Author: Shane O'Neill

DBA, T-SQL and PowerShell admirer, Food, Coffee, Whiskey (not necessarily in that order)...

Speaking at DATA:Scotland

Words: 228

Time to read: ~ 2 minutes

Pinch me…

Having only spoken once before at the amazing Belfast SQL Server User Group in January this year, I was talked around to throwing in a submission into speaking at DATA:Scotland.

Then on the first of May this year, I got an epic “pinch me” moment.

https://platform.twitter.com/widgets.js

DATA:Scotland

DATA:Scotland is an annual, free training conference for all things DATA set in the lovely city of Glasgow, Scotland.

I stress the DATA in that sentence as it is not just confined to SQL Server but all things data related. Which is a sentiment that I am extremely fond of. We are Data Professionals after all.

Having visited Glasgow before for work but never having a chance to fully take it in, I’m looking forward to enjoying the conference and then playing the tourist in the city.

Need Validation?

I’ll be speaking about dbachecks in Conference Room 6, from 13:45 on the Friday. Come on in and check it out!

In case you can’t make my session, there’s many more other valuable sessions to check out and networking to do. Don’t miss out!

Now to obsessively prepare until then…

T-SQL Tuesday 114 – Puzzle Party

Words: 1,858

Time to read: ~ 5 minutes

It’s T-SQL Tuesday time and this time we have Matthew McGiffen ( blog | twitter ) who is asking us about a Puzzle Party!

Let’s see what exactly he is asking us though.

• Present a puzzle to be solved in SQL and challenge your readers to solve it.

• Or give us a puzzle or quiz about SQL or databases.

• Show the SQL solution to a classic puzzle or game.

• Provide a method for solving a classic sort of querying puzzle people face.

• Show how newer features in SQL can be used to solve old puzzles in new ways.

• Tell us about a time you solved a problem or overcame a technical challenge that was a real puzzle.

• Or just make your own interpretation of “puzzle” and go for it!

Matthew McGiffen

I didn’t have much in the idea department for most of them so I’m thankful that Matthew left us with the last own interpretation option. So here is my attempt at a puzzle.

Invoke-LollerCoaster!

Should I Cheat?

It’s a slightly strange story but I had already done a slight “puzzle” or “trick” in PowerShell where I created a Loller Coaster – Don’t ask me why, blame Andy Mallon ( blog | twitter ).

Now, that implementation used PowerShell but I thought to myself…

You know what…it uses System.Data.DataTable…that’s nearly the same thing as querying from a database. Could I get away with posting that?

Me

In the end, I decided against using the PowerShell version and said is there anyway that I could port it over to SQL Server?

PowerShell

First, you can find the PowerShell version of this in my Github account here:
https://github.com/shaneis/RandomScripts/blob/master/Invoke-Lollercoaster.ps1

I’m more proud of that than this attempt…

Look at it go!!!

SQL Server

Now for the SQL Server version.

Let’s create our table in tempdb and populate it. Could this have been made more compact? Perhaps with some fancy string manipulation and some such?

Oh yeah! But this was a quick job done during my lunch break and I wanted it done more than I wanted it perfect.

Plus, if you don’t like the below, you’re really not going to like what I use in the actual script…


USE tempdb;
GO
IF OBJECT_ID(N'dbo.LollerCoaster', N'U') IS NOT NULL BEGIN
	DROP TABLE dbo.LollerCoaster;
END;
GO
CREATE TABLE dbo.LollerCoaster (
	loller_coaster_id tinyint IDENTITY(1, 1) NOT NULL,
	loller_coaster_stage varchar(4000) NOT NULL
);
GO
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
        __)
        LOL
           O
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
         __)
        LOL
           O
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          __)
        LOL
           O
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL\
           O\)
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O\
            L\)      LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O
            L\        LOL   LOL
             O\)    O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O
            L         LOL   LOL
             O\      O   O O   O
              L\)   L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L\    L     L     L
               O\) O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O\_)O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O__)O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L    )L     L     L
               O _/O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O
            L         LOL   LOL
             O      )O   O O   O
              L    /L     L     L
               O  /O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O
            L        )LOL   LOL
             O      /O   O O   O
              L    /L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O          ) 
            L        /LOL   LOL
             O      /O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL            )
           O          / 
            L        /LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O          __)
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O           __)
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O            __)
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O          
            L         LOL\  LOL
             O       O   O\)   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O          
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O\O   O
              L     L     L\)   L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O         
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L\    L
               O   O       O\) O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O         
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O__)O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O         
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L    )L
               O   O       O _/O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O         
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O  \O
              L     L     L    )L
               O   O       O  /O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O         
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O  \O
              L     L     L    )L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O         
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O( \O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O         
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O/  O
              L     L     L()   L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O         
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L(    L
               O   O       O\) O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O         
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O__)O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O         
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O __)
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O         
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O  __)
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O         
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL\
                               O\)
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O         
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O\
                                L\)   LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O         
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L\    LOL
                                 O\) O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O         
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O\_)O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O         
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L     LOL
                                 O__)O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O         
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O
                                L    )LOL
                                 O _/O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O         
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL        )
                               O      /
                                L    /LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
INSERT INTO dbo.LollerCoaster (loller_coaster_stage) VALUES ('
          
