Here are some SSIS related Interview Questions with answers. hope they help.

6) how do you schedule ssis packages to run on the fly7) how do you run stored procedure and get data8) A scenario: Want to insert a text file into database table, but during the upload want to change a column called as months - January, Feb, etc to a code, - 1,2,3.. .This code can be read from another database table called months. After the conversion of the data , upload the file. If there are any errors, write to error table. Then for all errors, read errors from database, create a file, and mail it to the supervisor. How would you accomplish this task in SSIS?9)what are variables and what is variable scope ?AnswersFor Q 1 and 2: Q1) What is the control flowQ2) what is a data flowIn SSIS a workflow is called a control-flow. A control-flow links together our modular data-flows as a series of operations in order to achieve a desired result.Control Flow:

Process Oriented Doesn’t manage or pass data between components. It functions as a task coordinator In control flow tasks requires completion (Success.,failure or completion) Synchronous in nature, this means, task requires completion before moving to

next task. If the tasks are not connected with each other but still they are synchronous in nature.

Tasks can be executed both parallel and serially

What are the Three types of control flow elements in SSIS 2005 Answer: - Containers: - Provides structures in the packages

Tasks: - Provides functionality in the packages Precedence Constraints: - Connects containers, executables and and tasks into an ordered control flow.

We can control the sequence execution for tasks and also specify the conditions that tasks and containers run. It is possible to include nested containers as SSIS Architecture supports nesting of the containers. Control flow can include multiple levels of nested containers. Data Flow

Streaming in nature Information oriented Passes data between other components Transformations work together to manage and process data. This means first set

of data from the source may be in the final destination step while at the same time other set of data is still flowing. All the transformations are doing work at the same time.

What are the Three types of Three types of Data Flow components Sources: - Extracts data from the various sources (Database, Text Files etc) Transformations: - Cleans, modify, merge and summarizes the data Destination: - Loads data into destinations like database, files or in memory datasets

Q3: how do you do error handling in SSISWhen a data flow component applies a transformation to column data, extracts data

from sources, or loads data into destinations, errors can occur. Errors frequently occur because of unexpected data values.

For example, a data conversion fails because a column contains a string instead of a number, an insertion into a database column fails because the data is a date and the column has a numeric data type, or an expression fails to evaluate because a column value is zero, resulting in a mathematical operation that is not valid.

Errors typically fall into one the following categories:

-Data conversion errors, which occur if a conversion results in loss of significant digits, the loss of insignificant digits, and the truncation of strings. Data conversion errors also occur if the requested conversion is not supported. -Expression evaluation errors, which occur if expressions that are evaluated at run time perform invalid operations or become syntactically incorrect because of missing or incorrect data values. -Lookup errors, which occur if a lookup operation fails to locate a match in the lookup table.

Many data flow components support error outputs, which let you control how the component handles row-level errors in both incoming and outgoing data. You specify how the component behaves when truncation or an error occurs by setting options on individual columns in the input or output.

For example, you can specify that the component should fail if customer name data is truncated, but ignore errors on another column that contains less important data.

Q 4: how do you do logging in ssisSSIS includes logging features that write log entries when run-time events occur and can also write custom messages.

Integration Services supports a diverse set of log providers, and gives you the ability to create custom log providers. The Integration Services log providers can write log entries to text files, SQL Server Profiler, SQL Server, Windows Event Log, or XML files.

Logs are associated with packages and are configured at the package level. Each task or container in a package can log information to any package log. The tasks and containers in a package can be enabled for logging even if the package itself is not.

To customize the logging of an event or custom message, Integration Services provides a schema of commonly logged information to include in log entries. The Integration Services log schema defines the information that you can log. You can select elements from the log schema for each log entry.

To enable logging in a package1. In Business Intelligence Development Studio, open the Integration Services project that contains the package you want.2. On the SSIS menu, click Logging. 3. Select a log provider in the Provider type list, and then click Add.

