Today was day 1. Of many. And while it was only on a treadmill, I have started well and FEEL AWESOME! A quick 5KM in just over 30 minutes is not bad going, considering it’s been months.

I have the #sqlfamily to thank. #sqlrun is the driver of this change and long may you wonderful people continue to encourage others.

Here’s my run activity for today:

http://runkeeper.com/user/lukehayler/activity/62714410

Tomorrow brings more Downhill Mountain Biking! Woo Hoo!!

Stephen Few, renown educator and trainer in BI Visualisations and author, had been giving a BI Visualisation workshop earlier in the week. I was in attendance at the workshop and managed to persuade Stephen to attend our social event. He was only in Melbourne until Friday November 18th, hence the last minute change to the date.

It was a Movember themed event, but unfortunately not that many people took part. I was one of two Mo Bro’s of the evening. Angus Bell had quite the impressive Mo and walked away with a heap of Movember merchandise (which he later gave away at another Movember party), as well as bottle of wine. It was a great effort by Angus, check out his Mo below and donate to his cause here:

Next month’s event is in the works and will be held, once again, at The Sherlock Holmes Inn. Dates and times will be communicated soon. Stay tuned for more on SQL Server Social!

However, in order to have Stephen join us, it has meant that I have had to change the date of the event. So, SQL server Social will now be held THIS THURSDAY, 17th November 2011.

Stephen is an incredibly busy individual and travels all over the world enlightening people on data visualisation best practices, so I am privileged that he has agreed to join us.

I’ll be sending out updates to those of you who have already registered and will be apologising profusely. Don’t worry, if you can make it, your current registration will still stand. For those of you who can now make it, please head over to http://sqlserversocial.eventbrite.com to sign up. Don’t forget, this is a rare opportunity to come and meet, and chat to, one of the leading experts on data visualisation.

It’s Movember time again, and that means ridiculous facial hair for many men. Much to the disgust of their spouse. But it’s not about looking ridiculous, that’s just a by-product. It’s about awareness and education of men’s health.

Think about this:

• On average men die five to six years younger than women.
• The suicide rate is four times higher for men than women
• More than five men die prematurely each hour from potentially preventable illnesses

Men’s health is all too easily forgotten or pushed by the wayside. Men are notoriously adverse to seeking medical help when they need it most; believing that they should ‘tough it out’.

The Movember campaign is all about raising awareness of men’s health issues that often get ignored; Prostate cancer and depression (in men).  There are two key charities:

• Beyond Blue
• Prostate Foundation of Australia

And let’s not forget the Movember Global Action Plan that aims to accelerate prostate cancer outcomes through global research collaboration.

Some stats (Because data is cool right?)

The Movember campaign has been alive since 2003 and each year builds on the success of the last. It’ll be interesting to see how 2011 fares.

So what can YOU do?

• Raise awareness through conversation
• Growing a Mo and do some fundraising.
• Donating to the cause

Fancy a party?

I’m hosting an event later this month called SQL Server Social. It’s a great event. People meet, talk, drink, network and generally have a great time. This month we are turning the event into a Mo Party. It’ll be wall-to-wall, floor-to-ceiling Mos. There’ll be prizes and giveaways and even a free drink on your arrival. If you’re interested head on over to http://sqlserversocial.eventbrite.com and register. All the details about the event are listed there too. SQL Server Social has several online presences:

• Twitter – @sqlserversocial
• Facebook – Facebook.com/SqlServerSocial
• Google+ – gplus.to/sqlserversocial

Do your bit. Grow a Mo!

Event Details

If you are not sure what SQL Server Social is all about, you can either read about the first event here, or check out the following recap:

What is SQL Server Social

SQL Server Social is a monthly event that has been created to provide SQL Server Professionals with a chance to network with industry peers, discuss predefined topics, have a little fun, have a beer and make some new friends.

What is the aim of SQL Server Social

SQL Server Social aims to build local SQL Server communities through regular social meetings, where database professionals can share their experiences and learn from their peers through open discussion.

