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jojoleblanc
Starting Member
5 Posts |
 Posted - 2007-05-03 : 11:45:39
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I have browsed your FAQ, I have looked over almost a hundred different websites, and I am completely befuddled. What am i doing wrong?  Here is what is going on. I am a reporting analyst who is loking for a new, easier, and more dynamic way of showing reports to management. Currently we use Excel and some access databases. We receive most of our data from data warehouses within the company. It works but i would likse something that is a little more professional, something like a dashboard on a website. So this is where i am right now, I was told about SQL, and SQL server reporting services. So i now have a SQL database and the reporting services set up for me. but where do i start???how do i make a table? how do i get data onto the tables, how do i query them?granted i know that i will need to learn the syntax, and i have found heaps of information regarding what to type and why i need to type it, but where do i type it???i need some hints; what kind of applications exist that i can install on my computer to make my SQL server do stuff. this seems like the most basic of questions, i know, and i am probly getting in over my head, but i have patience and i have been given the time to figure it all out. and if this lowly reporting analyst can be transformed into a DBA/web dev, while getting paid, then im all for it  Thanks in advance for your assistance. Unfortunately |
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spirit1
Cybernetic Yak Master
11752 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-03 : 11:55:57
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| install client tools for sql server.that will give you SQL server management studio in which you connect to the server and type queries in._______________________________________________Causing trouble since 1980blog: http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/mladenp |
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rmiao
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker
7266 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-03 : 12:49:03
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| Install VS and RS client, you can start to design report with. |
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blindman
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker
2365 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-03 : 13:27:40
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| Install a DBA and a web developer. Also install a project manager and a project engineer. Be sure to use one of the latest versions of each.e4 d5 xd5 Nf6 |
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jojoleblanc
Starting Member
5 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-03 : 14:31:23
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quote:
Originally posted by blindman
Install a DBA and a web developer. Also install a project manager and a project engineer. Be sure to use one of the latest versions of each.e4 d5 xd5 Nf6
haha awesome. so im getting there, i have my tools and im designing my first database, thanks a ton for the quick answer to my simple question, and also thank you for not poking too much fun at me publicly, although im sure i got a few snickers. something i was running into issues with as well, even in access, was a data type. i have a column with possible field data as follows12345678910Don't knowDid not respondis there a data type that will handle the numbers as numbers and the text as text?the field is for a survey question, and while most of the time data is captured other times i will get the last two options.in other columns i plan to formulate an answer based on the output, like a < or > statement, like, did this person get a high score or a low score, or did they get a no answer, which would be used for counts. i promise im not going to use you guys too much, i want to learn this myself, but this little trick has been nagging at me for a little while now. |
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Michael Valentine Jones
Yak DBA Kernel (pronounced Colonel)
7020 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-03 : 15:36:20
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I was very disappointed to find out that SQL R-tard is not an actual product.  I am not sure what kind of help you are really looking for. On your first post you mentioned reporting. Now you are getting into table and application design.Because of the nature of this forum, we are in a better position to give answers to specific questions than provide broad overall help.You might want to start with some help on the SQL language to get an idea about what it is capable of.You can get free, on-line SQL training at any of these web sites.http://www.sql-tutorial.net/ http://www.firstsql.com/tutor.htm http://www.w3schools.com/sql/default.aspIf you want to get some idea about the nature of SQL Server, you can look at the online documentation on these links. This is very technical documentation, so you may want to look at the sections that are meant to be broad introductions first.SQL Server 2000 Books Onlinehttp://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa257103(SQL.80).aspxSQL Server 2005 Books Onlinehttp://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms130214.aspxYour survey application sounds like a good use for SQL Server, but I think you will be able to make progress faster if you get a little more background first, and I recommend you look at the on-line SQL training as a start. I hope this is helpfulCODO ERGO SUM |
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jojoleblanc
Starting Member
5 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-03 : 16:10:39
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| my appologies, i am trying to create an application to assist with reporting, if that helps. I enjoy dabbling in a lot of fields, and this has been my latest target. As far as my thread goes, my first post was a question which was subsequently answered, the second post was a new question, just in the same thread. sorry for letting you down about the new software package. r-tard is just another internet Meme. thanks for the links, im sure they will be helpful, i have frequented w3 schools before. so for now, off to delv into some reading, i have a book coming in within the next week. |
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blindman
Master Smack Fu Yak Hacker
2365 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-03 : 16:14:18
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quote:
Originally posted by Michael Valentine Jones
I was very disappointed to find out that SQL R-tard is not an actual product.
