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babysimonI know people tend to bash Microsoft for everything they do, and I try not to get too drawn in (yeah, right). But if I never hear the phrase "Data Transformation Services" again it will be too soon.
DTD is designed to move data between text files, spreadsheets, databases, etc. Everything about it sucks. A complete list of the ways it is broken would be too long for me to write, but how about:
* You can only program it using a cute "flowchart". No search-and-replace, no editor.
* Is an icon a data source or a transformation? Is a line a transformation or control flow? The designers obviously didn't know, and nor do I.
* It does its own version control. Badly. Packages live in SQL server rather than in a file. Not in an individual database (that way you might be able to get at them using SQL), but just vaguely in the server.
* The steps can each either do something really really simple, or else run a VBScript, a stored procedure or a batch file. So you end up with lots of small programs hooked up with a messy flowchart. Of course, each step is customised through its properties dialog. So you end up editing code in a tiny non-resizable dialog in the middle of the screen. In an editor that was never designed for code, and only supports one small proportional font.
* If something changes behind the scenes, like an import file gets moved, you can't open the properties of that file and change them - before you're allowed in, you have to choose between throwing away all of your work, or just some.
* Things start to get really messy moving packages between servers. Again, if a package notices that it's been moved, it will probably kill half of itself in protest. And if the two servers have different service packs, the thing will probably not work at all.
* There are several layers of obfuscation between the GUI and the underlying engine. All of them are good at throwing away error messages. It is not unknown to get an error message of "", or "The parameter is incorrect".
* Of course, these error messages are presented in standard message boxes, which do not support copy and paste. Once you click on OK, it's gone.
We have varying degrees of Microsoft enthusiasm here - I'm at one end but there are ASP / VB developers here who love them. They all hate DTS with a passion. One espoused the theory that Microsoft took everyone below par who was working on Windows 2000 and moved them en masse onto DTS, where they wouldn't cause as much trouble.
Right. I feel better now. Time to go home.
DTD is designed to move data between text files, spreadsheets, databases, etc. Everything about it sucks. A complete list of the ways it is broken would be too long for me to write, but how about:
* You can only program it using a cute "flowchart". No search-and-replace, no editor.
* Is an icon a data source or a transformation? Is a line a transformation or control flow? The designers obviously didn't know, and nor do I.
* It does its own version control. Badly. Packages live in SQL server rather than in a file. Not in an individual database (that way you might be able to get at them using SQL), but just vaguely in the server.
* The steps can each either do something really really simple, or else run a VBScript, a stored procedure or a batch file. So you end up with lots of small programs hooked up with a messy flowchart. Of course, each step is customised through its properties dialog. So you end up editing code in a tiny non-resizable dialog in the middle of the screen. In an editor that was never designed for code, and only supports one small proportional font.
* If something changes behind the scenes, like an import file gets moved, you can't open the properties of that file and change them - before you're allowed in, you have to choose between throwing away all of your work, or just some.
* Things start to get really messy moving packages between servers. Again, if a package notices that it's been moved, it will probably kill half of itself in protest. And if the two servers have different service packs, the thing will probably not work at all.
* There are several layers of obfuscation between the GUI and the underlying engine. All of them are good at throwing away error messages. It is not unknown to get an error message of "", or "The parameter is incorrect".
* Of course, these error messages are presented in standard message boxes, which do not support copy and paste. Once you click on OK, it's gone.
We have varying degrees of Microsoft enthusiasm here - I'm at one end but there are ASP / VB developers here who love them. They all hate DTS with a passion. One espoused the theory that Microsoft took everyone below par who was working on Windows 2000 and moved them en masse onto DTS, where they wouldn't cause as much trouble.
Right. I feel better now. Time to go home.
