Feature request

Some of our users who may be running packages are not so adept at editing XML configuration files. It'd be nice if we could instead either:
1. Have an interface to modify the XML dtsConfig files
or 2. Have another option that would prompt via dialog box for the configuration options when the DTS package is run.
On #1, anyone know of any existing programs that would be useful (something that would ignore the markup and just edit the variables)?
Thanks for the request, Jonathan. It's on our list of things to consider for the next version, we just didn't have the time to get it into SQL Server 2005.

regards,
ash

Feasability of storing PDFs and WORD.DOC files in MSSQL?

I'm building a system when one can upload a document to the website.

I will be storing the document on the hard-drive for quick/easy access,
but I was also thinking of storing it in an existing database since most
of the sites information is all stored there.

As well there would be only one place to worry about backing up. And if
the file on the hard-drive was ever missing or became corrupted, I could
restore it form tha database. Is this feasable? Has anyone ever done this?

--
* Don Vaillancourt
Director of Software Development
*
*WEB IMPACT INC.*
phone: 416-815-2000 ext. 245
fax: 416-815-2001
email: donv@.web-impact.com <mailto:donv@.webimpact.com>
web: http://www.web-impact.com

/ This email message is intended only for the addressee(s)
and contains information that may be confidential and/or
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Don Vaillancourt wrote:

> I'm building a system when one can upload a document to the website.
> I will be storing the document on the hard-drive for quick/easy access,
> but I was also thinking of storing it in an existing database since most
> of the sites information is all stored there.
> As well there would be only one place to worry about backing up. And if
> the file on the hard-drive was ever missing or became corrupted, I could
> restore it form tha database. Is this feasable? Has anyone ever done
> this?

Sure it's possible to save any size binary object in the DBMS, but it is
not usually a performant use of a DBMS as a simple file store. I would
first consider a hardware solution for backups of read-only files. Either
just store copies on separate disks, or get a fancier RAID setup where
any one disk failure won't lose any data.
Joe Weinstein at BEA|||Don Vaillancourt (donv@.webimpact.com) writes:
> I'm building a system when one can upload a document to the website.
> I will be storing the document on the hard-drive for quick/easy access,
> but I was also thinking of storing it in an existing database since most
> of the sites information is all stored there.
> As well there would be only one place to worry about backing up. And if
> the file on the hard-drive was ever missing or became corrupted, I could
> restore it form tha database. Is this feasable? Has anyone ever done
> this?

I have not done this myself, but certainly it is a common scenario.

Storing the documents on disk makes for a simple implementation.
Storing them in the database requires a battle with the text/image
data types, which are somewhat difficult to use.

But as you note, storing in the database is safer. Backup is simpler,
and a file on directory can easily "disappear". And if all you store
is the file path, another problem is that you don't have two-phase
commit with the file system.

--
Erland Sommarskog, SQL Server MVP, esquel@.sommarskog.se

Books Online for SQL Server SP3 at
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techin.../2000/books.asp|||I know that technically I can store this info in the database and
retrieving it is not an issue.

My issue really is how manageable will the database be with tons of
PDFs, Word, etc. documents in it. Or how willing people would be
willing to manage such a beast.

Right now our databases are about 300MB each. I may decide to create a
second database, not sure, but the total number of documents may be at
the very least in the 1000's which would most probably create a database
about 5GB + overhead.

To some this may be an intimidating size to manage. It would certainly
fit on a tape backup.

I'm just wondering about other issues that may come up.

Erland Sommarskog wrote:
> Don Vaillancourt (donv@.webimpact.com) writes:
>>I'm building a system when one can upload a document to the website.
>>
>>I will be storing the document on the hard-drive for quick/easy access,
>>but I was also thinking of storing it in an existing database since most
>>of the sites information is all stored there.
>>
>>As well there would be only one place to worry about backing up. And if
>>the file on the hard-drive was ever missing or became corrupted, I could
>>restore it form tha database. Is this feasable? Has anyone ever done
>>this?
>
> I have not done this myself, but certainly it is a common scenario.
> Storing the documents on disk makes for a simple implementation.
> Storing them in the database requires a battle with the text/image
> data types, which are somewhat difficult to use.
> But as you note, storing in the database is safer. Backup is simpler,
> and a file on directory can easily "disappear". And if all you store
> is the file path, another problem is that you don't have two-phase
> commit with the file system.
>

--
* Don Vaillancourt
Director of Software Development
*
*WEB IMPACT INC.*
phone: 416-815-2000 ext. 245
fax: 416-815-2001
email: donv@.web-impact.com <mailto:donv@.webimpact.com>
web: http://www.web-impact.com

/ This email message is intended only for the addressee(s)
and contains information that may be confidential and/or
copyright. If you are not the intended recipient please
notify the sender by reply email and immediately delete
this email. Use, disclosure or reproduction of this email
by anyone other than the intended recipient(s) is strictly
prohibited. No representation is made that this email or
any attachments are free of viruses. Virus scanning is
recommended and is the responsibility of the recipient.
/|||Don Vaillancourt (donv@.webimpact.com) writes:
> I know that technically I can store this info in the database and
> retrieving it is not an issue.
> My issue really is how manageable will the database be with tons of
> PDFs, Word, etc. documents in it. Or how willing people would be
> willing to manage such a beast.
> Right now our databases are about 300MB each. I may decide to create a
> second database, not sure, but the total number of documents may be at
> the very least in the 1000's which would most probably create a database
> about 5GB + overhead.
> To some this may be an intimidating size to manage. It would certainly
> fit on a tape backup.

