Category: Dev Ops

SQL Saturday #388 Edinburgh

SQLSAT388_web
Went along to SQL Saturday BI Edition on 13th of June.
Honestly I thought it was really great. Many thanks to Jenny Stirrup for being the event organiser. If you are thinking about going next year you really should.

This was the schedule for SQL Saturday in Edinburgh

Sessions I attended
Key Note with Jon Woodward – on long term future of computing in general
Web Scraping with Python – Iain Elder of Sky Scanner
Better Data Visualisation for CRM and ERP – Adam Vero
The European Economic Crisis and the Euro-A Data Tale – Carmel Gunn
Blue Sky Thinking : SQL Azure Geospatial Mashup – Thomas Sykes
Master Data Management – Dave Lawrence

All the talks were really thought provoking and nice to hear from people who are really at the top of the game. I have already started experimenting with Web Scraping and Python.

Setting up a Blank SQL Server Spatially enabled Table using Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 2008R2 Express and displaying it in QGIS 2.8.1

Programs used;

1- SQL Server 2008R2 Express
2- SQL Server Management Studio 2008R2 Express
3- QGIS

The example uses UK national grids coordinates to create a Triangle Polygon in a SQL Server Table

I’ve previously written that while we’ve had spatially enabled SQL Server for over 5 years I constantly come across line of business applications that although using SQL Server have not and do not intend to spatially enable the application. This is undoubtedly because of the difficulty in re-designing legacy systems actively in use and because the benefits although significant are not generally requested by all but the most knowledgable of colleagues.

While I understand this legacy system reasoning spatially enabled databases are the future so its just a matter of when and not if an application will require alteration. Understanding it in this context makes it really a requirement to start seriously planning for its inclusion.

Developerers creating new applications however should always consider spatially enabling relevant tables from the start even if it is not specked by the client/colleague. It being so much easier to spend a couple of minutes future proofing the schema of a new born database rather than hours trying to retrofit a live in production back end.

Firstly it’s important to understand what a geodatabase in SQL Server actually is.
Really it is a normal database which has one table that has a field that has a geometry or geography value type. In this example I will use desktop QGIS 2.8.1 to display the resulting geometry but any other digital mapping package that can link to SQL Server could be used. SQL Server also has a very rudimentary Mapping Display but you will need something better if you want to manipulate boundaries visually.

Many digital mapping products have plugins that will create Geodatabases and tables however I haven’t seen one for QGIS. I really wanted to be able to create spatial SQL tables on my own without recourse to paid tools directly in SQL Server Management Studio. So here’s my method of creating blank polygon table whose geometry is ready to be read and edited in QGIS or any other digital mapping system just using SQL Server Management Studio Express 08R2.

Steps
1. Create a new Table
2. Ensure the table has an identity Key that increments
3. Create a geometry column
4. Write a query that updates the geometry column

UPDATE T001Sites SET Coordinates=geometry::STGeomFromText(‘POLYGON((301804 675762,295789 663732,309581 664870,301804 675762))’,27700)

You will note that there are four coordinates here (each coordinate being a pair of numbers )
The first coordinate and last are the same this is required by SQL to ensure that the polygon is closed.

The 27700 number is the Spatial Reference System Identifier (SRID) – it is a unique value used to unambiguosly identify projecttion. 27700 is the unique identifier for the United Kingdom National Grid and represents the coordinates my example refer to. The spatial reference identification system is defined by the European Petroleum Survey Group (EPSG) standard which is a set of standards developmed for cartography surveying etc and owned by the Oil and Gas Producers Group list here; http://www.epsg-registry.org/

The above coordinates display a triangle in West Lothian near Edinburgh

5. Set up the connection to SQL Server Instance

Ensure the box marked “Only look in the geometry_columns metadata table” checkbox is unchecked. By default this is checked and if the geometry_columns table does not exist you will get an error message.

QGIS-SSMS-Connection

6. Display the table and edit as appropriate.

Select the table then hit the Add button

QGIS-SSMS-TableReadyforDisplay

And here is the SQL Server table in QGIS ready to be added to or edited.
QGISshowingSQLServerPolygon

Administering a Web Application some thoughts

In the last couple of years I have started administering a bought in Web Application from an outside vendor. I have found this really quite educational. I will not reveal the name of the product the vendor seems neither better nor worse than other vendors and many of the issues I am experiencing I see repeated with other admins of other web applications.

The software consists of various pieces of middleware linking SQL Server and the .Net and Javascript files. It uses a fairly standard Microsoft Stack to deliver a single page application. The big selling point was that that it was widely available through browsers pretty much anywhere on the web.

We have had it up and running in anger for a couple of years now and I have about 75 users all internal.

The vendor has created a new version and we now need to update. In discussion with the company they tell me that I should not be doing this myself and it is standard practice to get them in to upgrade the version. We already use it more as a stack technology to build our own applications I would want to continue this in the future. They have indicated that it will cost money to get them in to upgrade the software. This is triggering alarm bells because the existing configuration is very complicated, errors are quite regular and error messages tend to be pretty cryptic or non existent. I also like doing setup myself as it teaches me the ins and outs and speeds my learning up for systems which have non-trivial configuration.
A project board has been set up senior management are on board and well its grown legs arms and tails.

