Response Time of SSMS in SQL Server 2012 RC0 is Very Slow

I just installed SQL Server 2012 RC0 couple days back to try and explore the features of RC0. However, after the installation, I noticed that the SSMS is really really slow and even a single click takes about a few seconds and is kind of irritating.

As everyone else, just did a quick search to see if this is only a problem with my installation or if anyone else in the community is facing the same problem, I found that quite a few of them are facing similar problem.

Following are couple of connect items related to this issue. If you are facing the same issue, please go ahead and vote.

• http://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/feedback/details/708544/ssms-feels-much-slower-than-on-previous-sql-versions
• http://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/feedback/details/712605/ssms-2012-response-time-is-slow

Hopefully this gets fixed in the next release of 2012.

I guess now I need to switch back to CTP3 :(

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SQL Server Code Named "Denali" CTP3 is Available for Download

This week has been a really exciting week for the SQL Server BI Community as Microsoft announced the release of SQL Server codenamed "Denali" CTP3 for evaluation/feedback from the community. I am really excited about this new CTP release and eager to start exploring the features.

This week I have been busy working on some training programs and will be busy for next few days. Planning to download and install this early next week and start exploring the new features. I will be posting about the new features and my experiences about CTP3 release.

Here are some useful links related to this release:

• SQL Server Code Named "Denali" CTP3 Release Notes
• System Requirements for Installing SQL Server Code Named "Denali" CTP3
• Installation Steps/Options for SQL Server Code Named "Denali" CTP3
• SQL Server Code Named "Denali" CTP3 Download Details (32-bit & 64-bit versions available)
• Books Online for SQL Server Code Named "Denali" (MSDN)
• Developer Reference for SQL Server Code Named "Denali" (MSDN)

So stay tuned to know more about the new features in this release.

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Resources to Learn More about New Features in SQL Server code-named Denali CTP1

Well, as we all know, CTP1 release of SQL Server 2011 code-named Denali is around for sometime and there are many articles written by folks from SQL Server Community. I have put together a list of some of the major features along with the links to external resources like articles, white papers etc.

This post is more of a self note. However, it might help anyone else interested to learn more about Denali CTP1.

Database Engine Enhancements

• Programmability Enhancements
• Columnstore Indexes [More Information: Link1, White Paper]
• OFFSET N ROWS FETCH NEXT N ROWS ONLY (Extended ORDER BY Clause) for easy paging [More Information: Link1, Link2]
• Sequences for generating sequence numbers [More Information: Link1, Link2, Link3]
• Support for New Collation Type [More Information: Link1]
• Full-Text Search [More Information: Link1, Link2]
• Circular Arc Segment Support for Spatial Types [More Information: Link1, Link2, Link3]
• EXECUTE Statement [More Information: Link1]
• New THROW keyword to enhance error handling in TRY...CATCH blocks [More Information: Link1]
• New Collation Support  [More Information: Link1]
• New DMV's and DMF's [More Information: Link1]
• Performance Counter Changes [More Information: Link1]
• Security Enhancements
• Ability to Create New User-defined Server Roles [More Information: Link1, Link2]
• Introduction of New Encryption Algorithms - The HASHBYTES function now supports the SHA2_256, and SHA2_512 algorithms for encryption
• New Permissions [More Information: Link1]
• Manageability Enhancements
• Contained Databases for improved database portability [More Information: Link1, Link2, Link3]
• Startup Options [More Information: Link1]
• Usability Enhancements (SQL Server Management Studio - SSMS)
• Zoom Query Surface [More Information: Link1]
• Insert Snippet [More Information: Link1]
• Surround With [More Information: Link1]
• Floating Query Windows - Support for multiple monitors [More Information: Link1]
• Debugger Enhancements [More Information: Link1]
• Clipboard Ring [More Information: Link1, Link2]

SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)

• Programmability Enhancements
• Project Improvements [More Information: Link1, Link2]
• Introduction of Reverse Engineering [More Information: Link1]
• Introduction of Parameters [More Information: Link1]
• Project Parameters
• Package Parameters
• Execute Package Task Improvements [More Information: Link1]
• Ability to execute SSIS Package from within T-SQL Scripts [More Information: Link1]
• Migration and Deployment
• Deployment Enhancements [More Information: Link1, Link2, Link3]
• Impact Analysis and Data Lineage
• Determining Impact and Data Lineage [More Information: Link1]
• Dependency Services [More Information: Link1]
• Usability Enhancements (Business Intelligence Development Studio - BIDS)
• SSIS Toolbox - New Categories, Organization, & Improved Descriptions [More Information: Link1, Link2, Link3]
• Flexible Authoring in the Data Flow Designer - Resolve References Editor [More Information: Link1, Link2]
• Source and Destination Assistants [More Information: Link1]
• Undo and Redo -  [More Information: Link1]
• Collapsible Grouping in the Data Flow Designer [More Information: Link1]
• Simplified Data Viewer Configuration [More Information: Link1]
• Zoom Package Design Surface [More Information: Link1]

