Alternatives when trying to keep two databases in sync...

I have two production SQL Server 2005 databases that I want to keep in
sync ever few hours. One database is an OLTP database with high
INSERT activity, the other is strictly for reporting. The OTLP
database will contain data for 24 months of data. The reporting
database will contain that same 24 months plus an additional 8 years of
data.
The tables in each database are identical but I would like to have
different indexing strategies in each database. On OLTP side, indexing
would be minimal to facilitate rapid insert activity. The reporting
database would need many indexes in order to process queries in a
reasonable amount of time.
Is it possible to keep these two databases in sync with log shipping?
>From what I can see, log shipping really wants the two database to be
identical. Having the two different indexing strategies would not be
easy. Keeping more data in the reporting database would also present
some challenges.
Is there a better alternative? One-way transaction level replication
seems like an alternative but seems like it would require a great deal
of maintenance.
I have given Triggers some thought but the developers push back saying
that there are over 50 tables that need to be synchronized and that
maintaining the triggers is to much work.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you.
Jim Maurer
DBA
Harleysville Insurance
I think you need to look at Replications, because triggers are hurting
performance and
log shipping is intended to different proposes.
I'm thinking what if you could take one big massive transferring of data
let me say once a day at night by using DTS package , is it accetable at
you company?
<jmaurer@.harleysvillegroup.com> wrote in message
news:1166023880.609621.98730@.79g2000cws.googlegrou ps.com...
>I have two production SQL Server 2005 databases that I want to keep in
> sync ever few hours. One database is an OLTP database with high
> INSERT activity, the other is strictly for reporting. The OTLP
> database will contain data for 24 months of data. The reporting
> database will contain that same 24 months plus an additional 8 years of
> data.
> The tables in each database are identical but I would like to have
> different indexing strategies in each database. On OLTP side, indexing
> would be minimal to facilitate rapid insert activity. The reporting
> database would need many indexes in order to process queries in a
> reasonable amount of time.
> Is it possible to keep these two databases in sync with log shipping?
> identical. Having the two different indexing strategies would not be
> easy. Keeping more data in the reporting database would also present
> some challenges.
> Is there a better alternative? One-way transaction level replication
> seems like an alternative but seems like it would require a great deal
> of maintenance.
> I have given Triggers some thought but the developers push back saying
> that there are over 50 tables that need to be synchronized and that
> maintaining the triggers is to much work.
> Any suggestions would be appreciated.
> Thank you.
> Jim Maurer
> DBA
> Harleysville Insurance
>
|||Thank you. We are begining to realize this is not going to be as easy
as it orginally sounded. Thank you again for your suggestions...
Uri Dimant wrote:[vbcol=seagreen]
> I think you need to look at Replications, because triggers are hurting
> performance and
> log shipping is intended to different proposes.
> I'm thinking what if you could take one big massive transferring of data
> let me say once a day at night by using DTS package , is it accetable at
> you company?
>
>
> <jmaurer@.harleysvillegroup.com> wrote in message
> news:1166023880.609621.98730@.79g2000cws.googlegrou ps.com...

Alternatives when trying to keep two databases in sync...

I have two production SQL Server 2005 databases that I want to keep in
sync ever few hours. One database is an OLTP database with high
INSERT activity, the other is strictly for reporting. The OTLP
database will contain data for 24 months of data. The reporting
database will contain that same 24 months plus an additional 8 years of
data.
The tables in each database are identical but I would like to have
different indexing strategies in each database. On OLTP side, indexing
would be minimal to facilitate rapid insert activity. The reporting
database would need many indexes in order to process queries in a
reasonable amount of time.
Is it possible to keep these two databases in sync with log shipping?
>From what I can see, log shipping really wants the two database to be
identical. Having the two different indexing strategies would not be
easy. Keeping more data in the reporting database would also present
some challenges.
Is there a better alternative? One-way transaction level replication
seems like an alternative but seems like it would require a great deal
of maintenance.
I have given Triggers some thought but the developers push back saying
that there are over 50 tables that need to be synchronized and that
maintaining the triggers is to much work.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you.
Jim Maurer
DBA
Harleysville InsuranceI think you need to look at Replications, because triggers are hurting
performance and
log shipping is intended to different proposes.
I'm thinking what if you could take one big massive transferring of data
let me say once a day at night by using DTS package , is it accetable at
you company?
<jmaurer@.harleysvillegroup.com> wrote in message
news:1166023880.609621.98730@.79g2000cws.googlegroups.com...
>I have two production SQL Server 2005 databases that I want to keep in
> sync ever few hours. One database is an OLTP database with high
> INSERT activity, the other is strictly for reporting. The OTLP
> database will contain data for 24 months of data. The reporting
> database will contain that same 24 months plus an additional 8 years of
> data.
> The tables in each database are identical but I would like to have
> different indexing strategies in each database. On OLTP side, indexing
> would be minimal to facilitate rapid insert activity. The reporting
> database would need many indexes in order to process queries in a
> reasonable amount of time.
> Is it possible to keep these two databases in sync with log shipping?
> identical. Having the two different indexing strategies would not be
> easy. Keeping more data in the reporting database would also present
> some challenges.
> Is there a better alternative? One-way transaction level replication
> seems like an alternative but seems like it would require a great deal
> of maintenance.
> I have given Triggers some thought but the developers push back saying
> that there are over 50 tables that need to be synchronized and that
> maintaining the triggers is to much work.
> Any suggestions would be appreciated.
> Thank you.
> Jim Maurer
> DBA
> Harleysville Insurance
>|||Thank you. We are begining to realize this is not going to be as easy
as it orginally sounded. Thank you again for your suggestions...
Uri Dimant wrote:[vbcol=seagreen]
> I think you need to look at Replications, because triggers are hurting
> performance and
> log shipping is intended to different proposes.
> I'm thinking what if you could take one big massive transferring of data
> let me say once a day at night by using DTS package , is it accetable at
> you company?
>
>
> <jmaurer@.harleysvillegroup.com> wrote in message
> news:1166023880.609621.98730@.79g2000cws.googlegroups.com...

Alternatives when trying to keep two databases in sync...

