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📄 Contents

  1. SQL Server Reference Guide
  2. Introduction
  3. SQL Server Reference Guide Overview
  4. Table of Contents
  5. Microsoft SQL Server Defined
  6. SQL Server Editions
  7. SQL Server Access
  8. Informit Articles and Sample Chapters
  9. Online Resources
  10. Microsoft SQL Server Features
  11. SQL Server Books Online
  12. Clustering Services
  13. Data Transformation Services (DTS) Overview
  14. Replication Services
  15. Database Mirroring
  16. Natural Language Processing (NLP)
  17. Analysis Services
  18. Microsot SQL Server Reporting Services
  19. XML Overview
  20. Notification Services for the DBA
  21. Full-Text Search
  22. SQL Server 2005 - Service Broker
  23. Using SQL Server as a Web Service
  24. SQL Server Encryption Options Overview
  25. SQL Server 2008 Overview
  26. SQL Server 2008 R2 Overview
  27. SQL Azure
  28. The Utility Control Point and Data Application Component, Part 1
  29. The Utility Control Point and Data Application Component, Part 2
  30. Microsoft SQL Server Administration
  31. The DBA Survival Guide: The 10 Minute SQL Server Overview
  32. Preparing (or Tuning) a Windows System for SQL Server, Part 1
  33. Preparing (or Tuning) a Windows System for SQL Server, Part 2
  34. Installing SQL Server
  35. Upgrading SQL Server
  36. SQL Server 2000 Management Tools
  37. SQL Server 2005 Management Tools
  38. SQL Server 2008 Management Tools
  39. SQL Azure Tools
  40. Automating Tasks with SQL Server Agent
  41. Run Operating System Commands in SQL Agent using PowerShell
  42. Automating Tasks Without SQL Server Agent
  43. Storage – SQL Server I/O
  44. Service Packs, Hotfixes and Cumulative Upgrades
  45. Tracking SQL Server Information with Error and Event Logs
  46. Change Management
  47. SQL Server Metadata, Part One
  48. SQL Server Meta-Data, Part Two
  49. Monitoring - SQL Server 2005 Dynamic Views and Functions
  50. Monitoring - Performance Monitor
  51. Unattended Performance Monitoring for SQL Server
  52. Monitoring - User-Defined Performance Counters
  53. Monitoring: SQL Server Activity Monitor
  54. SQL Server Instances
  55. DBCC Commands
  56. SQL Server and Mail
  57. Database Maintenance Checklist
  58. The Maintenance Wizard: SQL Server 2000 and Earlier
  59. The Maintenance Wizard: SQL Server 2005 (SP2) and Later
  60. The Web Assistant Wizard
  61. Creating Web Pages from SQL Server
  62. SQL Server Security
  63. Securing the SQL Server Platform, Part 1
  64. Securing the SQL Server Platform, Part 2
  65. SQL Server Security: Users and other Principals
  66. SQL Server Security – Roles
  67. SQL Server Security: Objects (Securables)
  68. Security: Using the Command Line
  69. SQL Server Security - Encrypting Connections
  70. SQL Server Security: Encrypting Data
  71. SQL Server Security Audit
  72. High Availability - SQL Server Clustering
  73. SQL Server Configuration, Part 1
  74. SQL Server Configuration, Part 2
  75. Database Configuration Options
  76. 32- vs 64-bit Computing for SQL Server
  77. SQL Server and Memory
  78. Performance Tuning: Introduction to Indexes
  79. Statistical Indexes
  80. Backup and Recovery
  81. Backup and Recovery Examples, Part One
  82. Backup and Recovery Examples, Part Two: Transferring Databases to Another System (Even Without Backups)
  83. SQL Profiler - Reverse Engineering An Application
  84. SQL Trace
  85. SQL Server Alerts
  86. Files and Filegroups
  87. Partitioning
  88. Full-Text Indexes
  89. Read-Only Data
  90. SQL Server Locks
  91. Monitoring Locking and Deadlocking
  92. Controlling Locks in SQL Server
  93. SQL Server Policy-Based Management, Part One
  94. SQL Server Policy-Based Management, Part Two
  95. SQL Server Policy-Based Management, Part Three
  96. Microsoft SQL Server Programming
  97. An Outline for Development
  98. Database
  99. Database Services
  100. Database Objects: Databases
  101. Database Objects: Tables
  102. Database Objects: Table Relationships
  103. Database Objects: Keys
  104. Database Objects: Constraints
  105. Database Objects: Data Types
  106. Database Objects: Views
  107. Database Objects: Stored Procedures
  108. Database Objects: Indexes