        LOL
           O         
            L         LOL   LOL
             O       O   O O   O
              L     L     L     L
               O   O       O   O
                LOL         LOL
                               O      __)
                                L     LOL
                                 O   O
                                  LOL')
GO

Next we’ll need to set up some things and create a few variables

SET NOCOUNT ON;
-- Set Ctrl + T to send results to text!

DECLARE @Counter tinyint;
DECLARE @End tinyint;
DECLARE @Stage varchar(4000); -- Horribly oversized, I know and apologise.
DECLARE @Pause varchar(12);
DECLARE @Clear varchar(4000); -- again, apologies...

Then we can set the variables that we have

SET @Counter = 1;
-- I could move this after the insert and use @@ROWCOUNT
-- but I created/inserted into the table in a different session.
SET @End = (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM dbo.LollerCoaster);
-- Just 15 line feeds
SET @Clear = REPLICATE(CHAR(13), 15);

Then… the rest is a WHILE loop. 😦

RAISERROR(@Clear, 0, 1) WITH NOWAIT;

WHILE @Counter <= @End BEGIN

	SET @Stage = (SELECT loller_coaster_stage FROM dbo.LollerCoaster WHERE loller_coaster_id = @Counter);
	
	RAISERROR(@Stage, 0, 1) WITH NOWAIT;

	IF @Counter &gt;= 21 AND @Counter <= 29 BEGIN
	    SET @Pause = '00:00:00.100';
	END; ELSE BEGIN
		SET @Pause = '00:00:00.200';
	END;

	WAITFOR DELAY @Pause;
	RAISERROR(@Clear, 0, 1) WITH NOWAIT;
	SET @Counter += 1;
END;

There’s only a few things to mention here.

  • I’m clearing the screen at the start just for cleanliness.
  • There’s a tight loop between counters 21 and 29 where we want to simulate it speeding up.
  • We’re setting a pause between each one since we want the users to actually see the differences.
  • It can be improved so much!
USE [tempdb];
GO
SET NOCOUNT ON;


DECLARE @Counter tinyint;
DECLARE @End tinyint;
DECLARE @Stage varchar(4000);
DECLARE @Pause varchar(12);
DECLARE @Clear varchar(4000);

SET @Counter = 1;
SET @End = (SELECT COUNT(*) FROM dbo.LollerCoaster);
SET @Clear = REPLICATE(CHAR(10), 15);

RAISERROR(@Clear, 0, 1) WITH NOWAIT;

WHILE @Counter <= @End BEGIN

	SET @Stage = (SELECT loller_coaster_stage FROM dbo.LollerCoaster WHERE loller_coaster_id = @Counter);
	
	RAISERROR(@Stage, 0, 1) WITH NOWAIT;

	IF @Counter &gt;= 21 AND @Counter <= 29 BEGIN
	    SET @Pause = '00:00:00.100';
	END; ELSE BEGIN
		SET @Pause = '00:00:00.200';
	END;

	WAITFOR DELAY @Pause;
	RAISERROR(@Clear, 0, 1) WITH NOWAIT;
	SET @Counter += 1;
END;
It's a sled riding down a rollercoaster made of the word LOL repeating.
No, I don’t know why the sizes change half-way through.

Is there a UNION in PowerShell

Words: 462 487

Time to read: ~ 3 minutes

TL;DR: [System.Collections.Generic.HashSet<T>]

It has been a while ago since I’ve blogged so it seems fitting that this post will be about a question that was asked of me a while ago. The question was along the lines of “Can I join objects in PowerShell but remove duplicates?”.