I have two production SQL Server 2005 databases that I want to keep in
sync ever few hours. One database is an OLTP database with high
INSERT activity, the other is strictly for reporting. The OTLP
database will contain data for 24 months of data. The reporting
database will contain that same 24 months plus an additional 8 years of
data.
The tables in each database are identical but I would like to have
different indexing strategies in each database. On OLTP side, indexing
would be minimal to facilitate rapid insert activity. The reporting
database would need many indexes in order to process queries in a
reasonable amount of time.
Is it possible to keep these two databases in sync with log shipping?
>From what I can see, log shipping really wants the two database to be
identical. Having the two different indexing strategies would not be
easy. Keeping more data in the reporting database would also present
some challenges.
Is there a better alternative? One-way transaction level replication
seems like an alternative but seems like it would require a great deal
of maintenance.
I have given Triggers some thought but the developers push back saying
that there are over 50 tables that need to be synchronized and that
maintaining the triggers is to much work.
Any suggestions would be appreciated.
Thank you.
Jim Maurer
DBA
Harleysville InsuranceI think you need to look at Replications, because triggers are hurting
performance and
log shipping is intended to different proposes.
I'm thinking what if you could take one big massive transferring of data
let me say once a day at night by using DTS package , is it accetable at
you company?
<jmaurer@.harleysvillegroup.com> wrote in message
news:1166023880.609621.98730@.79g2000cws.googlegroups.com...
>I have two production SQL Server 2005 databases that I want to keep in
> sync ever few hours. One database is an OLTP database with high
> INSERT activity, the other is strictly for reporting. The OTLP
> database will contain data for 24 months of data. The reporting
> database will contain that same 24 months plus an additional 8 years of
> data.
> The tables in each database are identical but I would like to have
> different indexing strategies in each database. On OLTP side, indexing
> would be minimal to facilitate rapid insert activity. The reporting
> database would need many indexes in order to process queries in a
> reasonable amount of time.
> Is it possible to keep these two databases in sync with log shipping?
>>From what I can see, log shipping really wants the two database to be
> identical. Having the two different indexing strategies would not be
> easy. Keeping more data in the reporting database would also present
> some challenges.
> Is there a better alternative? One-way transaction level replication
> seems like an alternative but seems like it would require a great deal
> of maintenance.
> I have given Triggers some thought but the developers push back saying
> that there are over 50 tables that need to be synchronized and that
> maintaining the triggers is to much work.
> Any suggestions would be appreciated.
> Thank you.
> Jim Maurer
> DBA
> Harleysville Insurance
>|||Thank you. We are begining to realize this is not going to be as easy
as it orginally sounded. Thank you again for your suggestions...
Uri Dimant wrote:
> I think you need to look at Replications, because triggers are hurting
> performance and
> log shipping is intended to different proposes.
> I'm thinking what if you could take one big massive transferring of data
> let me say once a day at night by using DTS package , is it accetable at
> you company?
>
>
> <jmaurer@.harleysvillegroup.com> wrote in message
> news:1166023880.609621.98730@.79g2000cws.googlegroups.com...
> >I have two production SQL Server 2005 databases that I want to keep in
> > sync ever few hours. One database is an OLTP database with high
> > INSERT activity, the other is strictly for reporting. The OTLP
> > database will contain data for 24 months of data. The reporting
> > database will contain that same 24 months plus an additional 8 years of
> > data.
> >
> > The tables in each database are identical but I would like to have
> > different indexing strategies in each database. On OLTP side, indexing
> > would be minimal to facilitate rapid insert activity. The reporting
> > database would need many indexes in order to process queries in a
> > reasonable amount of time.
> >
> > Is it possible to keep these two databases in sync with log shipping?
> >>From what I can see, log shipping really wants the two database to be
> > identical. Having the two different indexing strategies would not be
> > easy. Keeping more data in the reporting database would also present
> > some challenges.
> >
> > Is there a better alternative? One-way transaction level replication
> > seems like an alternative but seems like it would require a great deal
> > of maintenance.
> >
> > I have given Triggers some thought but the developers push back saying
> > that there are over 50 tables that need to be synchronized and that
> > maintaining the triggers is to much work.
> >
> > Any suggestions would be appreciated.
> >
> > Thank you.
> >
> > Jim Maurer
> > DBA
> > Harleysville Insurance
> >

Alternatives to SQLMail

Hi,

We encountered a situation a few days where our SQLMail stopped working. We are using SQL Server 2000, SP4 and an Exchange Server. Prior to the SQLMail stopping we had experienced problems with our Exchange Server for a period of time.

Researching on the Internet, I've found several explanations that all read:

"The most common cause of this problem is a temporary loss of the network connection to the e-mail server. This problem most often occurs when SQL Mail is configured to use Internet protocols for message delivery, although it can also occur when communicating with a Microsoft Exchange host.

When SQL Mail loses a connection to the e-mail server, the Extended MAPI components display a message that requests user action as to whether or not to continue. This message does not appear on the server because SQL Mail is run from the SQL Server service. Because the message does not appear, there is no way to respond to the message to allow SQL Mail to continue. Even if the network connection becomes available, SQL Mail does not retry the connection.

To work around the problem, you must stop and restart SQL Server."

I believe this is the situation that we encountered. However stopping and restarting SQL Server did not solve the problem. We had to reboot the machine before the SQL Mail started working again. This is a production machine that we don't just want to "reboot at will", so I'm a little concerned about this issue.

My question is - are there any alternatives to using SQLMail? I have stored procedures that call xp_sendmail (and then xp_stopmail) to send email notifications in certain instances. Is there something else that I can/should use in its place? I found a reference that stated "To resolve the problem, update your applications to use Database Mail.", but this was on a SQL Server 2005 page, and apparently Database Mail is not part of SQL Server 2000.

Thanks,
Beth

YES!

The preferred alternative is xp_smtpmail. You 'should' NOT be using MAPI mail with SQL 2000 -for several reasons

Read about it and download from:

Email for SQL Server 2000
http://www.sqldev.net/xp/xpsmtp.htm

|||Is there any article/link that explains why "You 'should' NOT be using MAPI mail with SQL 2000"?

Thanks for the info on xp_smtpmail - I'll take a look at it.
Beth

|||

This first link is from one of the SQL Dev Team members.

http://sqljunkies.com/WebLog/euang/archive/2004/03/16/1617.aspx

http://www.windowsitpro.com/Articles/ArticleID/14116/14116.html?Ad=1

http://www.developersdex.com/sql/message.asp?p=1925&ID=%3C943EC1D1-1E2A-413A-8DF5-A5F919125DD9%40microsoft.com%3E

Top Causes of SQL Server Downtime (Item #2)
http://www.sqlmag.com/Article/ArticleID/40011/sql_server_40011.html

http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb%3ben-us%3bQ315886

Google? for: sql and server and mapi and problems. You'll probably notice a couple hundred thousand hits...