  109. Database Objects: User Defined Functions
  110. Database Objects: Triggers
  111. Database Design: Requirements, Entities, and Attributes
  112. Business Process Model Notation (BPMN) and the Data Professional
  113. Business Questions for Database Design, Part One
  114. Business Questions for Database Design, Part Two
  115. Database Design: Finalizing Requirements and Defining Relationships
  116. Database Design: Creating an Entity Relationship Diagram
  117. Database Design: The Logical ERD
  118. Database Design: Adjusting The Model
  119. Database Design: Normalizing the Model
  120. Creating The Physical Model
  121. Database Design: Changing Attributes to Columns
  122. Database Design: Creating The Physical Database
  123. Database Design Example: Curriculum Vitae
  124. NULLs
  125. The SQL Server Sample Databases
  126. The SQL Server Sample Databases: pubs
  127. The SQL Server Sample Databases: NorthWind
  128. The SQL Server Sample Databases: AdventureWorks
  129. The SQL Server Sample Databases: Adventureworks Derivatives
  130. UniversalDB: The Demo and Testing Database, Part 1
  131. UniversalDB: The Demo and Testing Database, Part 2
  132. UniversalDB: The Demo and Testing Database, Part 3
  133. UniversalDB: The Demo and Testing Database, Part 4
  134. Getting Started with Transact-SQL
  135. Transact-SQL: Data Definition Language (DDL) Basics
  136. Transact-SQL: Limiting Results
  137. Transact-SQL: More Operators
  138. Transact-SQL: Ordering and Aggregating Data
  139. Transact-SQL: Subqueries
  140. Transact-SQL: Joins
  141. Transact-SQL: Complex Joins - Building a View with Multiple JOINs
  142. Transact-SQL: Inserts, Updates, and Deletes
  143. An Introduction to the CLR in SQL Server 2005
  144. Design Elements Part 1: Programming Flow Overview, Code Format and Commenting your Code
  145. Design Elements Part 2: Controlling SQL's Scope
  146. Design Elements Part 3: Error Handling
  147. Design Elements Part 4: Variables
  148. Design Elements Part 5: Where Does The Code Live?
  149. Design Elements Part 6: Math Operators and Functions
  150. Design Elements Part 7: Statistical Functions
  151. Design Elements Part 8: Summarization Statistical Algorithms
  152. Design Elements Part 9:Representing Data with Statistical Algorithms
  153. Design Elements Part 10: Interpreting the Data—Regression
  154. Design Elements Part 11: String Manipulation
  155. Design Elements Part 12: Loops
  156. Design Elements Part 13: Recursion
  157. Design Elements Part 14: Arrays
  158. Design Elements Part 15: Event-Driven Programming Vs. Scheduled Processes
  159. Design Elements Part 16: Event-Driven Programming
  160. Design Elements Part 17: Program Flow
  161. Forming Queries Part 1: Design
  162. Forming Queries Part 2: Query Basics
  163. Forming Queries Part 3: Query Optimization
  164. Forming Queries Part 4: SET Options
  165. Forming Queries Part 5: Table Optimization Hints
  166. Using SQL Server Templates
  167. Transact-SQL Unit Testing
  168. Index Tuning Wizard
  169. Unicode and SQL Server
  170. SQL Server Development Tools
  171. The SQL Server Transact-SQL Debugger
  172. The Transact-SQL Debugger, Part 2
  173. Basic Troubleshooting for Transact-SQL Code
  174. An Introduction to Spatial Data in SQL Server 2008
  175. Performance Tuning
  176. Performance Tuning SQL Server: Tools and Processes
  177. Performance Tuning SQL Server: Tools Overview
  178. Creating a Performance Tuning Audit - Defining Components
  179. Creating a Performance Tuning Audit - Evaluation Part One
  180. Creating a Performance Tuning Audit - Evaluation Part Two
  181. Creating a Performance Tuning Audit - Interpretation
  182. Creating a Performance Tuning Audit - Developing an Action Plan
  183. Understanding SQL Server Query Plans
  184. Performance Tuning: Implementing Indexes
  185. Performance Monitoring Tools: Windows 2008 (and Higher) Server Utilities, Part 1
  186. Performance Monitoring Tools: Windows 2008 (and Higher) Server Utilities, Part 2
  187. Performance Monitoring Tools: Windows System Monitor
  188. Performance Monitoring Tools: Logging with System Monitor
  189. Performance Monitoring Tools: User Defined Counters
  190. General Transact-SQL (T-SQL) Performance Tuning, Part 1