Changes in Installation/Setup

• Windows XP, Windows 2003, Windows 2008 RTM Operating Systems are Not Supported. [More Information: Link1]
• Windows Vista SP2, Windows Server 2008 SP2, Windows 2008 R2 & Windows 7. [More Information: Link1]

Deprecated Features in Denali

• Discontinued Database Engine Functionality in SQL Server "Denali"
• Discontinued Integration Services Functionality in SQL Server "Denali"

Additional Links

• SQL Server Code-Named "Denali" CTP1 Release Notes
• SQL Server Code-Named "Denali" CTP1 System Requirements
• SQL Server Code-Named "Denali" CTP1 Download
• SQL Server Code-Named "Denali" Books Online

Note: Don't install Denali BIDS side by side with a 2008 instance

In case there are any other interesting enhancements/features of Denali CTP1 or any other interesting articles related to the features of Denali CTP1, please let me know by leaving a comment so that I can update the above list accordingly for my reference as well as for the reference of my blog's readers.

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Improved Description about Transformations in SSIS Toolbox in BIDS in Denali CTP1 - Usability Enhancements in BIDS-SSIS in SQL Server code-named Denali - Part 3

Here is another very useful usability enhancement in SSIS Toolbox in Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) in the CTP1 release of SQL Server code-named Denali. The information/description about the transformations in the newly introduced SSIS Toolbox has been greatly improved by providing following three pieces of information (wherever applicable):

1. Functionality of Transformation
2. An Example of the Functionality [Wherever Applicable]
3. Recommendation [Wherever Applicable]

The following are some of the screenshots which provide a comparison of the information/description about Tasks/Transformations between current version of SQL Server (SQL Server 2008 R2 at the time of writing this article) and Denali CTP1.

This feature is very helpful for those who are new to the tool and start learning the tool on their own, Especially the Recommendation piece of information which will help the developer to use the task cautiously and look for any other alternatives if needed.

You can read about other usability enhancements in BIDS for SSIS in Denali CTP1:

• Zoom SSIS Package Design Surface in BIDS in Denali CTP1
• New & More Organized Toolbox for SSIS in BIDS in Denali CTP1

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New & More Organized Toolbox for SSIS in BIDS in Denali CTP1 - Usability Enhancements in BIDS-SSIS in SQL Server code-named Denali - Part 2

As part of the various usability enhancements introduced in SQL Server code-named Denali CTP1, a Dedicate Toolbox called SSIS Toolbox has been introduced in SQL Server Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) for SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) Packages.

This is a dedicated toolbox for SSIS and does not contain any usable components when viewed in an SSAS or SSRS Project. Below is a screenshot of the new and dedicated SSISToolbox in BIDS in Denali.

The new SSISToolbox is more organized compared to the Toolbox available in the current version of SQL Server Integration Services (Current Version of SQL Server is SQL Server 2008 R2 at the time of writing this article). Both the Tasks in Control Flow and Sources/Destinations/Transformations in Data Flow have been grouped into more meaningful groups based on the type of functionality performed by the Task/Transformation as shown in the below screenshots.

Control Flow Groups/Items in Toolbox in SSIS (SQL Server 2008 R2)

Control Flow Groups/Items in SSIS Toolbox in SSIS (SQL Server code-named Denali)

Data Flow Groups/Items in Toolbox in SSIS (SQL Server 2008 R2)

Data Flow Groups/Items in SSIS Toolbox in SSIS (SQL Server code-named Denali)

Here are some of the key highlights of this new SSIS Toolbox in CTP1 release of Denali SSIS:

• New Groups/Folders cannot be added to SSIS Toolbox neither at Control Flow level nor at the Data Flow Level.
• Tasks/Transformations can be moved between Groups/Folders within SSIS Toolbox in a logical/meaningful manner. Example: Copy Column Tranformation can be moved from Other Transforms to Favourites or Common folder but cannot be moved to Other Sources or Other Destinations folder since Copy Column is a Transformation and not a Source/Destination.

Here are the other usability enhancements in SSIS in Denali CTP1 release about which I have blogged previously:

• Zoom SSIS Package Design Surface in BIDS in Denali CTP1

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Surround With Feature in SSMS in Denali CTP1 - Usability Enhancements in SSMS in SQL Server code-named Denali - Part 3

Here is another interesting feature called Surround With, introduced in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) in Denali CTP1. This feature allows us to select a set of T-SQL statements and enclose them into Transactional, Conditional, & Looping etc. constructs like Begin-End, If-Else, & While etc. Let us take a quick look at this feature.

Here are the step-by-step instructions for using Surround With feature of SSMS in Denali CTP1.

1. Select one or more lines/statements of T-SQL and right click and select Surround With... option from the context menu as shown below.

2. On selecting Surround With... from context menu, this brings up the Surround With menu with a list of options like Begin, If etc. as shown below.

3. From the list of options available in the Surround With drop down list, select the appropriate option/construct in which you want your code selected in first step to be enclosed. This will enclose the selected code snippet (in step 1) into the selected construct (in step 2) as shown below.