'nuf said.

Alternatives to SQL Server Merge Replication

Hello,

I would like to know what alternatives are avaliable to SQL Server Merge Replication. I am also looking for Third Party Tools. Can anyone name a few for me.

Microsoft supplied alternatives: RDA (Remote data access), ADO.NET Synchronization Services (currentluy in beta), ASP.NET Web Services (rolling your own).|||Is ADO.NET Synchronization Services as powerful as Merge Replication?|||

Just a hunch on why you might be looking for alternatives:

I know many developers are implementing alternatives to RDA and replications in effort to reduce number of CALs required for SQL Server. They believe what if N devices are connected to this “alternative” and “alternative” connects to SQL Server you only need one CAL as there’s only one physical connection to SQL Server. That is, however, not the case and SQL Server EULA has a clause about “through proxy” connection to prevent that scenario so you would need N CALs regardless. If that’s the reason you’re looking for alternatives you might just use RDA/Replication and save time and money on development.

Another reason for alternatives is security –developers don’t want IIS installed as they believe it’s unsecure. If that’s the case I would like to point out IIS has been around for years and runs on millions of hosts around the globe. Thinking self made solution would me more secure is quite perky.

Alternatives to SQL Mail?

(SQL Server 2000, SP3a)
Hello all!
We've got a development project that is using on SQL Mail (xp_sendmail) that we're moving
to production . Our production environment is configured in such a way that we want to
avoid using SQL Mail. I see a commonly recommended alternative is the xp_smtp_sendmail
.DLL. However, as noted by the documentation from: http://www.sqldev.net/xp/xpsmtp.htm
<Quote>
The current version does not provide @.query support like the one found in SQL Mail
</Quote>
Naturally, the way that we're using SQL Mail is reliant upon the @.query parameter. ;-)
Are there any other alternatives, or perhaps someone has extended/wrapped the
xp_smtp_sendmail to provide more functionality? Basically, we use the SQL Mail with the
@.query to invoke a query that will then attach the results as a comma-separated (.CSV)
file. If such a thing exists, I'd be greatly obliged to learn of it!
Thanks!
John PetersonCan't you run the query and output it to a text file (e.g. see a couple of
options at http://www.aspfaq.com/2482) and then just attach the file? In
this way, you could have greater control over the output, as well...
"John Peterson" <j0hnp@.comcast.net> wrote in message
news:eIBS1pBoDHA.3024@.tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> (SQL Server 2000, SP3a)
> Hello all!
> We've got a development project that is using on SQL Mail (xp_sendmail)
that we're moving
> to production . Our production environment is configured in such a way
that we want to
> avoid using SQL Mail. I see a commonly recommended alternative is the
xp_smtp_sendmail
> .DLL. However, as noted by the documentation from:
http://www.sqldev.net/xp/xpsmtp.htm
> <Quote>
> The current version does not provide @.query support like the one found in
SQL Mail
> </Quote>
> Naturally, the way that we're using SQL Mail is reliant upon the @.query
parameter. ;-)
> Are there any other alternatives, or perhaps someone has extended/wrapped
the
> xp_smtp_sendmail to provide more functionality? Basically, we use the SQL
Mail with the
> @.query to invoke a query that will then attach the results as a
comma-separated (.CSV)
> file. If such a thing exists, I'd be greatly obliged to learn of it!
> Thanks!
> John Peterson
>|||Thanks, Aaron!
I guess I was looking for something as convenient as xp_sendmail, with which to execute
the query, format it as a comma-separated file, and send it as an email attachment all in
one fell swoop. :-)
With the link you provided -- I suppose I could "roll my own", but I had hoped someone had
already done all the leg work. ;-)
"Aaron Bertrand [MVP]" <aaron@.TRASHaspfaq.com> wrote in message
news:%23YGc6vBoDHA.2140@.TK2MSFTNGP09.phx.gbl...
> Can't you run the query and output it to a text file (e.g. see a couple of
> options at http://www.aspfaq.com/2482) and then just attach the file? In
> this way, you could have greater control over the output, as well...
>
> "John Peterson" <j0hnp@.comcast.net> wrote in message
> news:eIBS1pBoDHA.3024@.tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> > (SQL Server 2000, SP3a)
> >
> > Hello all!
> >
> > We've got a development project that is using on SQL Mail (xp_sendmail)
> that we're moving
> > to production . Our production environment is configured in such a way
> that we want to
> > avoid using SQL Mail. I see a commonly recommended alternative is the
> xp_smtp_sendmail
> > .DLL. However, as noted by the documentation from:
> http://www.sqldev.net/xp/xpsmtp.htm
> >
> > <Quote>
> > The current version does not provide @.query support like the one found in
> SQL Mail
> > </Quote>
> >
> > Naturally, the way that we're using SQL Mail is reliant upon the @.query
> parameter. ;-)
> >
> > Are there any other alternatives, or perhaps someone has extended/wrapped
> the
> > xp_smtp_sendmail to provide more functionality? Basically, we use the SQL
> Mail with the
> > @.query to invoke a query that will then attach the results as a
> comma-separated (.CSV)
> > file. If such a thing exists, I'd be greatly obliged to learn of it!
> >
> > Thanks!
> >
> > John Peterson
> >
> >
>|||> With the link you provided -- I suppose I could "roll my own", but I had
hoped someone had
> already done all the leg work. ;-)
Well, I've been meaning to update http://www.aspfaq.com/2403 with such a
technique, because that's the only complaint I've ever heard about
xp_smtp_sendmail. Sounds like you will get to it before I do, so feel free
to send along any examples you can provide; I'll add them to the article,
and credit you of course.
Cheers,
Aaron|||"John Peterson" <j0hnp@.comcast.net> wrote in message
news:eIBS1pBoDHA.3024@.tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> (SQL Server 2000, SP3a)
> Hello all!
> We've got a development project that is using on SQL Mail (xp_sendmail)
that we're moving
> to production . Our production environment is configured in such a way
that we want to
> avoid using SQL Mail. I see a commonly recommended alternative is the
xp_smtp_sendmail
> .DLL. However, as noted by the documentation from:
http://www.sqldev.net/xp/xpsmtp.htm
> <Quote>
> The current version does not provide @.query support like the one found in
SQL Mail
> </Quote>
> Naturally, the way that we're using SQL Mail is reliant upon the @.query
parameter. ;-)
> Are there any other alternatives, or perhaps someone has extended/wrapped
the
> xp_smtp_sendmail to provide more functionality? Basically, we use the SQL
Mail with the
> @.query to invoke a query that will then attach the results as a
comma-separated (.CSV)
> file. If such a thing exists, I'd be greatly obliged to learn of it!
> Thanks!
> John Peterson
>
Is this an email that is being invoked by a trigger, or a scheduled task?
If it's not a trigger, ie. you run it every hour, day or week then we
actually wrote a VB Script that creates an email using CDO (Collaboration
Data Objects) with a really great HTML body (that is larger than 8000
characters - the main reason for using VB script) and added it as a
scheduled task. Works really well but a lot of work to do something that
should be relatively simple.
NEIL.
ps: If you want the source I'll happily divulge it to you.