Q 5 : how do you deploy ssis packages.SQL Server 2005 Integration Services (SSIS) makes it simple to deploy packages to any computer. There are two steps in the package deployment process:-The first step is to build the Integration Services project to create a package deployment utility.-The second step is to copy the deployment folder that was created when you built the Integration Services project to the target computer, and then run the Package Installation Wizard to install the packages.Q 9 :

Variables store values that a SSIS package and its containers, tasks, and event handlers can use at run time. The scripts in the Script task and the Script component can also use variables. The precedence constraints that sequence tasks and containers into a workflow can use variables when their constraint definitions include expressions.

Integration Services supports two types of variables: user-defined variables and system variables. User-defined variables are defined by package developers, and system variables are defined by Integration Services. You can create as many user-defined variables as a package requires, but you cannot create additional system variables.

Scope :

A variable is created within the scope of a package or within the scope of a container, task, or event handler in the package. Because the package container is at the top of the container hierarchy, variables with package scope function like global variables and can be used by all containers in the package. Similarly, variables defined within the scope of a container such as a For Loop container can be used by all tasks or containers within the For Loop container.

Question 1 - True or False - Using a checkpoint file in SSIS is just like issuing the CHECKPOINT command against the relational engine. It commits all of the data to the database. False. SSIS provides a Checkpoint capability which allows a package to restart at the point of failure.

Question 2 - Can you explain the what the Import\Export tool does and the basic steps in the wizard? The Import\Export tool is accessible via BIDS or executing the dtswizard command. The tool identifies a data source and a destination to move data either within 1 database, between instances or even from a database to a file (or vice versa).

Question 3 - What are the command line tools to execute SQL Server Integration Services packages? DTSEXECUI - When this command line tool is run a user interface is loaded in order to configure each of the applicable parameters to execute an SSIS package. DTEXEC - This is a pure command line tool where all of the needed switches

must be passed into the command for successful execution of the SSIS package.

Question 4 - Can you explain the SQL Server Integration Services functionality in Management Studio? You have the ability to do the following: Login to the SQL Server Integration Services instance View the SSIS log View the packages that are currently running on that instance Browse the packages stored in MSDB or the file system Import or export packages Delete packages Run packages

Question 5 - Can you name some of the core SSIS components in the Business Intelligence Development Studio you work with on a regular basis when building an SSIS package? Connection Managers Control Flow Data Flow Event Handlers Variables window Toolbox window Output window Logging Package Configurations

Question Difficulty = Moderate

True or False: SSIS has a default means to log all records updated, deleted or inserted on a per table basis. False, but a custom solution can be built to meet these needs.

What is a breakpoint in SSIS? How is it setup? How do you disable it? A breakpoint is a stopping point in the code. The breakpoint can give the Developer\DBA an opportunity to review the status of the data, variables and the overall status of the SSIS package. 10 unique conditions exist for each breakpoint. Breakpoints are setup in BIDS. In BIDS, navigate to the control flow interface. Right click on the object where you want to set the breakpoint and select the 'Edit Breakpoints...' option.

Can you name 5 or more of the native SSIS connection managers? OLEDB connection - Used to connect to any data source requiring an OLEDB connection (i.e., SQL Server 2000) Flat file connection - Used to make a connection to a single file in the File System. Required for reading information from a File System flat file ADO.Net connection - Uses the .Net Provider to make a connection to SQL Server 2005 or other connection exposed through managed code (like C#) in a custom task

Analysis Services connection - Used to make a connection to an Analysis Services database or project. Required for the Analysis Services DDL Task and Analysis Services Processing Task File connection - Used to reference a file or folder. The options are to either use or create a file or folder Excel FTP HTTP MSMQ SMO SMTP SQLMobile WMI

How do you eliminate quotes from being uploaded from a flat file to SQL Server? In the SSIS package on the Flat File Connection Manager Editor, enter quotes into the Text qualifier field then preview the data to ensure the quotes are not included. Additional information: How to strip out double quotes from an import file in SQL Server Integration Services

Can you name 5 or more of the main SSIS tool box widgets and their functionality? For Loop Container Foreach Loop Container Sequence Container ActiveX Script Task Analysis Services Execute DDL Task Analysis Services Processing Task Bulk Insert Task Data Flow Task Data Mining Query Task Execute DTS 2000 Package Task Execute Package Task Execute Process Task Execute SQL Task etc.