So this is allowed:

1
2
3
4

But this isn’t allowed:

1
2
3
1

For me, it summed down to “Is there something like UNION or UNION ALL in PowerShell?

Luckily, this is something that I had asked before and been told the answer. So here I am, repeating the answer for you all since this is how I learn; repetition and practice.

The PowerShell type: 

[System.Collections.Generic.HashSet<T&gt;]
Don’t worry about the ‘<T>’. I didn’t figure it out either but I’ve been informed that it means a generic Type.

UPDATE: I have been reliably informed that this is a major understatement and I will update when I know more/learn more/am taught more about this.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.collections.generic.hashset-1?view=netframework-4.7.2

An Example, not a Speech.

Let’s say we have similar but different objects.

$Boom = 1
$Blast = 2
$And = 3
$Ruin = 4

Now the question that we are asked is, if there is anyway to do a UNION on these objects?

Absolutely, we’ll create a hashset object and start putting these objects into the HashSet. I know these objects are integers so I’m going to put [Int] in for the <T> type.

#Create the HashSet object.
$HashSet = [System.Collections.Generic.HashSet[Int]]::new()

#Add the objects.
foreach ($Item in $Boom,$Blast,$And,$Ruin) {
    $HashSet.Add($Item)
}
Verbose by default

Now when you add something to a HashSet using the .Add method it returns either a True or a False.

Returns
Boolean
true if the element is added to the HashSet<T> object; false if the element is already present.

https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/dotnet/api/system.collections.generic.hashset-1.add?view=netframework-4.7.2#System_Collections_Generic_HashSet_1_Add__0_

If we then check the HashSet object, it returns both of our objects.

#Show us what you GOT!!!
$HashSet
and a 1 and a 2 and a…

If you don’t want to see the output of the .Add() method then you can push the output to one of the nulls e.g. $null = , [void] , > $null, | Out-Null, with the first two being placed at the start of the line and the last two at the end.

# Clear the HashSet.
$HashSet.Clear()

# Add items and hide output.
$null = foreach ($Item in $Boom,$Blast,$And,$Ruin) {
    $HashSet.Add($Item)
}

# See if it still worked.
$HashSet
Hide and seek…

Check for Duplicates.

Now let’s see what happens if we try to add a duplicate object to the HashSet.

#Clear the HashSet
$HashSet.Clear()

#Populate it again.
foreach ($Item in $Boom,$Blast,$And,$Boom){
    $HashSet.Add($Item)
}

#Check it again
$HashSet
No I don’t want no duplicates

HashSet sees the duplicate value, gracefully says no (False), and does not add it.

But wait, there’s more!

HashSet is something that I think DBAs will like as it is based on Sets. If you have the time, check out some of the other methods that it has.

#What else you got?
Get-Member -InputObject $HashSet
A set that contains everything except itself.

Take a look!

When does a Failing Pester Test return Green?

Words: 716
Time to read: ~ 3.5 minutes
TL;DR: Don't nest It blocks

I’ve been working more with different people in different departments more and more lately at work.

“Great” you might say and I would agree with you.

This has meant that any and all scripts that I write to give to these departments have to be tested so that they don’t fail when they are run.

“Great” you might say and, again, I would agree with you.

New-Fixture

For PowerShell scripts, I’ve been using Pester. When I want to write a new function, I run a Pester command to create a .ps1 and a .Tests.ps1 file.

It’s a simple enough setup – I checkout a new branch for the command and switch to it.

git checkout -b NewFunction

I know that Pester has a command that I can use to create a framework of a new function and a framwork of a Pester test file for that function.

Get-Command -Verb New -Module Pester |
    Where-Object Definition -like '*create*scripts*tests*'

This returns the command New-Fixture and a quick scan of the help shows that this is exactly what we are looking for.

(Get-Help New-Fixture).Synopsis

This function generates two scripts, one that defines a function
and another one that contains its tests.

(Get-Help New-Fixture).Synopsis

TDD

An effect of working with more and more departments is that I have less and less time to spend on these functions. That’s meant that I’ve had to take a hard look at what would be a “nice to have” and a “must have”.

Because of this I’ve spent more time on planning and writing the tests first. Then I write my scripts to pass these tests and only these tests.

If it is a “must have” then it gets a test. If it has a test then the script gets that functionality, or property, or parameter, etc.