Alternatives to SQL FTS.

I've been using FTS for 5 years now on 1.5million rows of data. Certain
things have alway annoyed me about it however:
1. I never managed to succesfully move/copy ft catalogs.
2. Noise words/symbols/single characters e.g. c#, c#, "I am not".
3. Search speed and ranking/relevance quality.
3. Population performance.
I know by constantly staying on top of the excellent advice in this forum I
can probably overcome these issues, but frankly I'm not sure I want to take
this route. Not at least before I've explored the alternatives. So my
question is what alternative products would anyone recommend taking a look at
? The ft queries would be made from a C#/.Net/ASP/NET app, and I don't mind
if the text records are stored in a database or maybe an XML file.
I haven't looked at Yukon yet - so that may well be a valid answer.
Any takers ?
I would have a look at Yukon for the following reasons
1) you can now a) detatch and reattach full text catalogs with the database
files
b) your full text catalogs can be backed up with
your back and restored. This is the default behavior
c) you can replicate full text indexes as long as
your subscriber database is full text enabled
2) by default c and j are indexed if they are preceeded by a ++ or a #. SQL
2005 (Yukon) can be made to be noise insensitive - ie your queries will not
break with a noise word
3) Search preformance is greatly improved. The ranking algorithm yeilds
different results but is much the same.
4) radical improvements in indexing performance.
There are other options out there - like SQL Turbo
(http://www.imceda.com/SQLTurbo_Description.htm) and omnidex
(http://www.disc.com/).
Hilary Cotter
Looking for a SQL Server replication book?
http://www.nwsu.com/0974973602.html
Looking for a FAQ on Indexing Services/SQL FTS
http://www.indexserverfaq.com
"slartyb" <slartyb@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:6532CD01-5506-4B51-AF94-7E2D6C65740E@.microsoft.com...
> I've been using FTS for 5 years now on 1.5million rows of data. Certain
> things have alway annoyed me about it however:
> 1. I never managed to succesfully move/copy ft catalogs.
> 2. Noise words/symbols/single characters e.g. c#, c#, "I am not".
> 3. Search speed and ranking/relevance quality.
> 3. Population performance.
> I know by constantly staying on top of the excellent advice in this forum
I
> can probably overcome these issues, but frankly I'm not sure I want to
take
> this route. Not at least before I've explored the alternatives. So my
> question is what alternative products would anyone recommend taking a look
at
> ? The ft queries would be made from a C#/.Net/ASP/NET app, and I don't
mind
> if the text records are stored in a database or maybe an XML file.
> I haven't looked at Yukon yet - so that may well be a valid answer.
> Any takers ?
>

Alternatives to SQL *Plus

Hi,

I have an SQL assignment to do and at my school we use SQL *Plus there
however I don't have Oracle at home, where I would like to do the work ,so I
was wondering whats the easiest way to get an SQL environment up so I can
code in that then just paste it into SQL *Plus later.

I don't really want to install Oracle on my home pc and I was wondering if
there are other IDE's for SQl that would fit my need for this.

I discovered an instant SQL *Plus client that sounded really promising but
when i unpacked it, it was just a load of dll's so I think it wasn't what I
thought it was.

So does anyone know of anything that might be able to help me out here?

Any advice much appreciated!

Thanks
--
AntTry asking in an Oracle group. This is a MS SQL Server group.

--
David Portas
SQL Server MVP
--|||"David Portas" <REMOVE_BEFORE_REPLYING_dportas@.acm.org> wrote in message
news:1108563340.314230.94240@.f14g2000cwb.googlegro ups.com...
> Try asking in an Oracle group. This is a MS SQL Server group.
> --
> David Portas
> SQL Server MVP

Done!

But this newsgroup is much busier so I figured it would be more likely
someone here would be able to help me out.

Alternatives to Outlook for SQLMail?

I didnt' have good success with
sp_send_cdosysmail. It would send a normal
email but it would choke on an sms email address
like '2125551212@.tomomail.net' or
[2125551212@.tomomail.net] it just throws an error code.
I wound up going with Outlook.
Bryan[vbcol=seagreen]
>--Original Message--
>Hello
>You could also use sp_send_cdosysmail from the KB312839
>http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-
>us;312839&sd=tech
>Carlos Souza
>http://carlos.geekbunker.org
feature.
>.
>
You can bypass SQL Mail and Outlook and use SMTP instead.
You can download a free extended stored procedure that does
this from:
http://www.sqldev.net/xp/xpsmtp.htm
-Sue
On Sat, 31 Jul 2004 23:19:26 -0700, "bmurtha"
<anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:
[vbcol=seagreen]
>I didnt' have good success with
>sp_send_cdosysmail. It would send a normal
>email but it would choke on an sms email address
>like '2125551212@.tomomail.net' or
>[2125551212@.tomomail.net] it just throws an error code.
>I wound up going with Outlook.
>Bryan
>feature.

Alternatives to Outlook for SQLMail?