  191. General Transact-SQL (T-SQL) Performance Tuning, Part 2
  192. General Transact-SQL (T-SQL) Performance Tuning, Part 3
  193. Performance Monitoring Tools: An Introduction to SQL Profiler
  194. Performance Tuning: Introduction to Indexes
  195. Performance Monitoring Tools: SQL Server 2000 Index Tuning Wizard
  196. Performance Monitoring Tools: SQL Server 2005 Database Tuning Advisor
  197. Performance Monitoring Tools: SQL Server Management Studio Reports
  198. Performance Monitoring Tools: SQL Server 2008 Activity Monitor
  199. The SQL Server 2008 Management Data Warehouse and Data Collector
  200. Performance Monitoring Tools: Evaluating Wait States with PowerShell and Excel
  201. Practical Applications
  202. Choosing the Back End
  203. The DBA's Toolbox, Part 1
  204. The DBA's Toolbox, Part 2
  205. Scripting Solutions for SQL Server
  206. Building a SQL Server Lab
  207. Using Graphics Files with SQL Server
  208. Enterprise Resource Planning
  209. Customer Relationship Management (CRM)
  210. Building a Reporting Data Server
  211. Building a Database Documenter, Part 1
  212. Building a Database Documenter, Part 2
  213. Data Management Objects
  214. Data Management Objects: The Server Object
  215. Data Management Objects: Server Object Methods
  216. Data Management Objects: Collections and the Database Object
  217. Data Management Objects: Database Information
  218. Data Management Objects: Database Control
  219. Data Management Objects: Database Maintenance
  220. Data Management Objects: Logging the Process
  221. Data Management Objects: Running SQL Statements
  222. Data Management Objects: Multiple Row Returns
  223. Data Management Objects: Other Database Objects
  224. Data Management Objects: Security
  225. Data Management Objects: Scripting
  226. Powershell and SQL Server - Overview
  227. PowerShell and SQL Server - Objects and Providers
  228. Powershell and SQL Server - A Script Framework
  229. Powershell and SQL Server - Logging the Process
  230. Powershell and SQL Server - Reading a Control File
  231. Powershell and SQL Server - SQL Server Access
  232. Powershell and SQL Server - Web Pages from a SQL Query
  233. Powershell and SQL Server - Scrubbing the Event Logs
  234. SQL Server 2008 PowerShell Provider
  235. SQL Server I/O: Importing and Exporting Data
  236. SQL Server I/O: XML in Database Terms
  237. SQL Server I/O: Creating XML Output
  238. SQL Server I/O: Reading XML Documents
  239. SQL Server I/O: Using XML Control Mechanisms
  240. SQL Server I/O: Creating Hierarchies
  241. SQL Server I/O: Using HTTP with SQL Server XML
  242. SQL Server I/O: Using HTTP with SQL Server XML Templates
  243. SQL Server I/O: Remote Queries
  244. SQL Server I/O: Working with Text Files
  245. Using Microsoft SQL Server on Handheld Devices
  246. Front-Ends 101: Microsoft Access
  247. Comparing Two SQL Server Databases
  248. English Query - Part 1
  249. English Query - Part 2
  250. English Query - Part 3
  251. English Query - Part 4
  252. English Query - Part 5
  253. RSS Feeds from SQL Server
  254. Using SQL Server Agent to Monitor Backups
  255. Reporting Services - Creating a Maintenance Report
  256. SQL Server Chargeback Strategies, Part 1
  257. SQL Server Chargeback Strategies, Part 2
  258. SQL Server Replication Example
  259. Creating a Master Agent and Alert Server
  260. The SQL Server Central Management System: Definition
  261. The SQL Server Central Management System: Base Tables
  262. The SQL Server Central Management System: Execution of Server Information (Part 1)
  263. The SQL Server Central Management System: Execution of Server Information (Part 2)
  264. The SQL Server Central Management System: Collecting Performance Metrics
  265. The SQL Server Central Management System: Centralizing Agent Jobs, Events and Scripts
  266. The SQL Server Central Management System: Reporting the Data and Project Summary
  267. Time Tracking for SQL Server Operations
  268. Migrating Departmental Data Stores to SQL Server
  269. Migrating Departmental Data Stores to SQL Server: Model the System
  270. Migrating Departmental Data Stores to SQL Server: Model the System, Continued