Movember Edition

This month’s edition is a special one. It’s Movember and that means Mos! Here’s what the campaign is all about:

During November each year, Movember is responsible for the sprouting of moustaches on thousands of men’s faces in Australia and around the world. The aim of which is to raise vital funds and awareness for men’s health, specifically prostate cancer and depression in men.

For all the guys planning on attending, let’s see who has the best Mo by the 24th of this month. There’ll still be 6 days remaining until the official end of the campaign, but it’ll be good to see how you are all faring by that stage. This will be my first year participating; you can follow my ‘progress’ on my Mo page – mobro.co/lukehayler. If you feel so inclined, I have also put together a team for SQL Server Social, so show your support for the cause and join in!

Facebook Page!

SQL Server Social now has it’s own Facebook page. This page will be used to keep all the fans in the loop with updates about future events, photos from past events, links to interesting SQL-related sites, and so-on and so-forth…So if you are on Facebook why not tag along and keep up-to-date. Check out the page here.

Twitter!

SQL Server Social is also all over twitter like a bad rash. Follow us for updates – @sqlserversocial

SQL Crosswords

One of the [optional] challenges for the event is to complete a SQL Server Crossword. The SQL Server Crosswords have been generously donated to our cause by John Sansom (blog | @JohnSansom). John is a DBA in the UK and is a frequent blogger at www.johnsansom.com. John has had several awards bestowed upon him including Microsoft’s Community Contributor 2011 and SQLServerPedia’s Professional Development 2010 Winner as well as being a Rock Star Blogger (in Tom La Rock’s rankings). John has a wealth of information on his blog, so do yourself a favour and go check it out.

See you there!

It’s fair to say that, although the presentation was a little disjointed, I have seen the PowerShell ‘light’ and what it is capable of. I intend to follow up this precon with a hefting helping of new blogs to read and scripts to write.

The following are some of the notes from the precon today.

What is PowerShell?

According to Wikipedia, PowerShell is a task automation framework, that consists of a command-line shell and an associated scripting language. With PowerShell, administrators can perform administrative tasks on both local and remote machines.

• Cmdlets
  • Are specialised commands in the PowerShell environment that implement specific functions.
  • Use a verb-noun naming pattern. i.e.
    • Get-Command
    • Get-Children
  • Sets of commandlets can be combined into scripts and executables.
• Pipeline
  • PowerShell implements a pipeline, which enables the output of one cmdlet to be ‘piped’ as an input to another; this is done using the ‘|’ character.

Variables in PowerShell

Variables in PowerShell are declared (using ‘$’) and set in-line. There is no need to declare them up front, or set their data/object type. The variables will take on the appropriate data/object type for the result(s) that are returned. I don’t know about you, but I think that is all kinds of awesome.

PowerShell Profiles

These help to load up certain modules/snapins when you load up PowerShell. This means you can port your profiles to any environment and be able to load into a familiar setup.

Comparison operators

Logical Operators

more operator notes over at http://ss64.com/ps/syntax-compare.html

PowerShell Resources – great for those just starting out in PowerShell

• PowerShell Day 0
• PowerShell Day 1
• PowerShell Day 2
• PowerShell Day 3
• PowerShell Day 4
• PowerShell Day 5
• PowerShell Day 6
• http://www.scriptingguys.com
• http://www.poshcode.org
• http://blogs.technet.com/b/heyscriptingguy/
• http://www.beefycode.com/
• 10 Fundamental Concepts for PowerShell Scripting
• Finding Free Space per data file with PowerShell
• Restore and relocate database files using PowerShell

All was not lost though, as I had met Darren Gosbell (@darrengosbell) at the airport and we proceeded to have a drink and light lunch at one of the bars. We chatted about the PASS Summit quite a bit as well as the BI Maestro program/exams/certification. once we had boarded the plane, and we were underway the flight was reasonably enjoyable; as much as can be over the course of 14hrs.

