Accessing External Data Sources with Analysis Services 2005
Summary: This white paper covers a variety of client object models supported by Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services when connecting to relational data sources. The example problems and solutions were gathered by members of the Analysis Services team while working with users of Analysis Services. (5 printed pages)

Add Custom Data Mining Algorithms to SQL Server 2005
Summary: Get a high-level overview of the benefits of the extensibility framework in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services that allows independent software developers to easily integrate new data mining algorithms into the product. (7 printed pages)

Analysis Services 2005 Processing Architecture
Summary: Processing is the operation in which the Analysis server reads data from the relational data source and populates the cubes, dimensions, mining models, etc. This whitepaper describes the Analysis Services 2005 processing architecture in detail and provides guidance on how and when to use the various processing controls. (22 printed pages)

Building a Localized Report on a SQL Server 2005 Analysis Service Cube Data Source
Summary: Learn how to use an Analysis Services cube as a data source by using parameterized MDX queries, as well as how to localize label strings in a report, in SQL Server 2005. (17 printed pages)

Building a Rule Engine with SQL Server
Summary: Rules play a central role in a wide variety of applications. In addition to the declarative specification of business rules, the simple rule engine design described in this article can be used to implement state machines, predicate dispatchers, or any other rule-based system. (15 printed pages)

Building Ad-hoc Reporting Solutions with SQL Server 2005 Report Builder and Analysis Services OLAP
Summary: This paper introduces Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Report Builder and demonstrates how to build an end-to-end ad hoc reporting solution for enterprise customers using Report Builder and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services OLAP. We also highlight a few product limitations, as well as enterprise considerations. It is based on a real-world implementation by Microsoft Business Intelligence Center of Excellence. (14 printed pages)

Building Reliable, Asynchronous Database Applications Using Service Broker
Summary: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Service Broker is a new platform for building distributed asynchronous database applications. Including an asynchronous, reliable messaging feature in the SQL Server database makes it possible to build a variety of database applications that were difficult, if not impossible, to build before. Service Broker and the other developer features in SQL Server 2005, such as common language runtime (CLR) integration and the XML data type, combine to make SQL Server 2005 a great platform for building highly scaleable database applications. (13 printed pages)

Connectivity and SQL Server 2005 Integration Services
Summary: This white paper enumerates the connectivity options for databases with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Integration Services and mentions special considerations that are required when using some database sources with some of the more complex transformations. (21 printed pages)

Data Access Tracing in SQL Server 2005
Summary: Learn how to apply the new tracing functionality in Microsoft data access technologies such as ADO.NET 2.0, MDAC 2.82, SQL Server Native Client, and the JDBC driver; and in the SQL Server network protocols and the Microsoft SQL Server 2005 database engine. (20 printed pages)

Data Integration Solutions for Master Data Management
Summary: This white paper describes how application developers can leverage the functionality of Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Integration Services to address the data integration challenges of Master Data Management applications. (19 printed pages)

Data Quality Solutions
Summary: This white paper describes how application developers can incorporate data quality into their Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Integration Services solutions. (22 printed pages)

Data Transformation Services for SQL Server 2005 Frequently Asked Design Questions
Summary: This paper answers some of the questions most frequently asked about Data Transformation Services in SQL Server 2005. In particular it addresses some of the design issues–it is a "why" FAQ rather than a "how" FAQ. (6 printed pages)

Deployments and Tests in an iSCSI SAN
Summary:  iSCSI SANs offer an alternative for building Storage Area Networks. Consolidating storage in a SAN offers storage management and scaling benefits for datacenters. iSCSI support in Windows Server 2003 makes connecting servers to an iSCSI SAN easy and affordable. This paper describes the deployment and testing results of SQL Server 2005 using the Microsoft iSCSI Initiator with an EqualLogic iSCSI SAN. It helps you understand best practices and the benefits of using an iSCSI SAN with SQL Server 2005.