Write it, and doubtless either Microsoft will create a knock-off or google will pay you a billion dollars for it.jojo, hidden in the thick sarcasm of my previous post was the suggestion that perhaps the project you are undertaking involves too much programming in too many different technologies for too many different business groups than is appropriate for one person to handle...especially a person who is not already proficient in those technologies.I mean, if your boss told you to go design an Enterprise Reporting System and you said "Sure thing, Jack. I'll just teach myself database administration, database design, networking, and ASP programming while I collect the business requirements.", then I hope there aren't any deadlines on this project.e4 d5 xd5 Nf6 |
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jojoleblanc
Starting Member
5 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-03 : 16:31:06
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quote:
jojo, hidden in the thick sarcasm of my previous post was the suggestion that perhaps the project you are undertaking involves too much programming in too many different technologies for too many different business groups than is appropriate for one person to handle...especially a person who is not already proficient in those technologies.
thats what the hahahawas for, i completely got the sarcasm. and so far you are right on the money, i completely agree with you, but it's an undertaking i really wish to dive into, i always hear from our IT people, and out web people, and all these other people out there, "uhh i dont take care of that, thats for someone else. " i really never liked that answer. quote:
I mean, if your boss told you to go design an Enterprise Reporting System and you said "Sure thing, Jack. I'll just teach myself database administration, database design, networking, and ASP programming while I collect the business requirements.", then I hope there aren't any deadlines on this project
Thats pretty much what he told me, and thats pretty much what i said, because there arent any deadlines! i'll take it as free time while getting paid to learn at least something about everything. Honestly, reporting isn't difficult, all i really do is regugitate the same information in a different way, with excel and access it is really automated, but i want to take it a step further, i also want to integrate multiple reports and make them work off of each other. If i'm given the time, why not? The fact is that i work about 20 minutes a day, sometimes an hour if i have to do some kind of ad-hoc reporting. why not spend the rest of my day constructively trying to better my job and advance in my knowledge? i have run into about a hundred pitfalls so far while trying to complete this task. I started with a sharepoint server, an excel document, and an office pivot and chart webpart. didn't like it. moved onto a webserver, attempted to try and learn Visual basic. so that i could pull from an access database. and build dynamic reports that way. didn't like where that was going. figured i had some database experience with access, so i would try SQL, access's big brother. so here i am. but to be honest, all im really learning about right now is SQL databases, there is this really neat software that MS puts out that was stolen from crystal reports. It works like BID (business intelligence). so once i have my tables relationships, and data all ready to go i can simply point and click my fields right into the report, then get this... there is a built in web part in sharepoint that allows you to just plug the report right in to the sharepoint site, and boom, there is your dashboard. I know what i am taking on is a lot, but hey, i have a lot of time. The RVP's, CEO, and other upper management of the company i work for are satisfied with the work i give them, in the format i give them. So ill learn SQL for now, then move on to Visual basic, I already have networking and systems administration down, that was from my previous life.unfortunately i get bored fast, and unless i have something new to learn i tend to quit my job because they bore me to death. |
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spirit1
Cybernetic Yak Master
11752 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-03 : 16:42:47
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you get 5 golden starts for attitude  i wish everyone here had that._______________________________________________Causing trouble since 1980blog: http://weblogs.sqlteam.com/mladenp |
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jojoleblanc
Starting Member
5 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-03 : 16:55:24
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| why spank you! spank you very much :) |
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Michael Valentine Jones
Yak DBA Kernel (pronounced Colonel)
7020 Posts |
Posted - 2007-05-03 : 17:50:14
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| If you are interested in a data model for a Questionnaire, you might take a look at the link below.I didn't look at it in great detail, but it seems generally sound. It's a better starting point than nothing, and it may help you put together specific questions.http://www.databaseanswers.org/data_models/questionnaire_complex/index.htmCODO ERGO SUM |
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new isn't even the word... how bout SQL R-tard