My troubles started again in LAX (which is a dump btw). I progressed, slowly, through immigration, customs, picked up my bags and dropped them off at the baggage drop and then proceeded to check-in for my next flight to Seattle. Apparently I had no ticket for this flight. Huh. But it’s right there on my itinerary? 3 phone calls and over an hour later I was running to catch the Alaska Air flight. Thankfully I made it to the gate with 10 mins to spare. Which is all I cared about at that point.

The flight was only a couple of hours and I managed to dose off occasionally. When I was awake I was kept entertained by the interesting landscape of the West Coast. An I may have been dreaming when I saw this and thought “Sim City?”

The mountain below is, what I can only assume, Mount Rainier.

I also managed to snap this pic of Seattle right before we came in to land. I couldn’t quite believe it when it was a clear sunny day!

I’m in Seattle!

When you download Guidebook  and search for ‘PASS’: Bingo! There was the guide for the PASS Summit 2011. W00t! I downloaded the guide, and after having created my schedule for the week all on my phone, I figured you lot need to know about it too. The app and the guide, not my schedule; although if you really want that too then I guess I could share it with you. Just ask.

Here’s why you need Guidebook with the PASS Summit 2011 Guide:

• Session Schedule builder
• After hours activities
• About Seattle
• Maps (floor plans) of the Convention Centre
• Twitter (for the #sqlpass hash tag)
• Sponsor listings
• Speak listings
• Exhibitor listings
• My Schedule

I have no idea who created the guide for the PASS Summit, but it’s great. Thank you!

If you are still not convinced, here are a couple of screen shots:

See? It’s awesome. Go get it.

Pre Cons!

Choosing a pre conference session for Monday/Tuesday was rather difficult. Do you choose something completely new to learn, or do you learn something new about a subject area in which you are already fairly familiar? Not to be outdone by my own questions, I chose to do one completely new subject area and one deeper dive into something I am fairly good at (but know I could be even better). Here are my picks:

• Keeping it local with Rob Farley (Blog | @rob_farley)– “Fixing Queries with Advanced T-SQL constructs”
• Something new with Aaron Nelson (Blog | @SQLVariant) – “After 7 hours you won’t be able to shut up about PowerShell either”

It’s my belief that you can always improve the skills you already have and that’s why I’m going to Rob’s Pre-con. My T-SQL is pretty good, but I know there are areas that could do with some improvement. I hoping to get quite a bit out of this session. No pressure Rob!

I also believe that you should stretch yourself and try to learn something new every now and again. Especially when it comes to software or processes. Learning something new gives you a broader perspective and you’ll be better equipped to make the right decisions. This is why I’m taking Aaron’s Pre-con. I have only ever heard the great things about PowerShell can do. I’ll be looking to apply this new knowledge immediately for all the BI projects I work on.

• Table Name
• Row Count
• Reserved Space (KB)
• Data space used (KB)
• Index size (KB)
• Unused space (KB)

The above information is gathered using sp_spaceused. Now I’m sure that there are a number of other ways to get this information, but this was quick and easy to produce and use. If you have anything that you’d like to contribute, I’d love to hear it.

   1: /***

   2:     Script to identify the space used by each table in a database

   3:     Information returned includes:

   4:         - Table name

   5:         - Record Count

   6:         - Reserved Space (KB)

   7:         - Data Size (KB)

   8:         - Index Size (KB)

   9:         - Unused Space (KB)

  10: ***/

  11:  

  12: /* Create a table variable to hold the values returned by sp_spaceused  */

  13: DECLARE @Results TABLE 

  14: (

  15:       RowNum            INT IDENTITY(1,1)

  16:     , TableName         VARCHAR(200)

  17:     , Records           INT

  18:     , ReservedSpace     VARCHAR(100)

  19:     , DataSpace         VARCHAR(100)

  20:     , IndexSizeSpace    VARCHAR(100)

  21:     , UnUsedSpace       VARCHAR(100)

  22:     , CheckDateTime     DateTime DEFAULT GETDATE()

  23: )

  24:  

  25: /* Declare a variable to hold the Object Names */

  26: DECLARE @ObjectName VARCHAR(200)

  27:  

  28: /* 

  29:     Declare a cursor to loop through each of the tables in the database 

  30:     and return their space used information. 