Designing and Delivering Rich Office Reports with SQL Server Reporting Services 2005 and SoftArtisans OfficeWriter
Summary: This white paper explains how to use SQL Server Reporting Services 2005 and SoftArtisans OfficeWriter to design and deliver full fidelity, data-driven Microsoft Excel and Word reports. OfficeWriter consists of a designer component that turns Excel and Word into a powerful tool for designing Reporting Services reports, and custom rendering extensions that deliver real binary Excel and Word documents. The paper also covers the process by which these reports are created, previewed, deployed, and delivered. (15 printed pages)

Developing Report Navigation and Drilldown
Summary: This article presents an excerpt from the book, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services for Dummies, by Mark Robinson. Learn how to produce interesting navigation and drill down reporting using the basic tools provided within SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services. (17 printed pages)

Enabling Drillthrough in Analysis Services 2005
Summary: Discover the new Analysis Services 2005 drillthrough architecture. See how to set up drillthrough in Analysis Services 2005 and get guidance on migrating drillthrough settings from Analysis Services 2000 databases. (10 printed pages)

Extending SQL Server Reporting Services with SQL CLR Table-Valued Functions
Summary: This article describes how to take advantage of SQL CLR table-valued functions to combine different types of data sources to create rich and exciting SQL Server Reporting Services reports. (13 printed pages)

Fuzzy Lookup and Fuzzy Grouping in Data Transformation Services for SQL Server 2005
Summary: This paper describes the Fuzzy Lookup and Fuzzy Grouping transformations that are part of SQL Server 2005 Integration Services (SSIS). These SSIS transformations are useful for improving the data quality of existing data as well as new data that is being loaded into your database. Fuzzy Lookup matches input records that are "dirty" (because of misspellings, truncations, missing or inserted tokens, null fields, unexpected abbreviations, and other irregularities) with clean records in a reference table. Fuzzy Grouping detects similarities between input rows and determines which rows are fuzzy duplicates by using their string values. Fuzzy Lookup and Fuzzy Grouping are useful primitives that can simplify a variety of data cleaning and preparation tasks that are frequently encountered in data warehousing. By customizing them for your domain, you can leverage general search and clustering algorithms inside the SSIS Designer while avoiding complex custom code. (13 printed pages)

Get More Out of SQL Server Reporting Services Charts
Summary: This white paper presents general information, best practices, and tips for designing charts within Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services reports. It provides an overview of some Reporting Services features, answers common chart design and feature questions, and includes advanced examples of how to design better charts. (32 printed pages)

Handling Data Integrity Issues in Analysis Services 2005
Summary: Learn about common data integrity issues, and see how Analysis Services 2005 gives you the tools to handle them. (10 printed pages)

How to Implement an Automatic Sliding Window in a Partitioned Table on SQL Server 2005
Summary: This article shows how to implement an automatic sliding window in a partitioned table on Microsoft SQL Server 2005. (8 printed pages)

Integrating Reporting Services into Your Application
Summary: This paper summarizes the different ways that developers can integrate SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services capabilities in their applications. (13 printed pages)

International Features in Microsoft SQL Server 2005
Summary: This white paper introduces Microsoft SQL Server developers to the international features of Microsoft SQL Server 2005. Topics covered include an explanation of Unicode, added support for supplementary characters in SQL Server 2005, the changes in collation in different versions of SQL Server, changes in data types, performance, updates on data providers, and new international support features in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services and Integration Services. (59 printed pages)

Introduction to MDX Scripting in Microsoft SQL Server 2005
Summary: This document describes how Multidimensional Expressions (MDX) for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 can be applied to common business problems. This document assumes some familiarity with MDX. (12 printed pages)

Introduction to SQL Server 2005 Data Mining
Summary: Get an overview of typical data mining problems and the tools and models that are available in SQL Server 2005 for solving these problems. (13 printed pages)

An Introduction to SQL Server Service Broker
Summary: This paper introduces Service Broker, a new feature in Microsoft SQL Server 2005. With Service Broker, internal or external processes can send and receive guaranteed, asynchronous messaging by using extensions to Transact-SQL. (7 printed pages)

Introduction to the Unified Dimensional Model (UDM)
Summary: This paper provides an introduction to the Unified Dimensional Model (UDM), including the basic end-user model, and a brief overview of the architecture and security models. (17 printed pages)