Few of our customers that run our system have databases that small. My test
database alone is 600 MB.

And 5 GB in one database is easier to manage, than 300 MB in a database + a
lot of loose files.

However, if you are using MSDE the size could be a concern, since MSDE
has a size limit of 2 GB.

--
Erland Sommarskog, SQL Server MVP, esquel@.sommarskog.se

Books Online for SQL Server SP3 at
http://www.microsoft.com/sql/techin.../2000/books.asp|||No MSDE for us. We tell how clients which version of whatever database
they must purchase in order to use our software.

Otherwise, from your experiences, my issue is really a non-issue.

Thanks for your input.

Erland Sommarskog wrote:
> Don Vaillancourt (donv@.webimpact.com) writes:
>>I know that technically I can store this info in the database and
>>retrieving it is not an issue.
>>
>>My issue really is how manageable will the database be with tons of
>>PDFs, Word, etc. documents in it. Or how willing people would be
>>willing to manage such a beast.
>>
>>Right now our databases are about 300MB each. I may decide to create a
>>second database, not sure, but the total number of documents may be at
>>the very least in the 1000's which would most probably create a database
>> about 5GB + overhead.
>>
>>To some this may be an intimidating size to manage. It would certainly
>>fit on a tape backup.
>
> Few of our customers that run our system have databases that small. My test
> database alone is 600 MB.
> And 5 GB in one database is easier to manage, than 300 MB in a database + a
> lot of loose files.
> However, if you are using MSDE the size could be a concern, since MSDE
> has a size limit of 2 GB.

--
* Don Vaillancourt
Director of Software Development
*
*WEB IMPACT INC.*
phone: 416-815-2000 ext. 245
fax: 416-815-2001
email: donv@.web-impact.com <mailto:donv@.webimpact.com>
web: http://www.web-impact.com

/ This email message is intended only for the addressee(s)
and contains information that may be confidential and/or
copyright. If you are not the intended recipient please
notify the sender by reply email and immediately delete
this email. Use, disclosure or reproduction of this email
by anyone other than the intended recipient(s) is strictly
prohibited. No representation is made that this email or
any attachments are free of viruses. Virus scanning is
recommended and is the responsibility of the recipient.
/

FC or ATA for LOG FILES?

I'm setting up a new DB and separating the log files to storage separate
from the data. The data will be on FC storage. Will the log files perform
optimally on FC or ATA?
Thanks in advance.
SBGFC as in FC-ATA where you're basically using cheap hardware?
I question your decision to put data and log files on such equipment in the
first place. However, as to the log files themselves, I suspect you could
put log files on an MFM drive, or an old 20MB removable platter and be fine
99.99% of the time. There just isn't that much I/O to the logs.
"SBG" <sbg@.thomasville.org> wrote in message
news:O1j$TY%23HIHA.4196@.TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> I'm setting up a new DB and separating the log files to storage separate
> from the data. The data will be on FC storage. Will the log files
> perform
> optimally on FC or ATA?
> Thanks in advance.
> SBG
>|||Oh, and .01% of the time is about 1 hour a year.
"Jay" <nospan@.nospam.org> wrote in message
news:eA$a3i%23HIHA.5544@.TK2MSFTNGP02.phx.gbl...
> FC as in FC-ATA where you're basically using cheap hardware?
> I question your decision to put data and log files on such equipment in
> the first place. However, as to the log files themselves, I suspect you
> could put log files on an MFM drive, or an old 20MB removable platter and
> be fine 99.99% of the time. There just isn't that much I/O to the logs.
> "SBG" <sbg@.thomasville.org> wrote in message
> news:O1j$TY%23HIHA.4196@.TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
>> I'm setting up a new DB and separating the log files to storage separate
>> from the data. The data will be on FC storage. Will the log files
>> perform
>> optimally on FC or ATA?
>> Thanks in advance.
>> SBG
>>
>

fax PDF

We have a process that takes XML files and split them into pdf's. These
files then based upon a field in a table need to be faxed. The fax info is
stored in a SQL table. The process needs to insert into the pdf control
characters for faxing. Then this newly created file needs to be picked up by
RightFax to be sent out.
Any suggestions on how this can be done.That process is implement within SQL Server?
Do you need to implement faxing inside SQL as well?
I would suggest writing a custom application outside sql in C# , VB.NET, C++
or whatever language.
Is rightFax a COM based product? If it is you could use sp_OACreate to
create OLE object and pass in pdf file path. But that would be asking for
trouble, like I said you're better off with your own solution.
"Hoosbruin" <Hoosbruin@.Kconline.com> wrote in message
news:X5OdnTd-zqDx2KLfRVn-ug@.kconline.com...
> We have a process that takes XML files and split them into pdf's. These
> files then based upon a field in a table need to be faxed. The fax info is
> stored in a SQL table. The process needs to insert into the pdf control
> characters for faxing. Then this newly created file needs to be picked up
by
> RightFax to be sent out.
>
> Any suggestions on how this can be done.
>sql

Failure to install - XOLEHLP.dll not found

Check the Win/sys 32 for that files - XOLEHLP.dll . If not download it from http://www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?xolehlp
then copy it to the system 32 folder.