I want to be able to use SQLMail to send me alerts on
task failures, etc. Microsoft says we have to use a MAPI
client like MS Outlook to take advantage of this feature.
However, when I talk with my system administrators about
placing Outlook or similar mail clients on the server
they get all upset and scream about security. Are there
alternatives to Outlook that are more secure or less
intrusive or anything that would make the sa's happy and
still be able to use SQLMail?
Check the free SMTP mail for SQL Server at
http://www.sqldev.net/xp/xpsmtp.htm.
Dejan Sarka, SQL Server MVP
Associate Mentor
Solid Quality Learning
More than just Training
www.SolidQualityLearning.com
"Scott" <anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:b65e01c4376e$f28b9260$a501280a@.phx.gbl...
> I want to be able to use SQLMail to send me alerts on
> task failures, etc. Microsoft says we have to use a MAPI
> client like MS Outlook to take advantage of this feature.
> However, when I talk with my system administrators about
> placing Outlook or similar mail clients on the server
> they get all upset and scream about security. Are there
> alternatives to Outlook that are more secure or less
> intrusive or anything that would make the sa's happy and
> still be able to use SQLMail?

Alternatives to Outlook for SQLMail?

I want to be able to use SQLMail to send me alerts on
task failures, etc. Microsoft says we have to use a MAPI
client like MS Outlook to take advantage of this feature.
However, when I talk with my system administrators about
placing Outlook or similar mail clients on the server
they get all upset and scream about security. Are there
alternatives to Outlook that are more secure or less
intrusive or anything that would make the sa's happy and
still be able to use SQLMail?If you want to just use SQL Mail then it needs to be a mapi
client. However, you don't have to use SQL Mail for emails
on task failures and other email functionality. You can use
smtp and an extended stored procedure that will send mail
via smtp, no mapi. You can download this xp and get more
information at:
http://www.sqldev.net/xp/xpsmtp.htm
I've gone that route at several client sites without any
problems.
-Sue
On Tue, 11 May 2004 08:44:28 -0700, "Scott"
<anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote:

>I want to be able to use SQLMail to send me alerts on
>task failures, etc. Microsoft says we have to use a MAPI
>client like MS Outlook to take advantage of this feature.
>However, when I talk with my system administrators about
>placing Outlook or similar mail clients on the server
>they get all upset and scream about security. Are there
>alternatives to Outlook that are more secure or less
>intrusive or anything that would make the sa's happy and
>still be able to use SQLMail?|||Agree with Sue. XPSMTP is a viable alternative.

Alternatives to ODBC in Access 2000

Hello All,

Have a bit of a problem that I hope someone will be able to clarify. I have an Access 2000 mdb that connects to two SQL Servers by way of ODBC. Now due to several failures with OBDC (Would get ODBC errors when the connection to SQL was proven not to be down), my boss wants me to eliminate ODBC from the equation and directly connect to the SQL Servers. Now he has suggested I use SQLOLEDB as an alternative, but thus far I seem to only be able to implement this on the VB side of it, which would mean I'd have to send all my SELECTS UPDATES DELETES etc manually, which would turn a minor update into a complete overhaul. I know there is a way to link tables directly with SQL in Access 2002, is there a similar option in 2000, and how would I go about it?

Thanks!Did a little research and it seems possible to use ADP files with SQLOLEDB, but I don't know how or even what ADP files are.

Alternatives to MS Outlook MAPI client

I want to be able to use SQLMail to send me alerts on
task failures, etc. Microsoft says we have to use a MAPI
client like MS Outlook to take advantage of this feature.
However, when I talk with my system administrators about
placing Outlook or similar mail clients on the server
they get all upset and scream about security. Are there
alternatives to Outlook that are more secure or less
intrusive or anything that would make the sa's happy and
still be able to use SQLMail?
This will give you some options...
http://www.karaszi.com/sqlserver/info_no_mapi.asp
Tibor Karaszi, SQL Server MVP
http://www.karaszi.com/sqlserver/default.asp
"Scott" <anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:b64801c4376e$a48eaac0$a301280a@.phx.gbl...
> I want to be able to use SQLMail to send me alerts on
> task failures, etc. Microsoft says we have to use a MAPI
> client like MS Outlook to take advantage of this feature.
> However, when I talk with my system administrators about
> placing Outlook or similar mail clients on the server
> they get all upset and scream about security. Are there
> alternatives to Outlook that are more secure or less
> intrusive or anything that would make the sa's happy and
> still be able to use SQLMail?
|||Thanks Tibor for the information. I've downloaded
everything and I've gotten the mailing feature to work.
But when I setup the DBMaint SMTP Alerter I see that it
appears to be working also (through Profiler) but it
never sends an email? Any suggestions?

>--Original Message--
>This will give you some options...
>http://www.karaszi.com/sqlserver/info_no_mapi.asp
>--
>Tibor Karaszi, SQL Server MVP
>http://www.karaszi.com/sqlserver/default.asp
>
>"Scott" <anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:b64801c4376e$a48eaac0$a301280a@.phx.gbl...[vbcol=seagreen]
MAPI[vbcol=seagreen]
feature.[vbcol=seagreen]
about[vbcol=seagreen]
and
>
>.
>
|||Do you see and calls to xp_smtp_sendmail in the profiler trace?
Tibor Karaszi, SQL Server MVP
http://www.karaszi.com/sqlserver/default.asp
<anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:b97601c437a6$fd4876e0$a101280a@.phx.gbl...[vbcol=seagreen]
> Thanks Tibor for the information. I've downloaded
> everything and I've gotten the mailing feature to work.
> But when I setup the DBMaint SMTP Alerter I see that it
> appears to be working also (through Profiler) but it
> never sends an email? Any suggestions?
> message news:b64801c4376e$a48eaac0$a301280a@.phx.gbl...
> MAPI
> feature.
> about
> and
|||Hi Tibor,
Is it possible to use Mozilla Thunderbird instead of
Outlook?

>--Original Message--
>This will give you some options...
>http://www.karaszi.com/sqlserver/info_no_mapi.asp
>--
>Tibor Karaszi, SQL Server MVP
>http://www.karaszi.com/sqlserver/default.asp
>
>"Scott" <anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:b64801c4376e$a48eaac0$a301280a@.phx.gbl...[vbcol=seagreen]
MAPI[vbcol=seagreen]
feature.[vbcol=seagreen]
about[vbcol=seagreen]
and
>
>.
>
|||I don't know... Is it MAPI compliant (extended for SQL Mail and Simple for Agent Mail)?
Tibor Karaszi, SQL Server MVP
http://www.karaszi.com/sqlserver/default.asp
"Scott" <anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:cb9d01c43933$782ff260$a401280a@.phx.gbl...[vbcol=seagreen]
> Hi Tibor,
> Is it possible to use Mozilla Thunderbird instead of
> Outlook?
> message news:b64801c4376e$a48eaac0$a301280a@.phx.gbl...
> MAPI
> feature.
> about
> and
|||I can't find anything that says it is or isn't a MAPI
client. I also can't find anything that shows somebody
using it for SQL Mail and Agent Mail.

