Don't Repeat Yourself

An Introduction to Agile SSIS Development

Cathrine Wilhelmsen

Moderated by Regis Baccaro

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Cathrine Wilhelmsen

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Data Warehouse Architect and Developer For the Norwegian financial company

Active in the Biml and SQL Server communityPASS Outstanding Volunteer, SQLSaturday Oslo Organizer and

SQL Server User Group Norway Board Member

cathrinewilhelmsen.net

@cathrinew

/in/cathrinewilhelmsen

Don't Repeat Yourself

An Introduction to Agile SSIS Development

Cathrine Wilhelmsen

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Session Description

SSIS (SQL Server Integration Services) is a powerful tool for extracting, transforming and loading data, but creating and maintaining a large number of SSIS packages can be both tedious and time-consuming. Even if you use templates and follow best practices you often have to repeat the same steps over and over again. Handling metadata and schema changes is a manual process, and there are no easy ways to implement new requirements in multiple packages at the same time.

It is time to bring the Don't Repeat Yourself (DRY) software engineering principle to SSIS projects. First learn how to use Biml (Business Intelligence Markup Language) and BimlScript to generate SSIS packages from database metadata and implement changes in all those packages with just a few clicks. Then take the DRY principle one step further and learn how to update all packages in multiple projects by separating and reusing common code. See how Biml allows you to complete in a day what once took more than a week!

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Who are you?

SSIS and ETL developer?

Easily bored?

Tired of repetitive work?

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Your work day?

Long development time?

Many SSIS packages?

Slow GUI editor?

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Ever experienced this?

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New standards!

Yay...Job done!

Ready for a change?

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From Traditional SSIS to Agile SSIS

Traditional: Plumbing Agile: Business Logic

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Traditional SSIS: Plumbing

Time wasted on dragging, dropping, connecting, aligning

Create the same package over and over and over again with just a few changes

Standards, patterns and templates must be defined up-front

Changes must be done in every single package

High risk of manual errors

More packages, more time

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Agile SSIS: Business Logic

Spend time on what is unique in a package

Create a pattern once and reuse for all similar packages

Handle scope and requirement changes quickly and easily

Changes can be applied to all packages at once

Lower risk of manual errors

Longer time to start, but then reuse and scale

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Will Biml solve all your problems?

Probably not...

Biml is a tool for generating SSIS packages

Biml is not a pre-defined data warehouse framework

Biml is not a tool for automated deployment

...but it will solve many problems!

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How can Biml help you?

Timesaving: Many SSIS Packages from one Biml file

Reusable: Write once and run on any platform

Flexible: Start simple, expand as you learn

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What is Business Intelligence Markup Language?

Easy to read and write XML dialect

Specifies business intelligence objects

Databases, schemas, tables, columns

SSIS packages

SSAS cubes, facts, dimensions (not in free version)

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What do you need?

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How does it work?

Generated packages are indistinguishable from manually created packages

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Biml syntax

<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">

<Packages>

<Package Name="EmptyPackage1"></Package>

<Package Name="EmptyPackage2"/>

</Packages>

</Biml>

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Biml syntax: Root Element

<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">

<Packages>

<Package Name="EmptyPackage1"></Package>

<Package Name="EmptyPackage2"/>

</Packages>

</Biml>

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Biml syntax: Collection of Elements

<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">

<Packages>

<Package Name="EmptyPackage1"></Package>

<Package Name="EmptyPackage2"/>

</Packages>

</Biml>

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Biml syntax: Elements

<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">

<Packages>

<Package Name="EmptyPackage1"></Package>

<Package Name="EmptyPackage2"/>

</Packages>

</Biml>

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Biml syntax: Attributes

<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">

<Packages>

<Package Name="EmptyPackage1"></Package>

<Package Name="EmptyPackage2"/>

</Packages>

</Biml>

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Biml syntax: Full vs. Shorthand Syntax

<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">

<Packages>

<Package Name="EmptyPackage1"></Package>

<Package Name="EmptyPackage2"/>

</Packages>

</Biml>

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Biml files are placed in the Miscellaneous folder

<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">

<Packages>

<Package Name="EmptyPackage1"></Package>

<Package Name="EmptyPackage2"/>

</Packages>

</Biml>

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Right-click on the Biml file to Generate SSIS Packages

<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">

<Packages>

<Package Name="EmptyPackage1"></Package>

<Package Name="EmptyPackage2"/>

</Packages>

</Biml>

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From Biml to SSIS

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From Biml to SSIS

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.biml vs .dtsx: human-readable vs ALL THE CODE!

