ExpressProfiler - new release

Just released new build of ExpressProfiler.
No major changes, just cosmetic improvements - shortcut here, confirmation dialog there, new captured events (SQL:StmtStarting/Completed, Blocked Process report), descriptions for events/columns.
Still digitally signed, still 2 options - installation package (including Red Gate Ecosystem registration ) and standalone application.

Also do not forget to try our main t-sql tool - Sql Code Guard. It is really cool :)

I like to move it, move it. Upload and download binary data to or from SQL Server using standard tools

Imagine that you have a huge collection of Hello Kitty images (I do).
One day you make a decision to organize your collection - sort it, label it, tag it, remove duplicates and so on. The first thing you need - sophisticated data storage, of course. And it is obvious that you choose SQL Server - the world's best database platform :)
And since SQL Server is already present in our Universe - how about to load binary data into it?

ExpressProfiler: Yet another "when and why" story.

Core of ExpressProfiler  was born about 8 years ago when I worked for a company whose mission was the migration of Oracle and Sybase to SQL Server. We used a tool for automated database code conversion and migration (a pretty good tool btw - SSMA).
If you already know what is the difference between an "automatic" and an "automated" conversion then you may guess that there were a lot of manual work involved on the rewriting and optimization of converted code.

A few words about simplicity: Using Red-Gate Ecosystem framework

In my first blog post I briefly covered when and why I created SQL Code Guard (SCG).

To be honest, the first version of SCG was a standalone application, but supporting a GUI took too much time so I decided to convert it to an SSMS plugin – in this case I was able to use SSMS’s GUI, its editors, syntax highlighting and so on.

After  some considerable research I discovered that the knowledge on how to write an SSMS addin is a much hidden treasure.

Why I Developed SQL Code Guard: A Fairy Tale from a DBA

A long time ago, in a galaxy far, far away….

About ten years ago, I realized I was spending more than 75% of my business day writing T-SQL code. It was cool – yet awful at the same time! Cool ‘cause I became a ReAl TsQl GuY :) and awful as I had no good tools to do my job better. When I was working with C++, Delphi – even Borland Pascal – I had a wide range of code-proofing tools. But T-SQL doesn’t have ANY! Yes, we had MSBPA (SQL Server 2000 Best Practices Analyzer) - but it was impossible to use it in everyday development or continuous integration processes.

Therefore, as a TRUE programmer, I made the only sensible decision – to create my own tool! With bells and whistles, of course. And furthermore, I’ve made the tool available to the SQL community for free!
It took quite a lot of time to make the dream come true, but one fine day it was finally done, and now SQL Code Guard (SCG) is born!

So, what does it do?