  271. Migrating Departmental Data Stores to SQL Server: Decide on the Destination
  272. Migrating Departmental Data Stores to SQL Server: Design the ETL
  273. Migrating Departmental Data Stores to SQL Server: Design the ETL, Continued
  274. Migrating Departmental Data Stores to SQL Server: Attach the Front End, Test, and Monitor
  275. Tracking SQL Server Timed Events, Part 1
  276. Tracking SQL Server Timed Events, Part 2
  277. Patterns and Practices for the Data Professional
  278. Managing Vendor Databases
  279. Consolidation Options
  280. Connecting to a SQL Azure Database from Microsoft Access
  281. SharePoint 2007 and SQL Server, Part One
  282. SharePoint 2007 and SQL Server, Part Two
  283. SharePoint 2007 and SQL Server, Part Three
  284. Querying Multiple Data Sources from a Single Location (Distributed Queries)
  285. Importing and Exporting Data for SQL Azure
  286. Working on Distributed Teams
  287. Professional Development
  288. Becoming a DBA
  289. Certification
  290. DBA Levels
  291. Becoming a Data Professional
  292. SQL Server Professional Development Plan, Part 1
  293. SQL Server Professional Development Plan, Part 2
  294. SQL Server Professional Development Plan, Part 3
  295. Evaluating Technical Options
  296. System Sizing
  297. Creating a Disaster Recovery Plan
  298. Anatomy of a Disaster (Response Plan)
  299. Database Troubleshooting
  300. Conducting an Effective Code Review
  301. Developing an Exit Strategy
  302. Data Retention Strategy
  303. Keeping Your DBA/Developer Job in Troubled Times
  304. The SQL Server Runbook
  305. Creating and Maintaining a SQL Server Configuration History, Part 1
  306. Creating and Maintaining a SQL Server Configuration History, Part 2
  307. Creating an Application Profile, Part 1
  308. Creating an Application Profile, Part 2
  309. How to Attend a Technical Conference
  310. Tips for Maximizing Your IT Budget This Year
  311. The Importance of Blue-Sky Planning
  312. Application Architecture Assessments
  313. Transact-SQL Code Reviews, Part One
  314. Transact-SQL Code Reviews, Part Two
  315. Cloud Computing (Distributed Computing) Paradigms
  316. NoSQL for the SQL Server Professional, Part One
  317. NoSQL for the SQL Server Professional, Part Two
  318. Object-Role Modeling (ORM) for the Database Professional
  319. Business Intelligence
  320. BI Explained
  321. Developing a Data Dictionary
  322. BI Security
  323. Gathering BI Requirements
  324. Source System Extracts and Transforms
  325. ETL Mechanisms
  326. Business Intelligence Landscapes
  327. Business Intelligence Layouts and the Build or Buy Decision
  328. A Single Version of the Truth
  329. The Operational Data Store (ODS)
  330. Data Marts – Combining and Transforming Data
  331. Designing Data Elements
  332. The Enterprise Data Warehouse — Aggregations and the Star Schema
  333. On-Line Analytical Processing (OLAP)
  334. Data Mining
  335. Key Performance Indicators
  336. BI Presentation - Client Tools
  337. BI Presentation - Portals
  338. Implementing ETL - Introduction to SQL Server 2005 Integration Services
  339. Building a Business Intelligence Solution, Part 1
  340. Building a Business Intelligence Solution, Part 2
  341. Building a Business Intelligence Solution, Part 3
  342. Tips and Troubleshooting
  343. SQL Server and Microsoft Excel Integration
  344. Tips for the SQL Server Tools: SQL Server 2000
  345. Tips for the SQL Server Tools – SQL Server 2005
  346. Transaction Log Troubles
  347. SQL Server Connection Problems
  348. Orphaned Database Users
  349. Additional Resources
  350. Tools and Downloads
  351. Utilities (Free)
  352. Tool Review (Free): DBDesignerFork
  353. Aqua Data Studio
  354. Microsoft SQL Server Best Practices Analyzer
  355. Utilities (Cost)
  356. Quest Software's TOAD for SQL Server
  357. Quest Software's Spotlight on SQL Server
  358. SQL Server on Microsoft's Virtual PC
  359. Red Gate SQL Bundle
  360. Microsoft's Visio for Database Folks
  361. Quest Capacity Manager
  362. SQL Server Help
  363. Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Professionals
  364. Microsoft Assessment and Planning Solution Accelerator
  365. Aggregating Server Data from the MAPS Tool