Introduction to XQuery in SQL Server 2005
Summary: This white paper provides an introduction to various features of XQuery implemented in SQL Server 2005 such as the FLWOR statement, operators in XQuery, if-then-else construct, XML constructors, built-in XQuery functions, type casting operators, and examples of how to use each of these features. Non-supported features of XQuery in SQL Server 2005 and workarounds are described in this article. It also presents three scenarios where XQuery is useful. (30 printed pages)

Managed Data Access Inside SQL Server with ADO.NET and SQLCLR
Summary: Using the new SQLCLR feature, managed code can use ADO.NET when running inside SQL Server 2005. Learn about SQLCLR via basic scenarios of in-process data access, SQLCLR constructs, and their interactions. (26 printed pages)

Many-to-Many Dimensions in Analysis Services 2005
Summary: See an example of using the Many-to-Many dimension in SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services to analyze sales data, and get ideas for other uses such as treating medical conditions, software testing, and more. (8 printed pages)

Microsoft Jet 4.0 Sorting APIs: DBCompareStringW and DBLCMapStringW
Summary: The Microsoft Jet 4.0 relational database engine utilizes character sorting tables when creating and querying field indexes made up of character data. Two Microsoft Windows APIs are generally utilized for this functionality: CompareString and LCMapString. (7 printed pages)

Migrating from Business Objects Crystal Reports to SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services
Summary: This document assists Crystal Report designers with migrating to Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services using a step-by-step migration strategy. (40 printed pages)

Monitoring Report Execution Performance with Execution Logs
Summary: This article presents an excerpt from the book, Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Step by Step, by Stacia Misner and Hitachi Consulting. Learn how to monitor reporting services by implementing an execution logging database and reviewing reports that query that database. (12 printed pages)

Multi-User Considerations in Data Synchronization for SQL Server 2005 Mobile Edition 3.0
Summary: Gain a better understanding of how to develop your SQL Server Mobile applications to handle multi-user access and data synchronization with Microsoft SQL Server 2005. (6 printed pages)

Multiple Active Result Sets (MARS) in SQL Server 2005
Summary: All Microsoft SQL Server data access application programming interfaces (APIs) provide an abstraction to represent sessions and requests within those sessions. SQL Server 2000 and earlier restricted the programming model such that at any point in time there would be at most one pending request on a given session. SQL Server 2005 implements Multiple Active Result Sets (MARS), which removes this constraint. This document explains the design, architecture, and semantic changes in MARS and what considerations must be taken into account by applications to get the maximum benefit out of these improvements. (15 printed pages)

Optimizing Microsoft Office Access Applications Linked to SQL Server
Summary: One way to create applications that use Microsoft Office Access for creating user interfaces and that use Microsoft SQL Server for data storage is to link Office Access tables to SQL Server tables. This is the type of application created by using the SQL Server Migration Assistant for Office Access. This white paper presents techniques for improving performance and updatability in Office Access applications that use tables linked to SQL Server. (22 printed pages)

Overview of Native XML Web Services for Microsoft SQL Server 2005
Summary: Get an overview of how to set up and use XML Web Services using SOAP/HTTP inside SQL Server 2005 (formerly known as "Yukon"). Illustrative examples are included. To get the most from this paper, you should have a basic understanding of Web service technologies including HTTP, SOAP, and WSDL.

An Overview of SQL Server 2005 for the Database Developer
Summary: This document provides an overview of new features for database development in Microsoft SQL Server 2005. (13 printed pages)

Overview of the Analysis Services Development and Management Environments
Summary: SQL Server 2005 introduces a rich set of tools supporting the development and management of Business Intelligence applications. This includes applications using Analysis Services (OLAP and Data Mining), as well as Reporting Services and Data Transformation Services (DTS). (22 printed pages)

Partitioned Tables and Indexes in SQL Server 2005
Summary: Table-based partitioning features in SQL Server 2005 provide flexibility and performance to simplify the creation and maintenance of partitioned tables. Trace the progression of capabilities from logically and manually partitioning tables to the latest partitioning features, and find out why, when, and how to design, implement, and maintain partitioned tables using SQL Server 2005. (41 printed pages)