Here are other articles in the series Usability Enhancements in SSMS in SQL Server code-named Denali:

• Zoom Query Surface in SSMS in Denali CTP1
• Insert Snippet Feature in SSMS in Denali CTP1

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Insert Snippet Feature in SSMS in Denali CTP1 - Usability Enhancements in SSMS in SQL Server code-named Denali - Part 2

As part of the various attractive usability enhancements in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) in SQL Server code-named Denali, one of the features is Insert Snippet. This feature allows us to directly add the code snippets available in Template Explorer in SSMS to the query window directly from within the current query window without requiring opening of Template Explorer and then dragging the required snippet.

Here is how this feature works. Following are the step by step instructions for adding code snippets using Insert Snippet feature.

1. Right click in the query window and select Insert Snippet from from context menu as shown below. Alternatively, you can press Ctrl+K and then Ctrl+X.

2. On selecting Insert Snippet from context menu, it brings up Insert Snippet drop down menu with the list of folders from Template Explorer like Function, Index, Login etc. each one of them contains the scripts related to Functions, Indexes, Logins etc. respectively. Let us select Index folder from the drop down menu as shown below.

3. On selecting the appropriate folder like Index folder as shown above, you will be presented with a list of scripts related to common operations that can be performed with Indexes like Create Basic Index, Create Unique Non-Clustered Index etc. Select the appropriate script based on the type of operation that you want to perform, for example Create Unique Non-Clustered Index as shown below.

4. Now when you select the appropriate script from the context menu as shown above, corresponding code snippet will be inserted into the active/current query window from the script (.sql) from the Template Explorer as shown below.

However, while using this feature in CTP1 release, I found that all the available templates in Template Explorer are not listed in the drop down list. I even noticed that the User-Defined Folders/Templates are also not available in the Insert Snippets feature drop-down. I have created an item on this on Microsoft Connect. Please click on the below link to see the details and vote.

User Defined Templates are Not Available with Insert Snippet Feature in Denali SSMS

Note: You need to sign-in to Connect Site to view & vote for any Features/Bugs.

I had previously written an article on the use of Template Explorer from SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) and you can read that here - T-SQL Coding Made Easy with Inbuilt SQL Server Templates.

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Zoom Query Surface in SSMS in Denali CTP1 - Usability Enhancements in SSMS in SQL Server code-named Denali - Part 1

SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) in Denali (CTP1) has got a makeover and is now based on Visual Studio 2010 Shell. This will enable us to utilize lot of great features available in Visual Studio like Improved Intellisense, Dragging Query/Code Window to a different monitor etc.

Below is a normal query window with Normal or 100% Zooming.

As you can see there is an option at the Left Bottom Corner to Zoom the Query/Design Surface. Now if we change the Zoom Level to 150% then the Query Window looks something like the one shown below.

As you can see now when we changed the Zoom Level to 150%, we are getting bigger font for our query there by giving us an experience similar to having a bigger size desktop/monitor.

Also, note that the Zoom Level is applied only to the Query/Design Surface and is not applied to any other areas like Results Pane, Object Explorer etc.

There are many more such cool features introduced in Denali CTP1. So stay tuned to learn more new things about Denali CTP1.

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Zoom SSIS Package Design Surface in BIDS in Denali CTP1 - Usability Enhancements in BIDS-SSIS in SQL Server code-named Denali - Part 1

SSIS in Denali comes with a whole bunch of new and exciting features both from an arthitectural/development standpoint and also from a usability standpoint. Here is a really cool feature introduced in Denali Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) for SSIS which allows us to Zoom only the Package Design Surface which will help in navigating easily in the designer especially while developing some really huge packages.

Below is a screenshot of a sample package in the normal 100% zoom mode (default).

Now we can use the slider located on the bottom right corner of the designer surface to zoom the design surface to see larger size images of various tasks/components within the design surface as shown below.

Note that the Zooming is applied only to the design surface and not to any other area like Connection Managers tray, Solution Explorer etc.

There are lot more usability enhancements introduced in Denali which I will post in the coming days. So stay tuned!

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What's New in Denali

The Next Version of SQL Server code-named Denali has been released to the community (CTP1) just a couple of weeks back for evaluation & feedback. I am very much excited about the CTP1 release of the next version of SQL Server and have already started looking into some of the interesting improvements made in Denali. In the next few weeks I will be posting some new and interesting features of Denali and also my experience with Denali. So keep visiting this blog for more interesting stuff on Denali.

In the mean time, I encourage those of you interested in Denali to go over the following links:

• SQL Server Code-Named "Denali" CTP1 Release Notes (TechNet)
• Hardware and Software Requirements for Installing SQL Server "Denali" (MSDN)
• Discontinued Integration Services Functionality in SQL Server "Denali" (TechNet)
• Deprecated Integration Services Features in SQL Server "Denali" (TechNet)
• Discontinued Database Engine Functionality in SQL Server "Denali" (MSDN)
• Deprecated Database Engine Features in SQL Server "Denali" (MSDN)

You can download the Denali CTP1 from here.

Note: It is highly recommended that you read through the Release Notes and Hardware & Software Requirements for Installing SQL Server "Denali" before proceeding with the installation!

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