Becoming a PASS Chapter Leader – Challenge Accepted!

April 14, 2015April 14, 2015 ~ sqlswimmer ~ 1 Comment

My first real introduction to PASS was back in 1998. I was an “Accidential DBA” and needed some training. I heard about this conference in Chicago and my boss agreed it was the best place to start. Little did I know how that conference would influence the rest of my career.

Fast forward to 2010, after taking a slight hiatus from SQL Server, I was ready to get back into it. What better place than a local user group? After moving over 1,600 miles (a couple of years earlier) from where I started my career in SQL Server, I needed to make some new local connections. That’s when I was introduced to the Triad SQL Server User Group. At the time, Miguel Cebollero (B | T) was the chapter leader. Miguel was so friendly and welcoming and I remember Kevin Goode was presenting a session on CLR and how it really is NOT the devil’s work, but a great tool if used correctly. I was hooked.

In early 2011, Miguel decided to move back to his home state of Florida and handed the reins over to Kevin. Kevin moved the meeting location from Winston-Salem to Greensboro and I attended meetings on a semi-regular basis, but let’s face it, life just gets in the way. By 2012, our meeting attendance started to drop off and a new BI Group had started up in Winston-Salem. It became obvious that something had to change. Kevin had the foresight to work with the new BI group and asked for volunteers to help him out with the chapter. I decided to step up as “Speaker Wrangler” and we worked out a schedule with the new BI group that would be mutually beneficial.

Now it’s 2015 and Kevin has taken on a new role in his company which means he has less and less time to devote to the user group. When Kevin approached me about taking over the user group I was both honored and excited (and a little scared) that he considered handing the reins over to me. I have accepted the challenge and I hope that I can continue to lead the group as well as both Kevin and Miguel did and provide a much needed resource to local SQL Server professionals.

We will be a little more active on social media, we tweet at @TriadSQL and use the #TriadSQL hashtag, and welcome any suggestions that will make your user group more useful to you.

How to Add Users to Roles in SSAS, a.k.a., Where the Heck are the Buttons?

April 7, 2015April 7, 2015 ~ sqlswimmer ~ Leave a comment

I’ve been responsible for administering Analysis Services (SSAS) on a regular basis for the past 7-8 years via SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), but developing is a whole different ball game (and set of tools). I only recently started doing development work with SSAS on a regular basis. Prior to that I dabbled once every two to three years, enough to be able to say, “Yes, I can do that, but I can’t remember exactly how.” Fortunately the tool used for SSAS development is a tool that I am very familiar with, Visual Studio (or as we data professionals now call it, SQL Server Data Tools).

I recently had to change some security for our cube and was tasked with modifying the role membership. Now this most likely seems like a no brainer and it is, as long as you know where the buttons are. What buttons am I referring to? Those precious Add and Remove buttons that allow us to modify the members. When doing development work in SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT), there are all these nice menus and toolbars at the top or on the left hand side. So when I went to do some work on the role membership, imagine my dismay when I could find no way to add/remove users to the role via the menu or toolbar.

I must have spent a good 10 minutes looking through all the menu options and toolbars, only to discover there is no way to add/remove members in any of those. So I of course freak out mode ensued. I must have the wrong version of SSDT, I must not have the right permissions to be able to add/remove users, the list goes on and on. I took another look, I mean look at all that screen real estate. You have that HUGE white space that is just dying to be used and no way to use it.

Then it happened, I the saw the light (or buttons as it were), hiding way down there at the bottom of my screen.

Like I said, this may seem like a no brainer, especially for someone who does SSAS development work on a daily basis, but for those that are new or only use it every so often, it’s frustrating. After seeing someone ask where the buttons were via #sqlhelp on Twitter, I decided I needed to write this up.

I hope this saves some other unsuspecting soul the frustration that I experienced.