OLAP on SQL Express - sql-server-express

I'm wondering if there is any desktop OLAP solution that can use SQL Express (and therefore does not require Analysis Services)
I've been tasked with finding a way to allow our customers to do 'Ad-Hoc' reports, but the vast majority of them are on Sql Express, In previous jobs, customers have had Analysis Services and typically Cognos or Crystal Reports, so all that was required was to design the cube.


SQL Express is pretty limited, I don't know of any OLAP capabilities.
Although, we use DevExpress OLAP Pivot Grid with ROLAP to get around this problem.
Just create a cube-like SQL query and plug it in.
SELECT productname, reasonforsale, salestotal
FROM orderdetail


You can get editions of SQL server express with SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) this would allow you design reports without the expense of Crystal or Business objects.
Here is the link to the download page. Just select the option on the far right in either 32 or 64 bit flavour depending on what you are running
http://www.microsoft.com/express/Database/InstallOptions.aspx


There is PowerPivot Add-in for Excel. It is an ssas engine with in-memory storage and a powerful expression language called DAX that allows you to load all kinds of data sources and create model/s in Excel itself. It has an engine called Vertipaq that highly compresses the underlying data allowing millions of rows to be sliced and diced.
Regards,
Hrvoje


You can use icCube on the desktop to connect to SQL Express.


You can create your own .NET or Delphi application (Desktop or Web) imbedding RadarCube components of Direct edition.
The OlapCube component has a visual designer to create a cube structure (Dimensions, Hierarchies) and ROLAP engine to build cubes and process queries.
The OlapAnalysis component provides Visual Analysis tools with Pivot Grid/Chart functionality.
https://www.radar-soft.com/

Related

Is there a simple GUI to create SQL Server Queries and operations?

I have created a Database in SQL Server using MS SQL Management studio.
I'm looking for a simple GUI tool to easily search in the database or add new data to the database.
for example, if my database stores links for pictures - each picture has some tables like location, objects, animals, lighting etc.
I want to be able to search the database, so i can choose of a box list for each table instead of Querying through the SQL.
i understand this can be done with Sharepoint and MS Access, but i recon it's too complicated.
any thoughts and ideas?
thnx.

Try using EMS SQL Manager for SQL Server - it has free Lite version which ones limitations are acceptable.
Also you may try DevArt's dbForge Studio for SQL Server - this product's progress is very impressive. It's one of the best solutions for managing SQL Server.

Converting an Access database to SQL

I am a programmer and am wanting to undertake a project of converting an Access database to an SQL database.
Is this pretty easy to do? Can I just use a tool to create all the tables with the same names and 'copy' over the data?
I know that Access has built in reporting features. Does SQL have these reporting features? If not, is it easy to create them?

You just need to import your access to sql server database.
Check this tutorial:
Importing Microsoft Access 2007 Database Tables into SQL Server
Regards

MS Access is not a database at all, by default, it uses the Jet or ACE database to store data, but Access will also work perfectly well with data stored in a number of other databases, MS SQL included. There is no need to change from an MS Access front-end when you are moving the tables to a new back-end. SQL Server does not have all the user-interface and reporting tools that MS Access has, it is a database, not "a rapid application database development and reporting tool"

Try this one its free from microsoft.

report builder 3.0

I am in the process of evaluiting Ad-Hoc reporting tool on top SQL Server 2008 R2. I would like to know what are the limitations around the Report Builder 3.0 which comes with SQL server.
What reports we can do in VS 2008 with BIDS and which we can not do in Report Builder 3.0 We are trying to answer what can be done what can be done with Report Builder.
Please share your real time experiance

We went through this same evaluation not that long ago. Basically BIDS and Report Builder 2/3 allow you to do the same thing. Report Builder is for those users who want to create or modify their own reports without needing to install BIDS. Report Builder has a Microsoft Office look and feel. It has the ribbon controls similar to Excel and Word. The same .RDL or .RDLC is generated by both. However, Report Builder 3 only targets SSRS 2008 R2. The .RDL format has changed for SSRS 2008 R2.
Either way the report can be deployed to an SSRS server, Sharepoint or the Microsoft Report Viewer (for .RDLC files).
As you may or may not know, there is no BIDS for Visual Studio 2010 (yet). If you want to use BIDS, you'll need to use VS 2008, which targets SQL Server 2008.

I think for a Power User who already has gone through tools like Cognos and Business Objects, the reprot builder 3.0 seems to lack lot of features while reporting against the cube. Here are the main.
I cannot create a variable which I can use in multiple tables in the report. I thought I could use "calculated member" but it does not let me use any kind of aggregate function on any of the objects against the cube as it treats everything as aggregate objects.
I cannot use a simple "OR" statement in the query filter.
Power user while building the report need to always pay attention to "row group", which I think is frustrating. In other tools the measure or fact groups it only groups by the dimension u have in the table.
Row limitations while exporting to excel.

How to include a database's views in the SQL Reporting Services Model

I am new to SQL Reporting Services. I need to create a report from a SQL view in my database. When I add the database as a data source and generate a model from that data source, the model includes the database's tables, but not its views.
Is there a way to include the views in the model so I can use them in my report?
Additional Details: Using SQL Server and Reporting Services 2005

A friend pointed out that the problem here is that a model is not necessary for what I want to do. The reason I thought it was necessary is because Report Builder 1.0 requires you to select a model when you create the report. Business Intelligence Development Studio, however, does not (Neither do Report Builder versions 2+).
I will be making the report in Business Intelligence Development Studio instead.

http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms345300%28v=sql.105%29.aspx
This is a useful link to create a model via Business Intelligence Studio (which can include views too).