You can download the file from these web sites though:

http://www.dll-downloads.com/searchresults.asp?file=XOLEHLP&filetype=dll

http://www.dll-downloads.ca/searchresults.asp?file=XOLEHLP&filetype=dll

http://www.afreedll.com/dll/info/xolehlp_dll.html

http://www.afreedll.com/dll/info/xolehlp_dll-1.html

Failure to install - XOLEHLP.dll not found

Check the Win/sys 32 for that files - XOLEHLP.dll . If not download it from http://www.dll-files.com/dllindex/dll-files.shtml?xolehlp
then copy it to the system 32 folder.

You can download the file from these web sites though:

http://www.dll-downloads.com/searchresults.asp?file=XOLEHLP&filetype=dll

http://www.dll-downloads.ca/searchresults.asp?file=XOLEHLP&filetype=dll

http://www.afreedll.com/dll/info/xolehlp_dll.html

http://www.afreedll.com/dll/info/xolehlp_dll-1.html

Failure to install - XOLEHLP.dll not found

Hello,

I'm trying to install CTP3 of katmai on Windows Server 2004 running inside Virtual PC.

It installs the setup files OK. Straight after that I get an error message box saying "The application has failed to start because XOLEHLP.DLL was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem"

Clicking OK gives me another message box with the message "TITLE: Microsoft SQL Server code name Katmai Setup

Failed to load SqlSpars.dll

For help, click: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?LinkID=20476&ProdName=Microsoft+SQL+Server&ProdVer=10.0.1019.17&EvtSrc=setup.rll&EvtID=50005&EvtType=setup%5csqlsetupactions.cpp%40InvokeSqlSetupDllAction%40sqls%3a%3aInvokeSqlSetupDllAction%3a%3aperform%400x57

BUTTONS:

OK

"

The link doesn't give me anything useful.

Then I get the familiar 'Send Error Report' dialog. I DID send the error report.

I'm stumped. Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks

Jamie

Moving over to the new Katmai forums|||Jamie,

I assume you tried to instell it on a Win 2003 box (not 2004) :-)

Anyway, that box (or rather VM in your case), how was it created in the first place? Have you done any funky stuff with MSDTC, as xolehlp.dll is a helper file for the DTC. Also, the Katmai installation, was it from the iso or a "normal" installation?

Niels
|||

Hey there Niels,

You're right. Win2k3. DOH!!!

Interesting your comments about DTC - I'll have a play around with that. I certainly haven't done any changes on the box - its as vanilla as it gets. Standard OS install. I'm using the katmai executable - i.e. not the .iso

This is all at home and I am now at work. I'll have another play around later this evening.

Thanks

Jamie

|||OK, try the ISO and see if it helps.

Niels

Failure to install - XOLEHLP.dll not found

Hello,

I'm trying to install CTP3 of katmai on Windows Server 2004 running inside Virtual PC.

It installs the setup files OK. Straight after that I get an error message box saying "The application has failed to start because XOLEHLP.DLL was not found. Re-installing the application may fix this problem"

Clicking OK gives me another message box with the message "TITLE: Microsoft SQL Server code name Katmai Setup

Failed to load SqlSpars.dll

For help, click: http://go.microsoft.com/fwlink?LinkID=20476&ProdName=Microsoft+SQL+Server&ProdVer=10.0.1019.17&EvtSrc=setup.rll&EvtID=50005&EvtType=setup%5csqlsetupactions.cpp%40InvokeSqlSetupDllAction%40sqls%3a%3aInvokeSqlSetupDllAction%3a%3aperform%400x57

BUTTONS:

OK

"

The link doesn't give me anything useful.

Then I get the familiar 'Send Error Report' dialog. I DID send the error report.

I'm stumped. Anyone got any ideas?

Thanks

Jamie

Moving over to the new Katmai forums|||Jamie,

I assume you tried to instell it on a Win 2003 box (not 2004) :-)

Anyway, that box (or rather VM in your case), how was it created in the first place? Have you done any funky stuff with MSDTC, as xolehlp.dll is a helper file for the DTC. Also, the Katmai installation, was it from the iso or a "normal" installation?

Niels
|||

Hey there Niels,

You're right. Win2k3. DOH!!!

Interesting your comments about DTC - I'll have a play around with that. I certainly haven't done any changes on the box - its as vanilla as it gets. Standard OS install. I'm using the katmai executable - i.e. not the .iso

This is all at home and I am now at work. I'll have another play around later this evening.

Thanks

Jamie

|||OK, try the ISO and see if it helps.

Niels