There are a lot of ways to get data out of SQL Server, including the BCP program, the Import and Export Wizards, Data Transformation Services (DTS) in SQL Server 2000 and SQL Server Integration Services in SQL Server 2005 and 2008. But many times you don’t want the data out of the server, you just want to read it in another format. And for portability, ease of access and distribution, almost nothing beats a web page.

SQL Server provides public data access in many ways, and if you’re looking to create a web page, the standard method is to use Reporting Services. I’ve explained how to use Reporting Services elsewhere, so I won’t cover that ground here. This tutorial covers a method that creates web pages with a little less setup — and no requirement for a Reporting Services instance to be set up.

Why do that, when all you need to do is install Reporting Services and create a few reports? And why is this tutorial right in the middle of the Administration section?

The same reason holds for both. First, you don’t always have the option of installing and setting up a Reporting Services instance. And second, you might just want that data in HTML for a quick report on the system status or maintenance. For that, it seems a little extreme to set up a Reporting Services instance. But as the “data steward,” you want to track things on your server like service pack levels, user accounts, data structure changes and so on. You probably know how to do this using Transact-SQL statements by polling various system stored procedures and views.

In this tutorial I’ll show you how you can check something that you might have in place on your own systems: your database maintenance plans histories. Although I’ll use the tables that show that information, you can create web pages that show the results using any Transact-SQL result that you want.

In an earlier tutorial I explained a bit about database maintenance, and in another tutorial I showed you how to use the SQL Server Maintenance Plan Wizard to automate maintenance steps into a full maintenance plan, using the graphical tools in SQL Server.

A maintenance plan, as I explained, is really just a set of SQL Server Agent Jobs in SQL Server 2000, and in 2005 and higher you can use SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) packages with specific operations and flow to create maintenance plans.

The Maintenance Wizard has three ways to notify you that the jobs have completed and whether they were successful. Of course, with either version you can edit the jobs or steps that you create with the wizards.

The first method is the e-mail notification that the SQL Server Agent mail (or Database Mail in SQL Server 2005 and higher) sends. This method is great, because you don’t have to do anything except read the e-mail messages. The downside is that you get one e-mail for each Job step. If you have several plans (each of which each have many Jobs), that can add up to a lot of e-mail. You have to sort through each message to make sure all the steps finished correctly. In my company, we have multiple SQL Servers, some with dozens of plans, and dozens of Jobs. One person simply can’t wade through that much mail, so of course it just doesn’t get done.

Another gotcha with the e-mail method is that the server needs to be able to send you mail. That’s fine for most production servers, but how about testing systems? You don’t want to pollute your production mail system with test accounts, so those servers aren’t good candidates to get checked with the e-mail method. As most developers will tell you, testing servers need maintenance too.

Another disadvantage is that you have to appoint someone who really knows what to look for to check these e-mails. What the server sends is a technical glut of tons of information, even though the only bit you generally care about is whether the job was successful. If it isn’t, that’s when the rest of the information becomes useful.

