Mike's Databases Blog

In a recent forum message, ICCLEARLY wrote:

"We are looking for a way to set up replication between several remote MS Access databases and a central MS SQL Server database. Can anyone help with this?"

Interested in solutions to the same problem? Have some advice? Join the discussion in our forum!

In this article, we'll take a brief look at the Database Administrator track and the three possible certifications you can earn on your way to Master status. Our next article will examine the Application Developer track. As with most vendor-specific certifications, the OCP program provides version-specific examinations. Currently, there are three active certification programs: Oracle 9i, Oracle 10g and Oracle 11g. I'd strongly encourage you to certify on the most recent version of Oracle in order to maintain your credential as long as possible.

Read the full article: Oracle 11g Certification Programs

Earlier this month, Microsoft announced the release to manufacturing (RTM) of SQL Server 2008. You can download a 180-day evaluation edition of SQL Server 2008 from the Microsoft website and get started playing with it today. In their announcement, Microsoft confirmed their earlier statements that the pricing for SQL Server 2008 will remain the same as that put in place for SQL Server 2005.

Are you going to adopt 2008 immediately? Waiting a few months to see what's going to be included in Service Pack 1? Skipping this version entirely? Join the discussion in the About Databases forum!

In a recent forum posting, aoneistheman wrote:

"I'm a SQL newbie, and am creating this crazy view of other views. I need help using the MAX() function.

I have a table that holds a wage id, a person id, salary, and salary start date. A person that gets a raise, gets a new record with a different salary, and a new wage id. I need the record with the latest date. So I do a simple select:

SELECT person_id, MAX(sal_str_dt) as Salary_Strt_Date
FROM Salaries
GROUP BY person_id

Results:

id Salary_Strt_Date
15 12312008
144 07011996

I also need the salary amount along with those two columns. Yet, SQL will not allow me to just add salary in the select statement, unless I give it the following MAX(Salary). I don't want the max salary though, as it may not be in the same record as the max date, and would mess up my results. Any Idea as to how I can get the salary that corresponds with the latest date, and still group by the person_id?"

Can you help? Interested in solutions to the same problem? Visit our forum and join the discussion!

If you use Microsoft Access 2007 as a regular part of your job, or you hope to gain employment in the field of user-level databases, you may wish to consider the Microsoft Certified Application Specialist (MCAS) program's Access 2007 track. This program (formerly known as the Microsoft Office User Specialist or MOUS program) allows users of the popular desktop database to prove their knowledge in a structured exam environment.

Learn more about the Microsoft Certified Application Specialist program

One of the most common uses of a Microsoft Access database is generating labels for mass mailings. In this tutorial, we examine the process of creating mailing labels using Microsoft Access using the built-in Label Wizard. We begin with a database containing the address data and walk you step-by-step through the process of creating and printing your mailing labels.

Read the tutorial: Printing Mailing Labels in Microsoft Access

Adobe Acrobat (.PDF) offers a great method of sharing data across the Internet while preserving formatting. It's simple to generate these files from an Access database.

The instructions vary slightly depending upon the version of Access you use:

• Creating PDFs with Access 2007
• Creating PDFs with earlier versions of Access

In a recent forum posting, Data Analyst wrote:

"I am trying to use the upsizing wizard to upsize an Access database to an SQL Server database. However, the new database ends up limited to 10,000 records, while the old one in Access has many more than that. Is there some setting I can change so that all the data in the Access database will be upsized into the SQL Server database?"

Can you help? Interested in solutions to the same problem? Visit our forum and join the discussion

SQL Server 2005 offers three different data types that all sound like likely candidates for storing time values: DATETIME, SMALLDATETIME, and TIMESTAMP. Here's a quick rundown on each:

• DATETIME is the most common choice for storing date/time values. It's an eight-byte value that stores a date between January 1, 1753 and December 31, 9999 and a time with three millisecond accuracy.
• SMALLDATETIME is a good choice when space is a concern. It uses only four bytes to store dates between January 1, 1900 and June 6, 2079 along with times to one minute accuracy.
• TIMESTAMP values do not store timestamps (at least in the clock/calendar sense!) at all. It can be used for row version control, as it stores a value that SQL Server updates each time it modifies a row.

For more on this topic, Robert Sheldon has a great article over on SearchSQLServer.com.

Are you a database professional seeking to polish your resume in the hopes of landing a better gig? Perhaps you're just getting started in database administration and you'd like to establish your credentials in the field. Database vendors offer a variety of professional certification programs that can help you advance your career while gaining valuable technical skills. After all, even the most seasoned professional has yet to fully explore some nook or cranny of the field that's covered on a certification exam.

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