Performance Optimizations for the XML Data Type in SQL Server 2005
Summary: This paper explores several ideas to improve the query and data modification performance of the XML data type in Microsoft SQL Server 2005. To get the most value from this paper, you need to be familiar with the XML features in SQL Server 2005. For background material, see XML Support in Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and XML Best Practices for Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on the Microsoft Development Network (MSDN). (26 printed pages)

Processing XML Showplans Using SQLCLR in SQL Server 2005
Summary: Build an application to extract a query's estimated execution cost from its XML showplan. Users can submit only those queries costing less than a predetermined threshold to a server running SQL Server 2005, thereby ensuring it is not overloaded with costly, long-running queries. (12 printed pages)

Reducing Database Size by Using Vardecimal Storage Format
Summary: Learn about the new storage format for storing decimal and numeric data in SQL Server 2005 SP2. Details include when and how to enable vardecimal storage format, restrictions, space savings, and its impact on the performance of your workload.

Report Design Tips and Tricks
Summary: This white paper covers best practices on report design and helps you avoid common mistakes when choosing a report layout and output format. Take advantage of existing product features to achieve the results you want. The paper includes report and code examples that implement functionality that is frequently requested. (32 printed pages)

Reporting Services: Using XML and Web Service Data Sources
Summary: This white paper consolidates general information, best practices, and tips for designing Microsoft SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) reports. It is intended to provide a starting point for design questions and an overview of some of the capabilities of Reporting Services. (12 printed pages)

SQL Server 2005 Full-Text Search: Internals and Enhancements
Summary: See the benefits and new features of SQL Server 2005 full-text search for both developers and database administrators. (23 printed pages)

SQL Server 2005 Integration with Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies
Summary:  Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SP2 introduced tight integration between SQL Server Reporting Services and Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies to provide a single-user environment with which to manage and execute reports. This paper shows how to configure the integration of Reporting Services and SharePoint Products and Technologies. It also shows how to manage reports and publish them to a SharePoint site.

SQL Server 2005 Row Versioning-Based Transaction Isolation
Summary:  Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SP2 introduced tight integration between SQL Server Reporting Services and Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies to provide a single-user environment with which to manage and execute reports. This paper shows how to configure the integration of Reporting Services and SharePoint Products and Technologies. It also shows how to manage reports and publish them to a SharePoint site.

SQL Server Data Mining: Plug-In Algorithms
Summary: Describes how SQL Server 2005 Data Mining allows aggregation directly at the algorithm level. Although this restricts what the third-party algorithm developer can support in terms of language and data types, it frees the developer from having to implement data handling, parsing, meta data management, session, and rowset production code on top of the core data mining algorithm implementation. (15 printed pages)

SQL Server Data Mining Programmability
Summary: Learn more about the new APIs for data mining in SQL Server 2005, and get an introduction to several common development scenarios. (50 printed pages)

SQL Server Optimization
Summary: This article describes different ways of improving the performance of SQL Server queries, with a focus on index optimization. (6 printed pages)

A Technical Comparison of Replication and Remote Data Access Features in SQL Server 2005 Mobile Edition 3.0
Summary: Compare feature sets for the two Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Mobile Edition 3.0 (SQL Server Mobile) connectivity solutions, merge replication and remote data access (RDA), and understand which connectivity solution might be more beneficial for your project. (7 printed pages)

Trace and Replay Objects: A New API for SQL Server Tracing and Replay
Summary: This paper introduces Trace and Replay objects, a new feature in Microsoft SQL Server 2005. Trace and Replay objects is a new managed API for tracing, trace manipulation, and trace replay. (12 printed pages)

Troubleshooting Integration with SharePoint Products and Technologies
Summary: Microsoft SQL Server 2005 SP2 introduces tight integration between Reporting Services and Microsoft SharePoint Products and Technologies to enable a single user environment with which to manage and execute reports. This white paper shows how to administer the integration between Reporting Services and SharePoint Products and Technologies and provides troubleshooting tips in the event that problems arise.A Tutorial for Constructing a Plug-in Algorithm
Summary: Learn how to create an Analysis Services 2005 plug-in algorithm. This tutorial steps through the process of implementing a plug-in algorithm and integrating that algorithm into Analysis Services. It also provides stub code to enable algorithm developers to quickly integrate a "shell" plug-in algorithm into Analysis Services. (45 pages)