The second method of Maintenance Plan completion checks involves log files. Again, this is a per-step set of logs with quite a bit of information to sort through to find out whether the step completed successfully. This method has all the disadvantages of the e-mail route, with the added problem of needing to be accessible; you have to log on to the server directly or share out the log location, presenting a security risk. Both SQL Server Management Studio (SQL Server 2005) and Enterprise Manager (SQL Server 2000) contain a log file viewer, and both versions use text files for those logs so that you can read them with other tools as well.

The third way that you can check the Maintenance Plans uses graphical tools as well. In the graphic below, I’ve opened Enterprise Manager and navigated to the Management object and then the Maintenance Plan item.

Right-clicking that item brings up the menu item of Maintenance Plan History.

Once I select that item, you can see the panel shown below:

You can see the various steps and information about them in a grid. My screen resolution forces me to scroll to the right to see the columns that show whether the plan was successful, but you’ll notice that several filters can be applied. I can look at the steps that failed, or the steps that succeeded. While this is useful, to truly be safe I need to see both. I might see a few steps that were successful and think everything is OK when it’s not; or I might see nothing that failed when in fact nothing ran. In addition to those limitations, the data shows all dates — more information than I want to see at one time. I only care about a day or two at a time.

So what I need is a way to see only a certain number of days, and only the columns of data I really care about, from a central location, that just about anyone can check. What I’ll show you in this tutorial kills two birds with one stone. I’ll explain how to solve this problem, and how to use another wizard along the way. This tool is called the Web Assistant, and it creates web pages using a Stored Procedure. In SQL Server 2000 and 2005, you can use a Wizard (a graphical series of panels that asks you questions) to call the Stored Procedure, as I'll describe below. In SQL Server 2008, this feature is gone, but I'll explain what you can do about that in a moment.

The Web Assistant Wizard

Although I’ll show you how to do this using SQL Server 2000 and the graphical tools it has, I’ll explain the stored procedures it is really using under the covers, which you can still access in SQL Server 2005. I’ll start in the Enterprise Management tool from SQL Server 2000. In the panel shown here, I’ve clicked the Tools menu item in Enterprise Manager:

Next, I click Wizards to bring up the screen shown below.

This panel shows the various wizards that SQL Server provides. Notice that I’ve expanded the Management object. The wizard we’re interested in is the Web Assistant Wizard. Clicking that item brings up the following panel:

This panel explains that the wizard will do three things. It will set the source for the data, set the schedule, and set the format. I click Next, and get the following screen:

It’s pretty obvious what’s happening here, but it’s important to note that I can get data from more than one database at a time — I’ll show you how in a moment. For the purposes of this tutorial, I only need data from the msdb database, but if you are going to pull the data from more than one database, just put one of them here.

Once I’ve selected the database, I click Next to see the screen shown in the following graphic:

Here I’m doing two things — I’m naming the job that the wizard will create, and I’m setting the source for the data.

As you can see, the first option is to select columns from tables. This is the simplest source of data, and I’ve not found it to be particularly useful. The exception to that is when another job populates a small table for this output.

The next choice is to have the results of a stored procedure form the source of the data. I like this option since it provides the most flexibility. A stored procedure can display data but can also affect data, with inserts, updates, deletes and so forth. This option along with the next one will allow you to select data from more than one database, by the way. Just structure your statement to fully qualify the server, owner, object name. A stored procedure has the added advantage of running on the SQL Server, so it is an efficient use of resources.

The option I’ve chosen is to enter a SQL statement directly into the wizard. I’ve done this to show you the statement I’ve created, and to encapsulate the tutorial.