If it’s a “nice to have” then it doesn’t get a test. If it doesn’t get a test then it’s not in the script. When I have time later then I’ll go back and see if I’ll add it

I have yet to have time to go back and add stuff but then I’ve yet to have a need to add any of the “nice to have”s.

You may think that thinking about what’s needed and writing the tests takes time and you’d be correct.

But anytime spent on the planning part is saved by not spending time writing code that isn’t needed and getting it to work. Overall, it’s a major time saving technique.

Back on Track

Here is what is in the .Tests.ps1 file created from the New-Fixture command.

$here = Split-Path -Parent $MyInvocation.MyCommand.Path
$sut = (Split-Path -Leaf $MyInvocation.MyCommand.Path) -replace '.Tests.', '.'
. "$here\$sut"
Describe "<function name>" {
It "does something useful" {
$true | Should -Be $false
}
}

Contents of .Tests.ps1 file

It’s a nice template and all you need to do is modify that It block to have your test instead.

Here is where my Pester test failed and returned a green.

$here = Split-Path -Parent $MyInvocation.MyCommand.Path
$sut = (Split-Path -Leaf $MyInvocation.MyCommand.Path) -replace '\.Tests\.', '.'
. "$here\$sut"

Describe "Test-FakeFunction" {
    It "does something useful" {
        It 'should pass by deafult' {
            $true | Should -Be $false
        }
    }
}
It has a helpful message for you…

Do you see it?

The Reason

In modifying the template, I forgot to take out the original It block and just put my It block inside it.

This lead to my block “pass by deafult” failed
(as it should cause of that typo) but the original, parent block it was in “does something useful” passed!

It surprised me that I had a passing and failing tests since I thought I had only written 1 test but the maintainers of Pester included a helpful little error message for us.

You are already in a test case.

In the error message…3 times

Further Action

I’m an advocate of “if you see an issue, raise it on Github”. Even if you don’t fix the issue yourself, somebody else more than likely will come along and fix it for everyone.

Am I going to raise an issue for this on Github though?

  • An issue where it was due to my bad typing?
  • An issue where they already have it raised in the error message?
  • An issue where I accidentally put an It block inside an It block when I shouldn’t have?

For this instance, I think we’re okay…

T-SQL Tuesday #112 – Roundup

Words: 2850

Time to read: ~ 15 minutes

Cookies

I’m going to keep this intro short and sweet. I’d like to say it’s because I know these roundups are for acknowledging and thanking the people who have contributed, and this is the case! Mainly though it’s because I wrote this bit last and I’ve already written… checks … 2,795 words!

So thank you one and all for participating. I’ve never thought the posts would raise feelings of happiness, sadness, thoughtfulness, and appreciative-ness that this one has.

I encourage anyone and everyone to get in touch with Steve and host a T-SQL Tuesday. It is well worth it, amount of typing necessary included.

Andy Leonard ( Blog | Twitter )

https://andyleonard.blog/2019/03/t-sql-tuesday-112-the-cookie-jar

Coincidence, Andy was listening to the same audio book as I was 😁

It’s a heavy list reading what Andy has gone through and, while he says himself that he is not sharing everything, what he does list proves the mental mettle that he has.

Although, I much prefer his phrase of “weaponised ADHD” to “mental mettle”.

What are his cookies? His children and wife (cute x2), friends, accomplishments, and military service but his main one is his faith. His faith itself and his faith that nothing has been sent his way that he cannot bear.

Andy Levy ( Blog | Twitter )

https://flxsql.com/t-sql-tuesday-112-the-cookie-jar/

I feel like Andy appreciates cookies.

In fact he dedicates the first portion of his post saying that you should be creating and putting yourself into situations where you need to rely on these cookies. If not, are you even living and learning?

His cookies are being able to look back on the fact that, when things seemed too daunting, he could look back and realise that he had done these steps before.

Handy when you have to migrate 8,000 databases.

Arun Sirpal ( Blog | Twitter )

https://blobeater.blog/2019/03/12/t-sql-tuesday-sharing-cookies/

Trial by fire. Thrown in the deep end. Learn by doing.

However you want to call it, it is what Arun had to deal with after a few weeks as a “Junior level / entry level DBA”.

Tier 1 customers, multiple node clusters, performance tuning, dealing with stakeholders and developers, and all after a couple of weeks.

Arun’s cookies are knowing that if things are getting tough, he’s already gone through these dark times and can rely on past experiences.