We have not widely publicised the application to the general public and they do not access the application at present.

The application itself requires significant amounts of configuration to set up correctly and parameters tend to be static and buried deep in very large HTML files. All this leads me to conclude that configuration in the new version is likely to be just as awkward. The company’s help desk is very good and there is extensive documentation but the sheer obscurity and quantity of configuration parameters makes the documentation the size of a phone directory, difficult and opaque.

Here’s some questions I should remind myself of when looking at New Web Applications in the future.
Are staff really so distributed that you require wide distribution?
Is it an internal or external distribution? – If not external do you really need a web enabled application.
Do you have internal expertise that is interested in developing applications?
With Web Applications or Local applications the backend database technology could well be the same. Internal local area development is likely to be far more flexible / cheap / quick and could motivate staff additionally it can be far more rich in its scope. It would be possible for instance to develop rich interface internally and a minimal interface externally using something like Lightswitch. This would take advantage of the strengths of both development environments.

There is a big push towards web applications I just think IT managers need to carefully consider their positions these applications tend not to be cheap and have a number of disadvantages that seem to have been pushed out of sight.

Start up VBS

OPTION EXPLICIT
 
Dim WshShell
Dim counter
Dim shell
Dim Outlook
Dim objWord
Dim objshell
 
'Flash keyboard to show code is being hit
 
Set WshShell = CreateObject( "WScript.Shell" )
counter = 0
While counter < 18
                WshShell.SendKeys "{NUMLOCK}"
                WScript.Sleep 200
                WshShell.SendKeys "{NUMLOCK}"
                WshShell.SendKeys "{CAPSLOCK}"
                WScript.Sleep 200
                WshShell.SendKeys "{CAPSLOCK}"
                WshShell.SendKeys "{SCROLLLOCK}"
                WScript.Sleep 200
                WshShell.SendKeys "{SCROLLLOCK}"
                WshShell.SendKeys "{CAPSLOCK}"
                WScript.Sleep 200
                WshShell.SendKeys "{CAPSLOCK}"
                WshShell.SendKeys "{CAPSLOCK}"
                counter = counter + 1
WEnd
 
'It is not possible to poll the state of the keyboard using VBS but strangely if you use vb through word therefore it is necessary to open word turn caps lock check on the status and if caps locks is on turn them off
 
Set objShell = CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
Set objWord = CreateObject( "Word.Application" )
 
if objWord.CapsLock <> 0 then
   ' turn capslock off
   objShell.SendKeys "{capslock}"
 
end if
 
if objWord.NumLock = 0 then
'turn numlock on
objShell.SendKeys "{numlock}"
 
end if
 
'This line required to delay Windows long enough to allow the computer to open word - if it trys to quite word before fully open you will get an error depending on your machine speed may be better to use the actual seconds
WScript.Sleep(100)
objWord.Quit
 
'Startup MS Outlook
 
CONST PATH_TO_OUTLOOK = """C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Office\Office14\OUTLOOK.EXE"""
CONST SHOW_NORMAL = 3
CONST MINIMIZE = 1
 
SET shell = WScript.CreateObject("WScript.Shell")
 
' Open Outlook
shell.Run PATH_TO_OUTLOOK, 2
 
ON ERROR RESUME NEXT
 
' Grab a handle to the Outlook Application and minimize
SET outlook = WScript.CreateObject("Outlook.Application")
WScript.Sleep(100)
outlook.ActiveExplorer.WindowState = SHOW_NORMAL
 
' Loop on error to account for slow startup in which case the
' process and/or the main Outlook window is not available
WHILE Err.Number <> 0
  Err.Clear
  WScript.Sleep(100)
  SET outlook = NOTHING
  SET outlook = WScript.CreateObject("Outlook.Application")
WEND
 
ON ERROR GOTO 0
 
SET outlook = NOTHING
SET shell = NOTHING

Business Continuity

I see Business Continuity frequently evidenced as a reason by management to disallow staff responsibility for their business systems. The belief being that individuals will become too central to the operation of the organisation and will become somehow irreplaceable.

For the record I would like to state that I consider this to be failed logic.

Parents with children will encourage them to take responsibility by trusting them with tasks. Why is this important? Why? Because one day the parents won’t be there to support their children who will have to stand on their own two feet and it is better for the offspring to make mistakes with the parents there to catch them than to wait till the parents are gone and then for them to make the same mistakes. Many parents consider that their children do things in inefficient ways nonetheless they continually trust them. The world continues to progress and the human race continues to be the most successful species on the planet (hands down). It is the mechanism of passing knowledge down from one generation to another. So giving responsibility and trusting children far from decreasing continuity has a long history of ensuring it.

If anyone uses business continuity as a reason to prevent individuals from being given responsibility you might want to highlight the above point to them.

The Handover – where the dragons lie

woman-see-dragons-everywhere-2

The handover – often someone figures out that something needs to be done – maybe they have realised an important omission or maybe there is a problem that only comes to light in a process when you start designing.