I click Next to bring up the following panel:

In this screen I’ve entered a slightly modified form of the SQL Query I showed you for the maintenance plan history output from my last tutorial. Just so you can copy it easily, here it is in text:

USE msdb
GO
SELECT ’Succeeded: ’ + CAST(succeeded AS VARCHAR(1))
,’Completed on: ’ + CAST(end_time AS VARCHAR(11)) 
,’Database Name: ’ + database_name 
,’Activity: ’ + activity 
,’Duration: ’ + CAST(duration as varchar(1)) 
,message 
FROM sysdbmaintplan_history 
WHERE DATEDIFF(day, end_time, getdate()) < 1 
ORDER BY succeeded, database_name

You can see that I’m using the table that the maintenance plan maintains, and I’m using a query to limit the amount of data it returns. The ORDER BY qualifier places the failed steps at the top — those are the ones I really care about. Keep this script handy — you can use it in the method I’ll show you shortly for the higher versions that don’t have this feature.

Notice in the line directly above the ORDER BY statement I’ve limited the output to the jobs that occurred today. If your plan is arranged differently, then you may need to adjust the number at the end of that statement to include more days. Making this adjustment will also show you more days if you’re not checking daily (shame on you!).

Here’s a tip from experience-land: Enter the query in Query Analyzer first, make sure you get the right results, then copy and paste it in here. While the color-syntax checking works, there’s no preview of the data before you commit the statement, and it’s a bit difficult to edit the statement later.

Once I’m satisfied with the query, I click Next to bring up the screen shown here:

There are a lot of options about the schedule on this panel. The first is just once, right after the wizard runs. This option is fine if you just want one Web page.

The second option is on-demand, meaning that the job will be created, and must be called manually when you want the page created. You normally do this as part of another job or perhaps with a trigger with the sp_runwebtask command.

The third option is to create the page once, but later. Again, not super-useful, at least in this case.

The fourth option is to create the Web page whenever the data changes. Unless you’re making that table I spoke about earlier, to hold the results of another process, I highly recommend you not use this option. While it may seem to make sense, I’ve seen a server buried trying to create the pages when a data change is made 100 times a minute. Just say no.

The final option is the one I use the most. With this choice you set the wizard to use a recurring schedule.

Notice I’ve also selected the option to go ahead and have a page created when I’m done. That’s to show you the output without having to get up at 6:00am in the morning. (No, I wouldn’t really do that.)

After I make my choice I click Next to bring up this screen:

Here I’m setting the schedule, which is set to every morning at 6:00. You can get pretty frequent with this, so again you’ll want to be careful here. Don’t bury your server with this kind of work.

After I set this option I select Next to bring up this panel:

This sets the location of the completed page. I have IIS installed on my SQL Server, so I’ve set the page to go to a root location so that it can be checked.

Once I set the location, I click Next to bring up this panel:

Here I’m given two choices: to allow SQL to help me format the page, or to select a template. I’ll walk you through the SQL assistance. To use a template you set up any normal HTML code to format the page, but for the actual data you set up a place for the data. If you format your page as you wish, then you only have to use the line shown below to accept the output of the data:

<%insert_data_here%>

Of course there’s more to it than that. If you want more formatting of the data, see the references section of the InformIT SQL Server Web site.

For now, let’s continue on and let SQL Server format the page. I click next, and we see the panel shown below:

Here you can see various options for setting the page headings, table titles and data and time stamps. I like the date and time stamp so that I know the wizard ran, just another way to make sure everything is working.

Once I make those selections, I click Next to bring up the screen shown below:

This panel continues the process of setting up the page format. I’ve made my changes and selected Next to bring up this screen:

This is a great option. It allows you to set no hyperlinks, one hyperlink (as I’ve done here), or even a set of hyperlinks, all drawn from a table. That table can be set by yet another application, making this a very extensible process.

After I make my changes, I click Next and you can see the following panel:

Here I’m given the opportunity to parse the data out per page. I can also limit the results at this point. I’m going to leave the defaults here and just click Next. That brings up this screen:

On this panel, the wizard summarizes the actions it will take, and also gives me the opportunity to write the actions out to a SQL script file. The advantage of that is that I can use the script as backup or to port to another server.

Finally, I click the Finish button. Voila! The page is complete. To show you the output, take a look at this Web site:

I see that several steps ran successfully on my server. It’s still important I have a count of how many steps should run during the day. I need to count and make sure that works, or perhaps my query could also return that number and the count of the rows I return. Otherwise, I might gain a false sense of security, believing that I’m in good shape since no 0’s were returned.