>--Original Message--
>I don't know... Is it MAPI compliant (extended for SQL
Mail and Simple for Agent Mail)?
>--
>Tibor Karaszi, SQL Server MVP
>http://www.karaszi.com/sqlserver/default.asp
>
>"Scott" <anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in
message news:cb9d01c43933$782ff260$a401280a@.phx.gbl...[vbcol=seagreen]
on[vbcol=seagreen]
server[vbcol=seagreen]
there
>
>.
>
|||My guess is that it is not MAPI compliant. Just a guess, though...
Tibor Karaszi, SQL Server MVP
http://www.karaszi.com/sqlserver/default.asp
<anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message news:d2b901c439c3$b0afe560$a601280a@.phx.gbl...[vbcol=seagreen]
> I can't find anything that says it is or isn't a MAPI
> client. I also can't find anything that shows somebody
> using it for SQL Mail and Agent Mail.
> Mail and Simple for Agent Mail)?

Alternatives to MS Outlook for SQLMail

I want to be able to use SQLMail to send me alerts on
task failures, etc. Microsoft says we have to use a MAPI
client like MS Outlook to take advantage of this feature.
However, when I talk with my system administrators about
placing Outlook or similar mail clients on the server
they get all upset and scream about security. Are there
alternatives to Outlook that are more secure or less
intrusive or anything that would make the sa's happy and
still be able to use SQLMail?
You can use xp_smtp_sendmail from www.sqldev.net
It isn't nearly as integrated as SQL Mail, but by adding a few steps to your
SQL Agent jobs, you can get most of the same functionality. It is very
stable and does exactly what the documentation says it does.
Geoff N. Hiten
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
Senior Database Administrator
Careerbuilder.com
I support the Professional Association for SQL Server
www.sqlpass.org
"Scott" <anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:b5e401c4376e$bd66d5e0$a601280a@.phx.gbl...
> I want to be able to use SQLMail to send me alerts on
> task failures, etc. Microsoft says we have to use a MAPI
> client like MS Outlook to take advantage of this feature.
> However, when I talk with my system administrators about
> placing Outlook or similar mail clients on the server
> they get all upset and scream about security. Are there
> alternatives to Outlook that are more secure or less
> intrusive or anything that would make the sa's happy and
> still be able to use SQLMail?
|||"Scott" <anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:b5e401c4376e$bd66d5e0$a601280a@.phx.gbl...

> I want to be able to use SQLMail to send me alerts on
> task failures, etc. Microsoft says we have to use a MAPI
> client like MS Outlook to take advantage of this feature.
> However, when I talk with my system administrators about
> placing Outlook or similar mail clients on the server
> they get all upset and scream about security.
do you blame them ? installing Outlook on a database server is nuts ...
|||http://www.aspfaq.com/2403
Aaron Bertrand
SQL Server MVP
http://www.aspfaq.com/
"Scott" <anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:b5e401c4376e$bd66d5e0$a601280a@.phx.gbl...
> I want to be able to use SQLMail to send me alerts on
> task failures, etc. Microsoft says we have to use a MAPI
> client like MS Outlook to take advantage of this feature.
> However, when I talk with my system administrators about
> placing Outlook or similar mail clients on the server
> they get all upset and scream about security. Are there
> alternatives to Outlook that are more secure or less
> intrusive or anything that would make the sa's happy and
> still be able to use SQLMail?
|||"Aaron Bertrand - MVP" <aaron@.TRASHaspfaq.com> wrote in message
news:uF33JP3NEHA.3124@.TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> http://www.aspfaq.com/2403
Aaron, I'm off-topic here but I notice you have an RSS feed on ASPFAQ; what
client do you recommend ? Thanks ...
|||Should work in pretty much any, I don't have a personal preference...
Aaron Bertrand
SQL Server MVP
http://www.aspfaq.com/
"Liz" <liz@.tiredofspam.com> wrote in message
news:eIpSqv3NEHA.3016@.tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> "Aaron Bertrand - MVP" <aaron@.TRASHaspfaq.com> wrote in message
> news:uF33JP3NEHA.3124@.TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> Aaron, I'm off-topic here but I notice you have an RSS feed on ASPFAQ;
what
> client do you recommend ? Thanks ...
>
>

Alternatives to MS Outlook for SQLMail

I want to be able to use SQLMail to send me alerts on
task failures, etc. Microsoft says we have to use a MAPI
client like MS Outlook to take advantage of this feature.
However, when I talk with my system administrators about
placing Outlook or similar mail clients on the server
they get all upset and scream about security. Are there
alternatives to Outlook that are more secure or less
intrusive or anything that would make the sa's happy and
still be able to use SQLMail?You can use xp_smtp_sendmail from www.sqldev.net
It isn't nearly as integrated as SQL Mail, but by adding a few steps to your
SQL Agent jobs, you can get most of the same functionality. It is very
stable and does exactly what the documentation says it does.
Geoff N. Hiten
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
Senior Database Administrator
Careerbuilder.com
I support the Professional Association for SQL Server
www.sqlpass.org
"Scott" <anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:b5e401c4376e$bd66d5e0$a601280a@.phx.gbl...
> I want to be able to use SQLMail to send me alerts on
> task failures, etc. Microsoft says we have to use a MAPI
> client like MS Outlook to take advantage of this feature.
> However, when I talk with my system administrators about
> placing Outlook or similar mail clients on the server
> they get all upset and scream about security. Are there
> alternatives to Outlook that are more secure or less
> intrusive or anything that would make the sa's happy and
> still be able to use SQLMail?|||"Scott" <anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:b5e401c4376e$bd66d5e0$a601280a@.phx.gbl...