For whatever reason you can’t do the work yourself and you need to hand the work to someone else. This I consider to be a dangerous task the threat of information loss is immense. Here are some points I try to ensure to minimise this ever present risk.

Give it to an identifiable person – I always find it curious how top management consider it important that they know each other and feel comfortable in each others presence they carefully pick their colleagues and treat them with respect by ensuring accurate names are used and generally constantly talking to each other often informally and flexibly. However I have seen systems implemented by management which actively discourage these same forms of informal communication and actually discourage personal responsibility.

Give that person tasked responsibility for the whole task and allow them the flexibility to tackle it how they see fit. People adjust processes so that they are more productive and will use their personal skills in the workplace often when they were not hired on that basis. A regular example of this is probably individuals who can speak multiple languages. I have seen several situations where a customer from another nation arrives and someone in a team happens to speak their language in a flexible environment that person often gets involved in that task simply because good communication is the first step in tackling a problem. I was in the Premier Inn in London and I was pleased to note that the staff all had badges on them noting not just their names but the flags relating to languages they could speak. It was nice to see waiters with multiple flags on them. Gave you just a small bit of background on the person and encouraged customers of particular nationalities to seek out correct staff.

Give it to someone who is familiar with the domain (scope of work) complicated tasks need not just technical skill but domain specific skill. Most people know how a booking systems works as nearly everyone is familiar with booking things online. But would you expect a general programmer to be familiar with the process of registering births marriages and deaths or submitting tax returns for instance. If someone doesn’t have domain specific skills give them extra time.

Close physical proximity is a bonus – so called water cooler conversations are often about work even if it may stray into what might be considered gossip. For some even then gossip may inform you of particular tender subjects that allow you to better consider the respect of your colleagues and better conduct yourself in conversation to get the optimum of work between individuals. It also allows for constant review of process and answer of questions when they arise. I prefer in e-mails to ask single questions at a time. I find that if you store up questions in a massive e-mail the first two questions are asked and the others are just omitted. As far as I can tell this is a human trait. Its my experience that when I sit close to individuals I ask questions when they arise which when answered usually completely negate the need for further questions. This uses comparative advantage which is always a bonus.

Concentrate on the outcomes not the technology that they are using especially if there are no costs to something let them use what they want. Databases are databases – spreadsheets are spreadsheets – they prefer the dvorak keyboard to qwerty keyboard good for them. For some spreadsheets are better for them than databases others will always choose databases – Does it really matter. I have seen some really excellent spreadsheets for tasks that I would have preferred to use databases. You could argue one over the other for particular tasks and maybe even prove that one was better than the other on somekind of mathematical basis. But would SQL Server really be better for your granny than a spreadsheet. NO.

Ensure that the individual will have a continual link to the system post development – he should recognise that the stability and the continuation of the system is as important as simply pushing something out the door.

At least initially continually check up on the individual and ensure that things are progressing as intended. This requires time at the beginning but you should be able to wind it down after that.

Handovers are fraught with danger don’t make them be fraught with danger for you.

Project Management – Things that help lead to successful outcomes

Update its interesting to compare this post with a post I made later on the same subject..

Extraction Transformation and Load some thoughts on a large IT transfer project

FinishLine

Many roles within organisations now require good project management skills especially when it comes to implementing new IT systems and applications. But are there things that can be put in place at the beginning to improve your chance of success. I would say yes and if I am involved in a project my personal guidelines are as follows;

Step 1 : Get Stuck In
The benefit of computers is that manipulated electrons are essentially free and immortal. Try to rearrange a few. If you aren’t getting anywhere wipe them and then re-arrange them some more. Even if you are not successful you are successful in knowing that one particular arrangement cannot be achieved. You are creating a machine just like children do with Lego or engineers create with bricks and mortar except your bricks can immediately be removed and copied infinitely and each additional brick often costs nothing. In most organisations you will quickly come up against configuration and security problems. Configuration and security problems come out of nowhere often and can be project killers best to know about them up front.

Step 2 : Know your Technology
If you don’t know it at the beginning you better hope you know it at the end – go to step 1 if you are struggling with step 2 – That’s recursion for you.

Step 3 : Increment often , test constantly and try to keep focused
Set short deadlines and try to regularly meet with colleagues or clients to show progress – can be frustrating if colleagues or clients start going off on tangents especially in meetings so try to keep focused on the remit.

Step 4 : Know the Process
To date I haven’t been asked to design any systems that I have had particular difficulty in understanding the process. Undoubtedly I think this would be different if I was trying to create an application for geology exploration or for instance mapping or maybe translation. The mathematics behind those kind of applications are complicated. Most business processes tend to be remarkably simple and the simple act of normalizing the data is usually enough for me to get to grips on how the system will be used.

Step 5 : Build in redundancy
Properly normalize your data build in extra fields if you want even if they are not used – for example collecting information on individuals I always add a field for date of birth even if its not spec’d invariably someone comes along and says actually it would be useful to know what age our customers are.

Step 6 : Have privileges
There’s nothing that will slow down a project quicker if you have to hand over responsibility of tasks to uninterested individuals who are not part of the project team. Better to have those people in the team and make sure they are on board with the importance of following through with the project.

Good luck and happy hunting