Question Difficulty = Difficult

Question 1 - Can you explain one approach to deploy an SSIS package? One option is to build a deployment manifest file in BIDS, then copy the directory to the applicable SQL Server then work through the steps of the package installation wizard A second option is using the dtutil utility to copy, paste, rename, delete an SSIS Package A third option is to login to SQL Server Integration Services via SQL Server Management Studio then navigate to the 'Stored Packages' folder then right click on the one of the children folders or an SSIS package to access the 'Import Packages...' or 'Export Packages...'option.

A fourth option in BIDS is to navigate to File | Save Copy of Package and complete the interface.

Question 2 - Can you explain how to setup a checkpoint file in SSIS? The following items need to be configured on the properties tab for SSIS package: CheckpointFileName - Specify the full path to the Checkpoint file that the package uses to save the value of package variables and log completed tasks. Rather than using a hard-coded path as shown above, it's a good idea to use an expression that concatenates a path defined in a package variable and the package name. CheckpointUsage - Determines if/how checkpoints are used. Choose from these options: Never (default), IfExists, or Always. Never indicates that you are not using Checkpoints. IfExists is the typical setting and implements the restart at the point of failure behavior. If a Checkpoint file is found it is used to restore package variable values and restart at the point of failure. If a Checkpoint file is not found the package starts execution with the first task. The Always choice raises an error if the Checkpoint file does not exist. SaveCheckpoints - Choose from these options: True or False (default). You must select True to implement the Checkpoint behavior.

Question 3 - Can you explain different options for dynamic configurations in SSIS? Use an XML file Use custom variables Use a database per environment with the variables Use a centralized database with all variables

Question 4 - How do you upgrade an SSIS Package? Depending on the complexity of the package, one or two techniques are typically used: Recode the package based on the functionality in SQL Server DTS Use the Migrate DTS 2000 Package wizard in BIDS then recode any portion of the package that is not accurate

Question 5 - Can you name five of the Perfmon counters for SSIS and the value they provide? SQLServer:SSIS Service SSIS Package Instances - Total number of simultaneous SSIS Packages running SQLServer:SSIS Pipeline BLOB bytes read - Total bytes read from binary large objects during the monitoring period. BLOB bytes written - Total bytes written to binary large objects during the monitoring period. BLOB files in use - Number of binary large objects files used during the data flow task during the monitoring period. Buffer memory - The amount of physical or virtual memory used by the data flow task during the monitoring period. Buffers in use - The number of buffers in use during the data flow task during the monitoring period. Buffers spooled - The number of buffers written to disk during the data flow task during the monitoring period. Flat buffer memory - The total number of blocks of memory in use by the data flow task

during the monitoring period. Flat buffers in use - The number of blocks of memory in use by the data flow task at a point in time. Private buffer memory - The total amount of physical or virtual memory used by data transformation tasks in the data flow engine during the monitoring period. Private buffers in use - The number of blocks of memory in use by the transformations in the data flow task at a point in time. Rows read - Total number of input rows in use by the data flow task at a point in time. Rows written - Total number of output rows in use by the data flow task at a point in time.

How would you set up an SQL AgentWhat is the difference between Multicast and Conditional SplitCan I have more the 2 outputs from the conditional Split ComponentWant to insert a tect file into database table, but during the upload want to change a column called as months - January, Feb, etc to a code, - 1,2,3.. .This code can be read from another database table called months. After the conversion of the data , upload the file. If there are any errors, write to error table. Then for all errors, read errors from database, create a file, and mail it to the supervisor. How would you accomplish this task in SSIS?

For questions 3Pivot transfermation For question 2:The Multicast transformation distributes its input to one or more outputs. This transformation is similar to the Conditional Split transformation. Both transformations direct an input to multiple outputs. The difference between the two is that the Multicast transformation directs every row to every output, and the Conditional Split directs a row to a single outputfor question 1

Can I put a Breakpoint on the components on the Data Flow Tab

SSIS QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS 1.what is a package?a).a discrete executable unIt of work composed of a collection of control flow and other objects, including data sources, transformations ,process sequence, and rules, errors and event handling, and data destinations.

2.what is a workflow in ssis ?a).`a workflow is a set of instructions on how to execute tasks.(It is a set of instructions on how to execute tasks such as sessions, emails and shell commands. a workflow is created form work flow mgr.)

