEST2 select 4,"Name4",5000
insert into TEST2 select 9,"Name9",9000
go

From to the command line type the following commands:
Type cd Type cd C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\COM
Than when the command prompt changed to
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\COM>
type

tablediff -sourceserver "ABOUHMEID02\SQLEXPRESS" -sourcedatabase "TESTDB1" -sourcetable "TEST1" -sourceuser "sa" -sourcepassword "sa" -destinationserver "ABOUHMEID02\SQLEXPRESS" -destinationdatabase "TESTDB2" -destinationtable "TEST2" -destinationuser "sa" -destinationpassword "sa" -f "c:\compare.sql"

N.B: If you installed SQL SERVER 2005 in a directory different than
C:\ Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\COM folder
Change the path depending on your installation configuration.
The TableDiff utility is installed by default under
C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\COM folder

Result
User-specified agent parameter values:
-sourceserver ABOUHMEID02\SQLEXPRESS
-sourcedatabase TESTDB1
-sourcetable TEST1
-sourceuser sa
-sourcepassword sa
-destinationserver ABOUHMEID02\SQLEXPRESS
-destinationdatabase TESTDB2
-destinationtable TEST2
-destinationuser sa
-destinationpassword sa
-f c:\compare.sql

Table [TESTDB1].[dbo].[TEST1] on ABOUHMEID02\SQLEXPRESS and Table [TESTDB2].[dbo].[TEST2] on ABOUHMEID02\SQLEXPRESS have 3 differences.
Fix SQL written to c:\compare.sql.
Err id Col
Src. Only 3
Mismatch 4 sal
Dest. Only 9
The requested operation took 0.40625 seconds.

The generated sql file C:\Compare.SQL file :

-- Host: ABOUHMEID02\SQLEXPRESS
-- Database: [TESTDB2]
-- Table: [dbo].[TEST2]
INSERT INTO [dbo].[TEST2] ([id],[name],[sal]) VALUES (3,'Name3',3000.0000)
UPDATE [dbo].[TEST2] SET [sal]=4000.0000 WHERE [id] = 4
DELETE FROM [dbo].[TEST2] WHERE [id] = 9

Importing a SDO file manually using VB script in MCMS 2002

When i tried to import a large SDO file (18 MB), from Site manager on a machine with Windows 2003 server,MCMS 2002 with Sp1a installed i got the following error:

Error: 0Description: The underlying connection was closed: An unexpected error occurred on a receive. Severity: 5Source: System Debug info: N/A Extra info: N/A Client Source: CImProgress::ProcessPackage Recommended Action: N/A

So i tried to import the SDO file using VB script instead of doing it from site manager and it works, below you will find a file named import.vbs

' VBScript for performing an import operation.

'usage: import.vbs filename.sdo
Dim strROPPath
Dim shell
Dim fso
strROPPath = WScript.Arguments(0)
Set fso = WScript.CreateObject("Scripting.FileSystemObject")
If ( fso.FileExists(strROPPath) ) Then
Call Import(strROPPath)
Else
Call MsgBox(strROPPath, vbCritical, "File Does Not Exist")
End If
'**************************************
'* Routine that does the import.
'**************************************
Sub Import(strROPPath)
Dim pCmsDeployImport
On Error Resume Next
Set pCmsDeployImport = WScript.CreateObject("CmsDeployServer.CmsDeployImport.1")
If ( Err.Number <> 0 ) Then
Call MsgBox(Err.Description, vbCritical, "Import Problem")
Set pCmsDeployImport = Nothing
Exit Sub
End If
pCmsDeployImport.AuthenticateAsCurrentUser()
If ( Err.Number <> 0 ) Then
Call MsgBox(Err.Description, vbCritical, "Import Problem")
Set pCmsDeployImport = Nothing
Exit Sub
End If
Dim pImportOptions
Set pImportOptions = pCmsDeployImport.Options
If ( Err.Number <> 0 ) Then
Call MsgBox(Err.Description, vbCritical, "Import Problem")
Set pCmsDeployImport = Nothing
Set pImportOptions = Nothing
Exit Sub
End If
' Importing the grant rights
pImportOptions.IncludeRightsGroups = 3
pImportOptions.RightsOnAdd = 3
pImportOptions.RightsOnReplace = 2
pImportOptions.IncludeCreatedBy = 2
Dim strReportUrl
strReportUrl = pCmsDeployImport.Import(strROPPath)
If ( Err.Number <> 0 ) Then
Call MsgBox(Err.Description, vbCritical, "Import Problem")
Set pCmsDeployImport = Nothing
Set pImportOptions = Nothing
Exit Sub
End If
' Display the report in the Web browser.
Set shell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
shell.Run "http://localhost" & strReportUrl, 7
Call MsgBox( strReportUrl,vbInformation,"" )
Set shell = Nothing
Set pCmsDeployImport = Nothing
Set pImportOptions = Nothing
End Sub

Killing all processes in the database 'DBNAME' except those connected throw OSQL in Sql Server

I have to restore a snapshot of a Sql server database daily used in a web site,to do this i must be in exclusive mode and the only user connected to the database, so i came up with this script to kill all processes connected to 'DBNAME' , except connected throw OSQL (my connection):
First of all let's create a procedure to kill db processes:

use master
go
CREATE proc kill_process(
@dname varchar(20))
as
Declare
@did int,
@sid int,
@s nvarchar(128)
select @did = dbid
from master..sysdatabases
where name = @dname
declare spid_cursor cursor for
select spid
from master..sysprocesses
where dbid = @did
and program_name <> 'OSQL-32'
open spid_cursorfetch next
from spid_cursor
into @s
While @@fetch_status = 0
Begin
Select @s = 'Kill '+convert(nvarchar(30),@sid)
exec(@s)
--print @s
fetch next
from spidcurs
into @sid
End
Deallocate spidcurs
GO

Now how to use this procedure:

USE MASTER
go
--Killing all processes in the database 'DBNAME' except those connected throw OSQL
exec proc kill_process 'DBNAME'
go
---set the database to single user mode
sp_dboption 'DBNAME', 'single user', true

now let's do the database restore,and don't forget to remove single user mode while finishing

sp_dboption 'DBNAME', 'single user', false

Microsoft SQL Server Migration Assistant for Oracle (SSMA)

I was working on converting an oracle database to SQL Server 2005 using SSMA ,so i remarked that if you have an oracle package and because there is no package in SQL Server,so using SSMA the package conversion is done using the following convention :Package functions will be converted to user-defined functions using PackageName_FunctionName naming convention.Package procedures will be converted to stored procedures using PackageName_ProcedureName naming convention.Package variables are emulated using a table and a set of functions.So you must change the function call in your application from PackageName.FunctionName to PackageName_FunctionName, and the procedure call from PackageName.ProcedureName to PackageName_ProcedureName.