Going by what I know of Arun now, the fire has tempered him well.

Bert Wagner ( Blog | Twitter )

https://bertwagner.com/2019/03/12/dipping-into-the-cookie-jar/

For a man who’s presentations and videos are known and appreciated by so many it may surprise you to know that Bert, before each presentation, is a nervous wreck!

Like I’ve heard affects most people, this dread seems to come from an inner voice. A voice whispering in his ear;

“Speaking is scary.”

“This is a big audience.”

“This joke will bomb.”

His cookies, which I like to think he shoves into that inner voice’s mouth to shut it up, is to calmly rationalise it away with this past experience.

“Speaking is …. ooff” – You’ve done it before, you can do it again.
“This is a big audien… ah stop!” – Your online audiences have definitely been bigger.
“This joke will bomb…. no, I don’t even like raisin cookies!” – You won’t know until you try. And your past session reviews indicate that people think you are funny.

Serves that voice right if you ask me…

Cathrine Wilhelmsen ( Blog | Twitter )

https://www.cathrinewilhelmsen.net/2019/03/12/technical-accomplishments-happy-memories/

First of all I have to apologies to Cathrine for spelling her name with an unwarranted “e” between the “h” and the “r”. I’m sorry that it took this long for me to realise.

I will admit that the Law of Jante, while fascinating, should not curtail you talking about the accomplishments you have achieved when you have put the work in.

Cathrine’s cookies are technical and non-technical in nature. BIML, MVP (1 of 2 female MVPs in Norway), author, and co-author. Her technical achievements are inspiring but it’s her non-technical achievements that bring joy.

As Cathrine says “pictures speak louder than words” so do what I did; scroll through the pictures and let the SQL Family feelings bring a smile to your face.

David Alcock ( Blog | Twitter )

http://sqlclarity.blogspot.com/2019/03/dipping-into-cookie-jar.html

Unfortunately, like Andy Leonard, David recently lost his father and I want to extend my condolences to both of them.

If there is one thing I can say about David’s post, it would be that I completely agree with his statement “I always say to people not to trivialise the challenges they’re going through; whether its seemingly big or seemingly small a challenge is exactly that, a challenge.”

An anxiety attack is nothing to scoff at and, from reading his description, it’s not something that I would wish on anyone.

David’s cookies came from fighting this anxiety day by day, minute by minute, and heartbeat by heartbeat and realising in fighting it, that there is a well of inner strength available to him.

As he put it…

A big part of that process was drawing upon that strength to have the courage to speak to others, those close to me. To use the cookie jar analogy; I needed help to open it, perhaps I needed to have the top loosened for me, and I certainly needed help to reach those cookies that were at the very bottom of the jar

Doug Purnell ( Blog | Twitter )

https://sqlnikon.com/2019/03/12/t-sql-tuesday-112-cookie-monster/

“Internal mojo”? I can dig it!

Doug talks about having to migrate off of SQL Server 2008 instances since THEY ARE LOSING EXTENDED SUPPORT PEOPLE!

Doug’s cookie is a process, a maxim really.


“What’s the ONE Thing you can do such that by doing it everything else will be easier or unnecessary?”

I’ve heard about this a few times and it’s something that I have to put into practice. Sometimes the thought of something is more intimidating that actually doing it. Procrastination is an eventually killer, when it gets around to it…later.

Taking that one step, that one move, that one action can snowball into a massive effect. After all…


A journey of a thousand miles begins with a single step

You just have to take it.

Glenda Gable ( Blog | Twitter )

http://sql313.com/index.php/44-main-blogs/maincat-dba/cat-career/96-t-sql-tuesday-112

Shameless plug #2 – check out dbafuntube.org for videos of the past presentations as well!

Reading Glenda’s post is like seeing a slideshow of accomplishments, each one leading on to bigger and better things harder obstacles.

Her cookies are these accomplishments, from writing an ETL process before she knew it was a thing, to working with Microsoft on her TB in size database.

As Glenda says in her post I work with Glenda and a few others in helping to organise the DBA Fundamentals Virtual Chapter and she tends to shy away from pointing out her accomplishments. So allow me to say this for her.

If the work that Glenda produces for the Virtual Chapter is anything to go by, she is being modest in her achievements here and we truly love what she does and look forward to the next challenge she demolishes!