  31: */

  32: DECLARE TableCursor CURSOR

  33: FOR

  34:     SELECT 

  35:         ObjectName = TABLE_SCHEMA + '.' + TABLE_NAME

  36:     FROM 

  37:         INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES

  38:     WHERE

  39:         TABLE_TYPE = 'BASE TABLE'

  40:     

  41: OPEN TableCursor

  42:  

  43: FETCH NEXT FROM TableCursor

  44: INTO @ObjectName

  45:  

  46: WHILE @@FETCH_STATUS = 0

  47: BEGIN

  48:  

  49:     /* Execute sp_Spaceused for each table and load the results into the table variable  */

  50:     INSERT INTO @Results 

  51:     (

  52:           TableName            

  53:         , Records            

  54:         , ReservedSpace        

  55:         , DataSpace            

  56:         , IndexSizeSpace    

  57:         , UnUsedSpace

  58:     )

  59:  

  60:     /* 

  61:         Uncomment the @updateusage option if you want to ensure your stats are up-to-date

  62:         However, this may take some time depending on the size of your database tables. 

  63:         It is set to 'false' in sp_spacedused by default.

  64:     */    

  65:     EXEC sp_spaceused @ObjectName

  66:     --, @updateusage  = 'true'        

  67:     ;    

  68:     

  69:     FETCH NEXT FROM TableCursor

  70:     INTO @ObjectName

  71: END

  72:  

  73: CLOSE TableCursor

  74: DEALLOCATE TableCursor

  75:  

  76: /*    

  77:     Get the list of tables and their associated space usage data.

  78:     Update to your preferred format

  79: */

  80: SELECT

  81:       TableName            

  82:     , Records            

  83:     , ReservedSpace        = CAST(SUBSTRING(ReservedSpace, 1, LEN(ReservedSpace)-3) AS INT)

  84:     , DataSpace            = CAST(SUBSTRING(DataSpace, 1, LEN(DataSpace)-3) AS INT)

  85:     , IndexSizeSpace    = CAST(SUBSTRING(IndexSizeSpace, 1, LEN(IndexSizeSpace)-3) AS INT)

  86:     , UnUsedSpace        = CAST(SUBSTRING(UnUsedSpace, 1, LEN(UnUsedSpace)-3) AS INT)

  87: FROM @Results

  88: ORDER BY 

  89:     TableName

Copy. Paste. Enjoy.

**UPDATE – 2011/09/14**

My friend Jim McLeod (Blog | Twitter) has informed me that there is a better way to get the space used and row count details for objects in your database. His script utilises the sysindexes table, which means that this is compatible across a wider set of SQL Server versions including 2000/2005/2008. His original script appears in the comments below. I have reproduced it here with a little formatting, commenting and an extra table to restrict the results to just *user* tables:

   1: /***

   2:     This script will generate a list of User tables

   3:     and their associated space used and row count details.

   4: ***/

   5:  

   6: SELECT 

   7:       SchemaName    = ss.name

   8:     , ObjectName    = OBJECT_NAME(si.id)

   9:     , ReservedMB    = reserved * 8/1024.0

  10:     , DataMB        = dpages * 8/1024.0

  11:     , RecCount      = rowcnt   

  12:  

  13: FROM 

  14:             sysindexes si

  15: INNER JOIN  sys.objects so  ON    si.id = so.object_id

  16: INNER JOIN    sys.schemas ss    ON    so.schema_id = ss.schema_id

  17: WHERE

  18: /*    Limit the resultset to bring back Heaps & Clustered indexes only 

  19:     (Heap = 0, Clustered Index = 1)

  20: */

  21:     indid < 2        

  22: /*    We only want to see the 'user' tables at this stage. 

  23:     You can include System tables by adding 'S' to the xtype clause 

  24: */

  25: AND type = 'U'        

  26: ORDER BY 

  27:     SchemaName,

  28:     ObjectName

I’ve left the first script in the post for comparison. Thanks Jim!