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Showing posts from 2010

Videos of new features in SQL Power Architect

After I gave a short overview of the new features in Power Architect EE in my last blog post , I'll take the chance to post some videos that are available on YouTube and demonstrate the new features. The trial version for SQL Power Architect comes with a 30 days free support in case you run into any issues:  http://goo.gl/7SH1

New features in SQL Power Architect

After several months of development SQL Power released a new version of the Power Architect which is now available in 2 different version, the "old" Community Edition  (CE, also available on Google Code) and the brand new Enterprise Edition  (EE). Today I want to give you an overview of the most exciting new functions in SQL Power Architect EE. Central project repository & Security  In the Enterprise Edition all projects are stored on the server and you can create users and groups and give them different access rights to the projects depending on their role. Data Types and Domains This is one of the most important features in the new version. Prior to version 1.0 EE you could only work with a set of standard column types that all (most databases would understand). With Data Types and Domains you are finally able to define your own type and specify how this type should be forward engineered in the different database management systems. For example the type " Nu...

Wabit finally supports Parameters!

In the last days SQL Power released Wabit 1.3.1, you can download it here:  SQL Power Download Website . The most important change that came with Wabit 1.3 is the ability to parametrize reports. Below is a screenshot on how it looks like: Report with parameters in SQL Power Wabit You can choose a text entry field, date picker and a select box as parameter entry field. The values from a select box can be based on a query. How to add parameters to your report: Add parameters to your SQL query. You can add parameters either by using the parameter dialog (Ctrl + Space) or just by using the right syntax in the query, for example "continent =${Continent->Europe}". ${Continent} defines the parameters "Continent" ${Continent->Europe} defines the parameter "Continent" and sets the default value to "Europe" Parameter in a query Create a new Report Drag the query into the report Add a parameter in the parameter panel (Go to View-...

Open Source tool for Data cleansing and Master Data Management

Last weekend SQL Power released an improved version of SQL Power DQguru (formerly known as SQL Power MatchMaker), one of the few open source tools for data cleansing and master data management (MDM) available. Version 0.96 brings a new feature that allows you to run SQL Power DQguru from command line. This allows you to integrate it into batch scripts and your ETL jobs. As a BI consultant for SQL Power I have used SQL Power DQguru in different projects and it has made my job a lot easier. Some of the features I like the most are: Easy connection to any database with JDBC drivers, incl. SQL Server, Oracle, MySQL, Postgres Lets you create complex merge rules so your dependent data will always be updated when you merge records. You can combine over 25 steps to find possible duplicate data with a match rule, for example: Word Count Regular Expressions Substrings Retain certain characters Translate Words, you can create your own translation rules. You can preview how your data ...

Using the Community Build Framework for Pentaho

Recently I had to prepare a installation for the Pentaho BI Server (CE) and I decided to try the Community Build Framework (CBF) from Pedro Alves. I had to install the server on a test and a production environment so it seemed to fit perfectly for my requirements. It is working fine now and helps a lot in applying changes to the installation having a clean structure but it took me quiet a few hours till I had it working (probably because I'm not an expert when it comes to using ant & Co.) Here are some issues you should be aware of: You'll need Java 1.6. Make sure your path to ant, java but especially the project folder doesn't contain any spaces. Spaces will only cause problems. Tomcat 6 is not supported yet. I recommend setting the solution paths to the folder "C:/...../project-client/solution" until you figured out how CBF works in detail. You will have your CBF ready to run a lot faster than I did if you keep these issues in mind. I'm sure I...

Stop annoying applications in your Facebook news feed

With getting more and more friends on Facebook, I also get a whole bunch of them playing Mafia Wars, Farmville and all these other applications. And of course every day they have to share with me their latest score. I just found a good way how to stop getting these annoying updates in my news feed: In the entry of the application in your news feed, click on the application name (highlighted in the screenshot). This will lead you to the application page. On the application page you will see a link "Block Application" (Highlighted again). Click on it. Facebook will ask you to confirm your decision. Confirm to block it. Go back to your Facebook start page (news feed). All entries from this application will be gone!