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(150% zoom) (20% zoom)

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The magic is in the

Extend Biml with C# or VB.NET code blocks

Import database structure and metadata

Loop over tables and columns

Add expressions to replace static values

Allows you to control and manipulate Biml code

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BimlScript code blocks

<#@ … #> Directives (Instructions to the BimlCompiler)

<# … #> Control Blocks (Control logic)

<#= … #> Expression Control Blocks (Replace block with string value)

<#+ … #> Class Feature Control Blocks (Create helper methods)

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BimlScript syntax

<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">

<Packages>

<# foreach (var table in RootNode.Tables) { #>

<Package Name="Load<#=table.Name#>"></Package>

<# } #>

</Packages>

</Biml>

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BimlScript syntax: Control Blocks

<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">

<Packages>

<# foreach (var table in RootNode.Tables) { #>

<Package Name="Load<#=table.Name#>"></Package>

<# } #>

</Packages>

</Biml>

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BimlScript syntax: Expression Control Block

<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">

<Packages>

<# foreach (var table in RootNode.Tables) { #>

<Package Name="Load<#=table.Name#>"></Package>

<# } #>

</Packages>

</Biml>

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How does it work?

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Yes, but how does it work?

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Yes, but how does it actually work?

<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">

<Packages>

<# foreach (var table in RootNode.Tables) { #>

<Package Name="Load<#=table.Name#>"></Package>

<# } #>

</Packages>

</Biml>

<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">

<Packages>

<Package Name="LoadCustomer"></Package>

<Package Name="LoadProduct"></Package>

<Package Name="LoadSales"></Package>

</Packages>

</Biml>

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Don't Repeat Yourself

Move common code to separate files

Centralize and reuse in many projects

Update code once for all projects

1. Split and combine Biml files

2. Include files

3. CallBimlScript with parameters

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Don't Repeat Yourself: Split and combine Biml files

Solve logical dependencies and simulate manual workflows by using tiers

Tiers instruct the BimlCompiler to compile files from lowest to highest tier

<#@ template tier="1" #>

Higher tiers can use and might depend on objects from lower tiers

Tier 1 - Create database connections

Example: Tier 2 - Create loading packages

Tier 3 - Create master package to execute loading packages

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Split and combine multiple Biml files

1. Create Biml files with specified tiers

2. Select all the tiered Biml files

3. Right-click and click Generate SSIS Packages

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2

3

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Don't Repeat Yourself: Include files

Include common code in multiple files and projects

Can include many file types: .biml .txt .sql .cs

Use the include directive

<#@ include file="CommonCode.biml" #>

The include directive will be replaced by the content of the included file

Include pulls code from the included file into the main file

Don't Repeat Yourself: Include files

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Don't Repeat Yourself: CallBimlScript with parameters

Works like a parameterized include

File to be called (callee) specifies the input parameters it accepts

<#@ property name="Table" type="AstTableNode" #>

File that calls (caller) passes input parameters

<#=CallBimlScript("CommonCode.biml", Table)#>

CallBimlScript pushes parameters from the caller to the callee, and

the callee returns code

Don't Repeat Yourself: CallBimlScript with parameters

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Don't Repeat Yourself: CallBimlScript with parameters

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Dem

o

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What do you do next?

1. Download BIDS Helper

2. Identify your SSIS patterns

3. Rewrite one SSIS package to Biml

(Not possible to reverse-engineer SSIS to Biml in BIDS Helper)

4. Expand with BimlScript

5. Separate and reuse common Biml code

6. ...never look back to the days of drag&drop

7. Get involved in the SQL Server and Biml community!

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Biml on Monday...

…BimlBreak the rest of the week

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Thank you!

@cathrinew

cathrinewilhelmsen.net

no.linkedin.com/in/cathrinewilhelmsen

contact@cathrinewilhelmsen.net

cathrinewilhelmsen.net/biml

slideshare.net/cathrinewilhelmsen

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