Jan Mulkens ( Blog | Twitter )

https://blog.janmulkens.be/t-sql-tuesday-112-dipping-into-your-cookie-jar/

I count myself lucky to have the chance to talk to Jan at SQLBits this year.

I can fully attest that he does practice what he preaches of

– Don’t yearn for anything, it will only bring you sadness.
– Be positive as hate and negativity in general will only erode yourself.
– Whatever you do, act out of kindness towards others and help them first.
– Always tell the truth


Even if the truth leads you down some weird speculative reasoning which you wish you could forget 😐

Jan’s cookie is interesting in that he counts the times where others have seen the extraordinary potential that he has and nurtured it.

Catching a few of Jan’s sessions over the past year or so I can say that this nurturing of his potential has not been wasted.

Jeff Mlakar ( Blog | Twitter )

https://www.mlakartechtalk.com/t-sql-tuesday-112-facing-unknown-with-confidence/

“Facing the Unknown with Confidence” could have the subtitle “Building upon Success”.


Start with what you know. Then work to what you don’t know (learning)

Jeff Mlakar

I like Jeff’s style. It instills a sense of practicality and purpose.

A case of “I will deal with what I know, learn what I don’t, and continue the fight another day”.

Jess Pomfret ( Blog | Twitter )

https://jesspomfret.com/t-sql-tuesday-112/

I should not be surprised that a cookie that Jess states, since she’s into PowerShell, DSC, and automation, is to automate herself out of boring process that made her a bottleneck.

Her second one is presenting and the confidence that comes from practice and repetition.

I’m looking forward to seeing her presentations in conferences like DataGrillen, especially if her posts on the topics are anything to go by.

Plus, if these cookies aren’t enough, she is also kicking ass in CrossFit I’m lead to believe.

Jon Shaulis ( Blog | Twitter )

https://jonshaulis.com/index.php/2019/03/12/t-sql-tuesday-112-dipping-into-my-cookie-jar/

Jon and Arun sense a common ancestory in their blog post. They have both had a trial by fire, even “singed” by it as he says.

Honestly some of the shifts that he has pulled are scary….18 hour and 36 hour shifts are not what I would like.

They are necessary sometimes, if not to quench the fires, then to at least quell them.

Another cookie, that he very graciously is willing to share, is his scripts.

I’ve always said the 2nd best cookie is the one that is unexpectedly given freely to you.

Thank you Jon!

Kenneth Fisher ( Blog | Twitter )

https://sqlstudies.com/2019/03/12/dipping-into-the-cookie-jar-t-sql-tuesday-112/

I’m going to start this one off by saying I don’t know what Double Stuff Oreos or Thin Mints are?

Kenneth brings a lot of cookies to the table; his wife, his kids, his scripts (Thank you Kenneth), his blog, his wife, his work, and passed SQL Family members.

Kenneth’s post has the ability to merge the bittersweet with the comedic with a link to his favourite post and a link to a tweet where I praise/blame him and Andy Mallon ( Blog | Twitter ) for introducing me to twitter. That makes me want to laugh and cry!

Kevin Chant ( Blog | Twitter )

https://www.kevinrchant.com/2019/03/12/t-sql-tuesday-passing-mcsd-azure-architect-exams/

If there is anything that is going to motivate you, it’s a deadline. There is even a law about it!

I would like to think that was the reasoning going through his head when he decided to take a shot at this certification. I’ve talked about reading the David Goggins book when I wrote the invitation.

Kevin taking this challenge, spending nearly every second of the day studying, and passing the final exam with 2 days to go is extremely Goggins-esque.

The cookie that this brings, the knowledge of what you can do when you put your mind to it, must be one of the most satisfying that I can think of.

Kevin Hill ( Blog | Twitter )

https://dallasdbas.com/t-sql-tuesday-cookies-we-love-cookies/

I’ve never had a nickname conferred on me by a blog before. I’m quite happy with “The Shane” as long as it’s meant in a good and not a bad way…

Kevin says that he has…ahem…a richness in years in which to gather a store of cookies.

One thing that Kevin doesn’t mention is his blog posts with the Junior DBA and his subsequent training and hiring of his very own Junior DBA. Coupled with his new Pluralsight course shows that Kevin has no intention to stop baking cookies.

Also, he has an amazing ability to ruin my coffee 😂

Lisa Bohm ( Blog | Twitter )

http://lisagb.info/archives/54

Grandma’s Chocolate Chip Cookies. 🤤

Her cookies? Turning DBAs from people who always said no and were avoided to being part of each of the scrum teams, developing both the front end and a back end that lasted 16 years, and spending 12 years earning the trust and love of a shot horse.