This process does a few things for me. I limit the data to just what I care about, I can train someone else to look at the page without the other party having a great deal of knowledge, and I have a central location available to check the plans.

As I mentioned earlier, SQL Server 2005 does not include this Wizard. You should use the built-in Reporting Services tool to create a far more robust report where you can include graphs and so on. However, the stored procedures used to make the pages are still here. You do have to enable them first with these commands:

EXEC sp_configure ’show advanced options’, 1;
GO
RECONFIGURE;
GO
EXEC sp_configure ’Web Assistant Procedures’, 1;
GO
RECONFIGURE
GO

The tables where the maintenance plan history has also changed — for SQL Server 2005 and 2008, you need to use this query:

SELECT 
s.name
, sp.subplan_name 
, spl.start_time AS 'StartTime'
, spl.end_time AS 'EndTime'
, spl.succeeded AS 'Succeeded' 
FROM msdb.dbo.sysmaintplan_plans AS s 
INNER JOIN msdb.dbo.sysmaintplan_subplans AS sp 
	ON sp.plan_id=s.id 
INNER JOIN msdb.dbo.sysmaintplan_log AS spl 
	ON spl.subplan_id=sp.subplan_id 
ORDER BY EndTime DESC

Now you can use the following Stored Procedures to create the web page. Check Books Online for the syntax:

sp_makewebtask - Creates the web page creator
 sp_runwebtask - Runs the extract and creation process
 sp_dropwebtask - Removes the web page creator

PowerShell

In SQL Server 2008, Microsoft removed the Web Task wizards and stored procedures. The “official” method to create web pages from SQL Server is to use either Reporting Services or some other application like SharePoint. But I still think that there is a place for creating a web page quickly and simply.

Happily, you can use PowerShell and a built-in command to do just that. If you’re new to PowerShell and SQL Server, I have a whole series of articles starting here that will show you how to get it, install it, and access SQL Server with it. The part that you might not be aware of is the command-let to output results to HTML. It’s called (conveniently enough) ConvertTo-HTML. All you have to do is set up the connection to SQL Server, run the same query I showed earlier, and then pipe all that to the HTML file.

You’ll need to have the SMO libraries installed where you’re running this script (you have that if the client tools are installed) and you’ll need PowerShell of course. Here’s the whole script:

$SqlConnection = New-Object System.Data.SqlClient.SqlConnection
$SqlConnection.ConnectionString = "Server=MyServerName\MyInstanceName;Database=msdb;Integrated Security=True"
$SqlCmd = New-Object System.Data.SqlClient.SqlCommand
$SqlCmd.CommandText = "SELECT s.name, sp.subplan_name, spl.start_time AS 'StartTime', spl.end_time AS 'EndTime', spl.succeeded AS 'Succeeded' FROM msdb.dbo.sysmaintplan_plans AS s INNER JOIN msdb.dbo.sysmaintplan_subplans AS sp ON sp.plan_id=s.id INNER JOIN msdb.dbo.sysmaintplan_log AS spl ON spl.subplan_id=sp.subplan_id ORDER BY EndTime DESC"
$SqlCmd.Connection = $SqlConnection
$SqlAdapter = New-Object System.Data.SqlClient.SqlDataAdapter
$SqlAdapter.SelectCommand = $SqlCmd
$DataSet = New-Object System.Data.DataSet
$SqlAdapter.Fill($DataSet)
$SqlConnection.Close()
$DataSet.Tables[0] 
$DataSet.Tables[0] | ConvertTo-Html -title "Maintenance History" | Out-File c:\temp\SQLMaintHistory.htm

The important parts are in the connection string, where I’ve specified “MyServerName” and “MyInstanceName.” You need to replace those with the name of your server. Also, the final line, where I send the whole thing to the “temp” drive on my hard drive, needs to be changed to what you want.

InformIT Articles and Sample Chapters

Are you new to web pages in general? We have a great starting point for you with What You Need to Get Started Creating Web Pages.

Books and eBooks

My friend Ed Wilson has a great book on PowerShell: Microsoft Windows PowerShell Step by Step (Safari Books Online). You can do a lot more with it than I’ve shown here.

Online Resources

There's another article on the stored procedures I’ve mentioned here.

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