3.what is the diff between control flow Items and data flow Items?a).the control flow is the highest level control process.It allows you to manage the run-time process the run time process activIties of data flow and other processes wIthin a package.

when we want to extract, transform and load data wIthin a package. you add an ssis dataflow task to the package control flow.

4.what are the main component of ssis(project-archItecture)?A).ssis archItecture has 4 main components1.ssis service2.ssis runtime engine & runtime executables3.ssis dataflow engine & dataflow components4.ssis clients

5.different components in ssis package?a).1.control flow2.data flow3.event handler4.package explorer

containers:::provide structure and scope to your packagetypes of containers:i.task host container:the taskhost container services a single task.ii.sequence container:It can handle the flow of subset of a package and can help you drive a package into smaller more managable process.uses:-1.grouping tasks so thatyou can disable a part of the package thats no longer needed.2.narrowing the scope of the variable to a container.3.managing the property of multiple tasks in one step by setting the properties of the container.iii.for loop container:evaluates an expression and repeats Its workflow until the expression evaluates to false.iv.for each loop container:defines a control flow repeatedly by using an enumerator.the for each loop container repearts the control flow for each member of a specified enemurator.

tasks:::It provide the functionalIty to ur package.It is a individual unIt of work.

event handler::respond to raised events in your package.

precedence constraints::provide ordinal relationship b/w various Items in ur package.6.how to deploy the package?a).to deploy the package first we need to configure some properties.goto project tab->package properties->we get a window,configure deployment utilIty as "true"mention the path as "bin/deployment"

7. Connection manager:a).It is a bridge b/w package object and physical data. It provides logical representation of a connection at design time the properties of the connection mgr describes the physical connection that integration services creates when the package is run.

8. Tell the utilIty to execute (run) the package?a) In BIDS a package that can be executed in debug mode by using the debug menu or

toolbar or from solution explorer.In production, the package can be executed from the command line or from a Microsoft windows utilIty, or It can be scheduled for automated execution by using the sql server agent.i).goto->debug menu and select the start debugging buttonii).press F5 keyiii).right click the package and choose execute package.iv).command prompts utilItiesa).DTExecUI1. To open command prompt->run->type dtexecui->press enter2. The execute package utilIty dialog box opens.3. in that click execute to run the package.WaIt until the package has executed successfully.b).DTExec utilIty1.open the command prompt window.2.command prompt window->type dtexec/followed by the DTS,SQL,or file option and the package path ,including package name.3.if the package encryption level is encrypt sensItive wIth password or encrypt all wIth password, use the decrypt option to provide the password.If no password is included, dtexec will prompt you for the password.4. Optionally, provide addItional command-line options5. Press enter.6. Optionally, view logging and reporting information before closing the command prompt window.The execute package utilIty dialog box opens.7. In the execute package utilIty dialog box, click execute package.WaIt until the package has executed successfully.v).using sql server mgmt studio to execute package1. In SSMS right click a package, and then click run package.Execute package utilIty opens.2. Execute the package as described previously.

9. How can u design SCD in SSIS?a) Def:-SCD explains how to capture the changes over the period of time.This is also known as change data capture.type1: It keeps the most recent values in the target. It does not maintain the history.type2: It keeps the full history in the target database. For every update in the source anew record is inserted in the target.type3: It keeps current & previous information in the target.in-SSIS:-------type1: It can do require re-creating any aggregation that would be affected by the change.type2: changes can cause a serious inflation in the number of members of a dimension.type3: as wIth a type 1 change, type 3 change requires a dimension update, so u need to re-processAll aggregations affected after change.

10. How can u handle the errors through the help of logging in SSIS?a) To create an on error event handler to which you add the log error execute sql task.

11. What is a logfile and how to send log file to mgr?a) It is especially useful when the package has been deployed to the production environment, and you can not use BIDS and VSA to debug the package.SSIS enables you to implement logging code through the Dts. Log method.When the Dts. Log method is called in the script, the SSIS engine will route the message to the log providers that are configured in the containing package.

12. What is environment variable in SSIS?a) An environment variable configuration sets a package property equal to the value in an environment variable.Environmental configurations are useful for configuring properties that are dependent on the computer that is executing the package.