I find it amusing that Lisa mentions Kevin Hill (above) and myself in her post. Mainly because her post is all about helping others, and I’m still convinced that she was playing a pool shark that night!

Nate Johnson ( Blog | Twitter )

https://natethedba.wordpress.com/2019/03/12/t-sql-tuesday-112-cookies/

I’m thankful that Nate managed to get a T-SQL Tuesday post in on schedule this time! 😊

Some cookies are bittersweet. I’m sure that Nate has had to dig deep a few times in the past few months so I’m slightly touched that one of his cookies is looking back on the memories of his wife and on how right she has been, nearly all the time.

Another cookie he has is that, even if a project is not wildly successful, it counts as a success if lessons are learned and the problems can be reasonably addressed.

Raul Gonzalez ( Blog | Twitter )

http://www.sqldoubleg.com/2019/03/12/t-sql-tuesday-112-dipping-into-your-cookie-jar/

Double G’s jar of cookies is a jar of scripts (the analogy may not work but the scripts certainly though!).

If I had written a T-SQL Tuesday post, I would have to include Raul in it for taking me under his wing as a Junior DBA. So thank you Raul, both for the scripts and for the mentoring!

Having used and installed some of the scripts in my current role, I’m thankful for Raul in sharing these scripts.

And also for making them available on Github for other people to pull and modify them.

P.S. Raul’s wife makes probably the best tiramisu I’ve ever tasted.

Reitse Eskens ( Blog | Twitter )

https://sqlreitse.home.blog/2019/03/12/t-sql-tuesday-112-dipping-into-your-cookie-jar/

I like to keep my hand in the dbatools and dbachecks modules. I’ve been lucky enough to add to them and I’ve been seeing Reitse selflessly involved more and more in them.

One of his cookie is the reaction of others. Working on training, every road block or white, blank page is countered with seeing the delighted reaction of people when they “get it”.

His cookie is actually giving a cookie back. Thanking each and every person who

write a blog, work on a site, publish vlogs or anything, chances are i’ve seen and/or read it. Thank you for your time!

Rob Farley ( Blog | Twitter )

http://blogs.lobsterpot.com.au/2019/03/13/t-sql-tuesday-the-confidence-cookie-jar/

There is a saying that I was told growing up that went “yesterday’s goals don’t win today’s matches” and that is what I’m hearing from Rob’s post. That past successes do not mean things are going to be okay going forward.

So while Rob says that he doesn’t have a cookie to look back on, if I could be so cheeky to say that I see hidden ones in his post, then please indulge me.

Rob stamps his personality on the post so there is no need for me to try and interpret it. Read the post and take his words, filled with conviction, in for yourself.

I stand on who I am, on who God says I am, and figure that I can get through somehow. Not because I have done in the past, but because I will in the future.

Rob Sewell ( Blog | Twitter )

https://sqldbawithabeard.com/2019/03/12/tsql2sday-nomnomnomnomnom/

Rob starts his post out with saying that his cookies are people. By seeing the accomplishments of others, where he has played a small part.

Thinking about the amount of people that Rob has helped and played a part of over time, I’m glad to know the amount of cookies that Rob has access to is not insignificant.

It’s his second cookie, his cake, that really resonates though. Rather than spoil it for you here, please read it and let me know if it’s not something that you would like to be able to do yourself.

Rudy Rodarte ( Blog | Twitter )

https://www.rodolforodarte.com/2019/03/t-sql-tuesday-march-2019-dipping-into-the-cookie-jar/

It’s not every day that you read a post where the cookie was a bored and angry toddler!

Rudy has encountered one of the same cookies I have had, helping another person with their CTE.

From speaking, coding, and improving it’s clear that Rudy has used his cookies to help cultivate a cool under pressure composure.

Steve Jones ( Blog | Twitter )

https://voiceofthedba.com/2019/03/12/the-t-sql-tuesday-112-cookie/

I’m not going to lie, it was only the last day that I saw that Steve had done a post so I didn’t give it as much time as the others. Apologies Steve

Steve’s cookie is, when things get difficult, he thinks back on how he used a new technology to accomplish a needed task. And if any of you have seens Steve’s post on SQL, PowerShell, Python, R, etc., etc. you know that he has past experience with new technologies.