A Tutorial for Constructing a Plug-In Viewer
Summary: This article steps through the process of implementing a plug-in viewer and integrating the viewer into Analysis Services. Provides stub code to enable viewer developers to quickly write a plug-in viewer into Analysis Services. (21 printed pages)

Usage Scenarios for SQL Server 2005 Native Web Services
Summary: Get a detailed look at how to set up SQL Server 2005 for Web service access in a heterogeneous environment, and learn more about key scenarios for Web services in SQL Server 2005. (11 printed pages)

Using CLR Integration in SQL Server 2005
Summary: This paper describes the new CLR integration features of SQL Server 2005 and how database application developers and architects can take advantage of them to write user-defined procedures, functions, and triggers, as well as define new types and aggregates. (46 printed pages)

Using SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services with SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence
Summary: This paper discusses the integration of SAP NetWeaver Business Intelligence (BI) with Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Service Pack 1 and later. The paper provides an overview of using the data provider and query designer to build high-quality reports on SAP NetWeaver BI sources. For Reporting Services users who are new to working with SAP NetWeaver BI, this paper will help you get up and running quickly. For users who are already familiar with SAP NetWeaver, the paper will show how some of that system's notable features can be leveraged in Reporting Services reports. It also presents some tips and tricks that can help you make the most of the integration between the two products. (36 printed pages)

Using Table Valued Functions in SQL Server 2005 to Implement a Spatial Data Library
Summary: This article explains how to add spatial search functions (point-near-point and point in polygon) to Microsoft SQL Server 2005 using C# and table-valued functions. It is possible to use this library to add spatial search to your application without writing any special code. The library implements the public-domain C# Hierarchical Triangular Mesh (HTM) algorithms from Johns Hopkins University. That C# library is connected to SQL Server 2005 using a set of scalar-valued and table-valued functions. These functions act as a spatial index. (26 printed pages)

Using Visual Studio 2005 to Perform Load Testing on a SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services Report Server
Summary: Microsoft Visual Studio 2005 Team System includes a load-test tool that you can use for performance and stress testing of a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Reporting Services deployment. The load-test tool runs the tests that you create, and optionally logs the data into a SQL Server 2005 database. You can monitor tests as they progress, review performance data after the tests are completed, and precisely determine what the threshold is for a specific report-server deployment. This article contains step-by-step instructions for creating a Web page load test, and sample code and instructions for creating a unit test. Also, instructions are provided for setting up the load test that you use to specify load patterns. The article assumes that you have the AdventureWorks sample database and reports, so that you can try these steps on your computer. (25 printed pages)

What's New in FOR XML in Microsoft SQL Server 2005
Summary: This first in a series of articles by Michael Rys details the major new capabilities of the server-side FOR XML clause in the next version of SQL Server. These enable you to further enhance the XML support in your applications and to write easy-to-maintain relational data-to-XML aggregations. (12 printed pages)

XML Best Practices for Microsoft SQL Server 2005
Summary: Learn about the guidelines for XML data modeling and usage in Microsoft SQL Server 2005, and see illustrative examples. To get the most from this article, you should have a basic understanding of XML features in SQL Server; for background material, see XML Support in Microsoft SQL Server 2005 on the Microsoft Developer Network.

XML Indexes in SQL Server 2005
Summary: Use the relational query engine in SQL Server 2005 to make a single query plan for the SQL and XQuery parts of your queries, and make the implementation of XML queries fast and easy to predict and tune. (12 printed pages)

XML Options in Microsoft SQL Server 2005
Summary: Three options for handling XML data in the Visual Studio 2005/SQL Server 2005 environment are discussed, including usage scenarios and guidelines to help you choose between them. (34 printed pages)

XML Support in Microsoft SQL Server 2005
Summary: This paper provides an overview of the XML support that is built into Microsoft SQL Server 2005. It includes a discussion of how XML integrates with client-side programming support in both the .NET Framework 2.0 and native code such as OLEDB and SQLXML. (40 printed pages)