Access vs SqlServer for a Simple Database

I am currently developing a very simple database that tracks people and the company certifications they hold. This db will need to store letters of certification as PDF files. I was asked to develop this in MS Access, but I think it would be better to build it in SQLServer and use Windows Forms to build the interface. This app will need to be accessible from a public location like a share drive.
My question is, would it be better to do this in SQLServer like I think, or am I full of it and my boss is right on the money? Or are we both wrong?

A good alternative to Access which I use a lot is SQL Server Compact (SqlCe). This is a completely different product than SQL Server Express/Standard/etc. It is an in-process database like Access, it does not run as a separate process or service.
It is free
Full ACID support
Supports multiple connections
Full transactional support
Referential integrity (including cascading updates and deletes)
Locking
T-SQL syntax and SQL Server data types (same API as SQL Server)
Small footprint (~2 MB)
Easy deployment (supports ClickOnce, MSI, XCopy, etc)
Database is contained in a single file you can move around
Supports ADO.NET, LINQ to SQL, LINQ to Entities.

This is an extremely difficult question, without an understanding of the scale of the application. In my opinion, I wouldn't touch Access with a 33.5 ft pole.
Benefits of Access:
No dedicated machine necessary
No problems with portability
Benefits of SQL Server
Better SQL compliance
Better management control
Are you planning to store PDF files in the DB? If so, why?
I choose SQL Server.

An application built on SQL Server will be more robust and support more users than one built on MS Access.
An application built on MS Access can be easier to debug because there is a lack of a server, lack of significant multi-user support, and the entire database sits in a single file on disk that is easily copied around.
Given that, in almost every case, I choose SQL Server over MS Access.

Argh, do the world a favour & use SQL server. Express editions are free, and plenty powerfull enough for your requirements. You can even continue to do the form/report/UI design in Access if you so desire, it can hook up to SQL Server very easily and transparently.
Pros of SQL over access: concurrency, scalablity, reliabiliy, less future developers trying to hunt you down and kill you.
I would almost never use access for a db if I could avoid it, now that SQL Express exists.

If I were you I'd go with what some of the others said and use SQL Express:
http://www.microsoft.com/express/sql/default.aspx
You get all the benefits of a true SQL environment FOR FREE! You can even use the SQL Management Studio as well as leverage Reporting Services (if you download the advanced pack). Download link below:
http://www.microsoft.com/express/sql/download/
Which edition of SQL Server 2008 Express is right for you?
SQL Server 2008 Express is available in the following 3 editions (each is available from the Install Wizard):
SQL Server 2008 Express with Tools
SQL Server database engine - create, store, update and retrieve your data
SQL Server Management Studio Basic - visual database management tool for creating, editing and managing databases
SQL Server 2008 Express with Advanced Services
SQL Server database engine - create, store, update and retrieve your data
SQL Server Management Studio Basic - visual database management tool for creating, editing and managing databases
Full-text Search - powerful, high-speed engine for searching text-intensive data
Reporting Services - integrated report creation and design environment to create reports
SQL Server 2008 Express (Runtime Only)
SQL Server database engine - create, store, update and retrieve your data
SQL Server 2008 Management Studio Express (SSMSE)
Free, easy-to-use graphical management tool for configuring, managing, and administering SQL Server 2008 Express. It can also manage multiple instances of the SQL Server Database Engine created by any edition of SQL Server 2008 including Workgroup, Web, Standard and Enterprise.
Note: This separate download is designed for customers who have previously installed SQL Server 2008 Express (Runtime Only). If you are looking to download SQL Server Express and SSMSE for the first time, please download the SQL Server 2008 Express with Tools from the Install Wizard.
Access, to me, is really a hobbyist tool or for REALLY basic local projects at this point that just hasn't been phased out yet. I'd definitely look to using SQL Express, plus it makes it that much easier to upgrade if you get beyond the 4 GB database barrier in the future.

Go with what you have the best skills in - Access is great for a variety of projects andit can scale really well if you know what you're doing. Conversely, a bad programmer could do an app in Win Forms and SQL Server and produce a badly performing monster.
I personally would go with SQL Express and a Win Forms or ASP.Net front-end as experience shows that these small projects can easily develop over time in to much bigger applications than was originally planned and a well structured database built on SQL Server can scale up more readily to more users if needed.

Hard to say without understand the environment. It could be that all users have Access, but no desktops have .NET Framework (although this would be hard to believe). Maybe all their applications are on Access and that's all the developers and users there know.
Given all that nonsense tho, You ought to use SQL Server Express 2008 and Visual Studio 2008 Express. Hope I don't get you fired. :)

If the application is, as you said, a very simple database, that's what access is precisely for, creating simple databases. You can write both the database and the application forms within the same environment and users won't need to get anything installed.
Be careful though with concurrent access to your application. If you go for the access solution, multiple users won't be able to use the application at the same time. If you want this to happen, you will need the database and the application being apart. This doesn't mean that the DB needs to be SQL server, you can still use Access as your database if you don't require the power of a more complex engine.
EDIT: Just read on a comment that you are planning to have 10 users and less than 1000 records. FORGET about SQL server, you will be wasting your money. No matter if you decide to go for a simple all-access solution or for a distributed web application or desktop app with remote storage, Access is hundreds of times more powerful that what you need. Even for the "toy-ish" engine that access is, you are not using a 1% of it.