If “past experience with new” makes sense…

SQL Undercover ( Blog | Twitter )

https://sqlundercover.com/2019/03/12/tsql-tuesday-112-dipping-into-the-cookie-jar/

https://sqlundercover.com/2019/03/12/tsql2sday-112-mini-cookies/

Not sure if it counts when a single site submits two posts but seeing as I can’t figure out whether the posts were written by 2 different people or the same person… who am I to stop ’em?

The posts seems to have 2 different main values as their cookies. Growth and Anticipation.

Read them both, trace the growth and learning of one post, and the anticipation of the “carrot” cookie on the other.

See if you can figure out who wrote which post. I can’t, when they say undercover I guess they mean it!

Todd Kleinhans ( Blog | Twitter )

https://toddkleinhans.wordpress.com/2019/03/12/t-sql-tuesday-112-a-new-cookie-jar/

I knew Todd liked the idea of VR! Damn, that’s a lot of links.

From motivational links, mental visualisation, to future projections, Todd takes us on a exciting, if dizzying, experience on his cookies.

I have heard of hyperphantasia before but with the thought that VR could help enable this for anyone is a cool concept.

I may have watched the Rocky movies again after reading this post…

T-SQL Tuesday #112 – Dipping into your Cookie Jar.

Words: 559
Time to read: ~ 3 minutes

Dipping into the Cookie Jar

I’ve been listening to audio-books on the way into work, and the current one struck a chord with me.

It’s “Can’t Hurt Me” by David Goggins and it is about his story from a rough upbringing “into a US Armed Forces icon and one of the world’s top endurance athletes“.

One part of the story that has stuck in my mind is where he talks about “dipping into the cookie jar“. It’s an analogy that is easy to follow when you understand it.

Dipping into the Cookie Jar is about when the going gets tough and you don’t think you can handle anymore, then you think back about your accomplishments and take some sustenance from them. You dip back into that cookie jar and use whatever energy that provides to keep going.

Things are going to be tough for everyone at some stage or another. There are going to be low points spread out among the highs. While I know that reaching out to the SQL Family is an amazing external resource to help lift the members up, I think it’s also important for people to remember those accomplishments and realise that they have an internal resource as well.

That is what I want from the contributors of this T-SQL Tuesday, those memories that they can think back on for sustenance. Like the humble cookie, I want a humble brag.

Share some cookies

This month’s T-SQL Tuesday is about finding those cookies and sharing them.

These cookies do not have to be massive. Like the various cookies out there, they can be big or small – or even technical.

So tell me about a time when you had an accomplishment that can keep you going.

  • About the time you made your first server specification for a new SQL Server instance.
  • About the first time you wrote out the syntax for a Recursive CTE by memory.
  • About the time you knew the answer to a technology question from someone else.
  • About after all the study you passed the certificate you were after.
  • About the time you created a PowerShell script, or a Python script, etc. and it worked.
  • About the time you created a PowerShell script, or a Python script, etc. and it didn’t work but you were able to fix it.
  • About how you inherited an unorganised instance and made improvements to it.
  • About how you stood, trembling and scared for your first presentation, but you did it in the end.

The above “cookies” are all technical but your ones don’t have to be. Whatever your favourite cookie is, let me know.

Let’s get to the rules.

Not made to be Broken

T-SQL Tuesday has the following rules:

  1. Publish your contribution on Tuesday, 12 Mar 2019 between 00:00 UTC to 23:59 UTC.
  2. Include the T-SQL Tuesday Logo and have it link to this post.
  3. If your post doesn’t link back, please comment below with a link to your post.
  4. Tweet about your post using the #tsql2sday hashtag.
  5. I highly encourage you all to host as well, get in contact with Steve Jones ( blog | twitter ) to get your name on the list!

That’s it!

There is your challenge; realise that you have a cookie jar, realise that it is filled, and share a cookie with us.

Enjoy!

P.S. No coconut cookies please, never like ’em. 😦

Pester Testing Self Contained Scripts

Words: 1009

Time to read: ~ 5 minutes

Update:
    2019-02-22: Added a test for Jakub’s (don’t freak out, don’t freak out) comment.
    2019-06-13: Check out Jakub’s post on the topic – Such elegance http://jakubjares.com/2019/06/09/2019-07-testing-whole-scripts/

Continue reading “Pester Testing Self Contained Scripts”