> I want to be able to use SQLMail to send me alerts on
> task failures, etc. Microsoft says we have to use a MAPI
> client like MS Outlook to take advantage of this feature.
> However, when I talk with my system administrators about
> placing Outlook or similar mail clients on the server
> they get all upset and scream about security.
do you blame them ? installing Outlook on a database server is nuts ...|||http://www.aspfaq.com/2403
Aaron Bertrand
SQL Server MVP
http://www.aspfaq.com/
"Scott" <anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:b5e401c4376e$bd66d5e0$a601280a@.phx.gbl...
> I want to be able to use SQLMail to send me alerts on
> task failures, etc. Microsoft says we have to use a MAPI
> client like MS Outlook to take advantage of this feature.
> However, when I talk with my system administrators about
> placing Outlook or similar mail clients on the server
> they get all upset and scream about security. Are there
> alternatives to Outlook that are more secure or less
> intrusive or anything that would make the sa's happy and
> still be able to use SQLMail?|||"Aaron Bertrand - MVP" <aaron@.TRASHaspfaq.com> wrote in message
news:uF33JP3NEHA.3124@.TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> http://www.aspfaq.com/2403
Aaron, I'm off-topic here but I notice you have an RSS feed on ASPFAQ; what
client do you recommend ? Thanks ...|||Should work in pretty much any, I don't have a personal preference...
Aaron Bertrand
SQL Server MVP
http://www.aspfaq.com/
"Liz" <liz@.tiredofspam.com> wrote in message
news:eIpSqv3NEHA.3016@.tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> "Aaron Bertrand - MVP" <aaron@.TRASHaspfaq.com> wrote in message
> news:uF33JP3NEHA.3124@.TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> Aaron, I'm off-topic here but I notice you have an RSS feed on ASPFAQ;
what
> client do you recommend ? Thanks ...
>
>

Alternatives to MS Outlook for SQLMail

I want to be able to use SQLMail to send me alerts on
task failures, etc. Microsoft says we have to use a MAPI
client like MS Outlook to take advantage of this feature.
However, when I talk with my system administrators about
placing Outlook or similar mail clients on the server
they get all upset and scream about security. Are there
alternatives to Outlook that are more secure or less
intrusive or anything that would make the sa's happy and
still be able to use SQLMail?You can use xp_smtp_sendmail from www.sqldev.net
It isn't nearly as integrated as SQL Mail, but by adding a few steps to your
SQL Agent jobs, you can get most of the same functionality. It is very
stable and does exactly what the documentation says it does.
--
Geoff N. Hiten
Microsoft SQL Server MVP
Senior Database Administrator
Careerbuilder.com
I support the Professional Association for SQL Server
www.sqlpass.org
"Scott" <anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:b5e401c4376e$bd66d5e0$a601280a@.phx.gbl...
> I want to be able to use SQLMail to send me alerts on
> task failures, etc. Microsoft says we have to use a MAPI
> client like MS Outlook to take advantage of this feature.
> However, when I talk with my system administrators about
> placing Outlook or similar mail clients on the server
> they get all upset and scream about security. Are there
> alternatives to Outlook that are more secure or less
> intrusive or anything that would make the sa's happy and
> still be able to use SQLMail?|||"Scott" <anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:b5e401c4376e$bd66d5e0$a601280a@.phx.gbl...
> I want to be able to use SQLMail to send me alerts on
> task failures, etc. Microsoft says we have to use a MAPI
> client like MS Outlook to take advantage of this feature.
> However, when I talk with my system administrators about
> placing Outlook or similar mail clients on the server
> they get all upset and scream about security.
do you blame them ? installing Outlook on a database server is nuts ...|||http://www.aspfaq.com/2403
--
Aaron Bertrand
SQL Server MVP
http://www.aspfaq.com/
"Scott" <anonymous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:b5e401c4376e$bd66d5e0$a601280a@.phx.gbl...
> I want to be able to use SQLMail to send me alerts on
> task failures, etc. Microsoft says we have to use a MAPI
> client like MS Outlook to take advantage of this feature.
> However, when I talk with my system administrators about
> placing Outlook or similar mail clients on the server
> they get all upset and scream about security. Are there
> alternatives to Outlook that are more secure or less
> intrusive or anything that would make the sa's happy and
> still be able to use SQLMail?|||"Aaron Bertrand - MVP" <aaron@.TRASHaspfaq.com> wrote in message
news:uF33JP3NEHA.3124@.TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> http://www.aspfaq.com/2403
Aaron, I'm off-topic here but I notice you have an RSS feed on ASPFAQ; what
client do you recommend ? Thanks ...|||Should work in pretty much any, I don't have a personal preference...
--
Aaron Bertrand
SQL Server MVP
http://www.aspfaq.com/
"Liz" <liz@.tiredofspam.com> wrote in message
news:eIpSqv3NEHA.3016@.tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> "Aaron Bertrand - MVP" <aaron@.TRASHaspfaq.com> wrote in message
> news:uF33JP3NEHA.3124@.TK2MSFTNGP12.phx.gbl...
> > http://www.aspfaq.com/2403
> Aaron, I'm off-topic here but I notice you have an RSS feed on ASPFAQ;
what
> client do you recommend ? Thanks ...
>
>

Alternatives to Merge Replication

Hi,

Can anyone help me with third party tools that perform the same way as SQL Servers Merge replication.

What is wrong with Merge Replication?|||

Following is my problem

I am using SQL Server 2000 Merge Replication. Sometimes when the data is replicated there are conflicts which when examined show it is due to voliation of foreign key constraint. But the data (keys) in already present in the master tables. This is so because i think the data in the details table is relpicated first instead of the master table. The conflicts are resolved properly when done using the conflict viewer.

|||

In SQL 2000 you can choose not to replicate foreign key constraints or replicate them and mark them as NOT FOR REPLICATION. See BOL topic http://msdn2.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms152529.aspx.

In SQL 2005, we have better retry logic as well as article ordering which greatly reduces the need to resolve conflicts if the above doesn't work for you.

Alternatives to CURSORs

Hi all

I have often come across discussions on this forum saying that CURSORs are expensive in time (processing power?).

Having used CURSORs to processing a mere 2000+ record (not much at all) which took a fair while to complete, I now realize why you guys are saying CURSORs are expensive.

But is there alternatives to using CURSORs in the situation where I try to process every records returned by a particular query?

Say for example, i want to update columns that comes from different tables for every record that is returned by a SELECT JOIN query. there is no way that i can do that with a single UPDATE statement cause i can't do JOIN with UPDATE query.

All comments welcome

James :)well u can :
update a set aa= b.bb
from table_a a
inner join table_b b on a.key = b.key

since in cursors u use loops try :
loop on numeric key in table

select @.i = Min(int_key) From Tablename
while @.i <= (select @.Max(int_key) From Tablename)
begin
.
.

end|||yes you can join tables in the from clause of an update statement
[BOL] UPDATE (described)

check out example 'C' at the bottom of the help document|||Thank you guys.

Is it standard ANSI to use join in an update query? Although it would make sense that it is. I have tried it before without success for some reason. :( I will try it again.

James :)|||No, JOIN operations in an UPDATE are explicitly forbidden by the ISO, and were never addressed by ANSI. While JOIN operations in an UPDATE can be convenient, they violate most of the rules of relational algebra. Sybase and Microsoft are the only commercially successful engines I can think of that support them.

-PatP|||Really?

So in Oracle, for instance, you can't execute a statement like:

update A
set A.Column = NewValue
from A
inner join B on A.Key = B.Value

?

ANSI or not, that's pretty simple and pretty convenient too.|||Originally posted by Pat Phelan
No, JOIN operations in an UPDATE are explicitly forbidden by the ISO, and were never addressed by ANSI. While JOIN operations in an UPDATE can be convenient, they violate most of the rules of relational algebra. Sybase and Microsoft are the only commercially successful engines I can think of that support them.

-PatP

Nope...even DB2 OS/390 can do it now...it's just extremely painful...

But we did have a very good thread where we discussed how I "crossed the line" and broke the rules...

I gotta look it up...|||Here it is...

Bookmarked it...

http://www.dbforums.com/showthread.php?threadid=989508|||subqueries are useful here, as they provide for the referencing of tables.
normally in a complex update or delete i will create a query that doesnt change the data and after i recieve the correct results, i will use it as a subquery for the update\delete stmt. especially if the sarg is a dynamic value.

update t1
set c2 = x
where col3 in (select col3 from t2
where col4 = x)

however, be carefull with subqueries as they can have some definite disadvantages. specifically correlated subqueries

in addition when you join tables in an update\delete, the sql optimizer has a great deal of flexibility with the join operations where in the subquery the inner and outer queries kind of restrict the optimizers options.|||Originally posted by blindman
Really?

So in Oracle, for instance, you can't execute a statement like:

update A
set A.Column = NewValue
from A
inner join B on A.Key = B.Value

?

ANSI or not, that's pretty simple and pretty convenient too. I rarely think of Oracle, or at least I try not to.

I didn't realize that DB2 supported this form of blaspheme. I'm sure that it is great fun listening to Celko on this topic!

-PatP|||It's just so damn useful...in the (DB2) old days when it didn't, you had to either use a cursor, or genrate the satements and then execute them in a batch...|||As far back as I can remember, DB2 supported sub-queries. Sub-queries are safe to use in an UPDATE as long as they are stochastic and deterministic. I don't know when DB2 added support for JOIN operations within an UPDATE.

-PatP|||I think it was back in V5...

and whoah...

had to look that one up

http://www.hyperdictionary.com/dictionary/stochastic|||Ooops, my bad. I meant non-stochastic. Sorry.

-PatP|||Thought it was kind of like oil and water...

alternatives to crystal reports

does anyone know of any alternatives to crystal reports?I personally believe an Etch-A-Sketch is a valid alternative to Crystal Reports.

Try HTML web pages, MS Access, CSV files that can be imported into Excel, etc.

Here's a typical scenario I have to deal with: Crystal Reports is used to format data from a SQL Server stored procedure. The formatted report is then exported to Microsoft Excel (Crystal is lousy at exporting to Excel) and the Excel file is then E-mailed to the customer, who probably procedes to strip out all the formatting to put the file in a simple tabular format that they can actually use. The point is, it would be better just to pipe the data from the stored procedure directly to a CSV file which could easily be opened by Excel.

Find out how your users are actually going to USE the data, and you can probably find an alternative that will please everybody.

blindman|||going along with blindman's thoughts, I use the office web components from microsoft pretty extensively. There is a hithc though Microsoft has some licensing issues with them (everyone hitting the site must be licensed for microsoft office)

http://www.microsoft.com/downloads/details.aspx?FamilyId=BEB5D477-2100-4586-A13C-50E56F101720&displaylang=en|||I'd love to see Bill Gates' prenuptial agreement. Do you suppose his wife said "I do" or did she just click on "I accept"? One things for sure, they don't have an open-source marriage!|||What they really want is a bi-monthly/weekly report/presentation, so they dont really use the data themsleves, just for sales purposes......so a solution that would enable me to produce quality presentation reports would be ideal.........|||If your reports ar just into data presentation without using charts and graphs, try using Active Reports. Its interface and concept of reporting follows the reporting used in MS Access.|||Unfortuneately they require charts and graphs rather than raw tables of data........so I dont think this would be a viable option...i maybe wrong of course!|||I think an access data projects (ADP file) would suit your requirements. Crystal has some nifty features that Access reports do not, but I think Access' ease of use, compatibility, and simplicity of design makes it a good choice. You can embed MS Graph object into your reports. (OK, MS Graph stinks, but I don't know what other alternatives there are to MS Graph.)

Also, have you considered building web page interface that could server as an "Executive Information System"? Then your bigwigs could just browse to the information they want during presentations to get the latest numbers.

blindman|||Yeah, we have considered this but its way down the line yet but defineately in a possibility...........our data is stored in an SQL server database.will this effect anything?|||SQL Server should be capable of handling this. Access ADP files provide a nice, simple interface to SQL Server databases.

blindman|||Originally posted by achowe
does anyone know of any alternatives to crystal reports?

This is a high-end alternative to CRW:

http://www.brio.com/products/overview.html

Alternatives to builtin graphs

Is there any possible way to bundle my reports with references to other
controls to build a visual representation of data? I realize that this is
all informational, but I've got a problem with the stock graphs, they look
HORRIBLE.
Anyway, thanks in advance
WestonNot with this version. I gather the next version will have more options
along this line (release date in November).
Bruce Loehle-Conger
MVP SQL Server Reporting Services
"Weston Weems" <wweems@.NOSPAMno-span-gmail.com> wrote in message
news:eR18CVagFHA.2444@.tk2msftngp13.phx.gbl...
> Is there any possible way to bundle my reports with references to other
> controls to build a visual representation of data? I realize that this is
> all informational, but I've got a problem with the stock graphs, they look
> HORRIBLE.
> Anyway, thanks in advance
> Weston
>