13. about multiple configurations?a) It means including the xml configuration, environment variable, registry entry, parent package variable, SQL Server table, and direct and indirect configuration types.

14. How to provide securIty to packages?a) In two ways1. Package encryption2. Password protection.

15. as per error handling in T/R, which one handle the better performance? Like fail component, redirect row or ignore failure?a) Redirect row provides better performance for error handling.

16. Staging area??a) It is a temporary data storage location. Where various data T/R activIties take place. A staging area is a kItchen of data warehouse.

17. Task??a) An individual unIt of work.Types:-.....1. Active x script task2. Analysis services execute DDL task3. Analysis services processing task4. Bulk insert task *5. Data flow task *6. Data mining query task7. Execute Dts 2000 package task8. Execute package task *9. Execute process task10. Execute sql task *11. File system task12. Ftp task13. Message queue task14. Script task *15. Send mail task * 16. Web service task17. Wmi data reader task

18. Wmi event task19. Xml task

18. Event handling & logging?a) You can select the t/r fails and exIts up on an error, or the bad rows can be redirected to a failedData flow branch. Ignore failure, redirect row.Logging also improved there are more than a 12 events that can be logged for each task or package. You can enable partial logging for one task and enable much more detailed logging for billing tasks.Ex:-on errorOn post validateOn progressOn warning--->log file can be wrItten to usually any connectionSql profilerText filesSql serverWindow event logXml file

19. Import & export wizard?a) Easiest method to move data from sources like oracle, db2, sql server.Right click on database name->goto task->import and export wizardSelect the sourceSelect the destinationQuery copy of tablesExecuteFinish

20.solution explorer?after creating projectproject name-data source-data source views-packages-miscellaneous

21. Precedence constraints?a) Constraints that link executable, container, and tasks wIthin the package control flow and specify condItion that determine the sequenceAnd condItions for determine whether executable run.

22. Data pipeline?a) The memory based, multIthreaded, buffered t/r process flow data through an SSIS data flow task during package execution.

23. TRANSFORMATIONS??It is an object that generates, modifies, or passes data.1.AGGEGATE T/R:-It applies an aggregate function to grouped records and produces new output records from aggregated results.

2.AUDIT T/R:-the t/r adds the value of a system variable, such as machine name or execution instance GUID to a new output column.3.CHARACTER MAP T/R:-this t/r makes string data changes such as changing data from lower case to upper case.4.CONDITIONAL SPLIT:-It separate input rows into separate output data pipelines based on the boolian expressions configured for each output.5.COPY COLUMN:-add a copy of column to the t/r output we can later transform the copy keeping the original for audIting personal6.DATA CONVERSION:-converts a columns data type to another data type.7.DATA MINING QUERY:-perform a data mining query against analysis services.8.DERIVED COLUMN:-create a new derive column calculated from expression.9.EXPORT COLUMN:-It allows you to export a column from the data flow to a file.10.FUZZY GROUPING:-perform data cleansing by finding rows that are likely duplicates.11.FUZZY LOOKUP:-matches and standardizes data based on fuzzy logic.eg:-transform the name jon to john12.IMPORT COLUMN:-reads the dat from a file & adds It into a dataflow.13.LOOKUP:-perform the lookup of data tobe used later in a transform.ex:-t/f to lookup a cIty based on zipcode.1.getting a related value from a table using a key column value2.update slowly changing dimension table3.to check whether records already exist in the table.14.MERGE:-merges two sorted data sets into a single data set into a single data flow.15.MERGE JOIN:-merges two data sets into a single dataset using a join junction.16.MULTI CAST:-sends a copy of two datato an addItional path in the workflow.17.ROW COUNT:-stores the rows count from the data flow into a variable.18.ROW SAMPLING:-captures the sample of data from the dataflow by using a row count of the total rows in dataflow.19.ROW SAMPLING:-captures the sample of the data from the data flow by using a row count of the total rows in data flow.20.UNION ALL:-merge multiple data sets into a single dataset.21.PIVOT:-converts rows into columns22.UNPIVOT:-converts columns into rows

24. Batch?a) A batch is defined as group of sessions. Those are 2 types.1. Parallel batch processing2. Sequential batch processing

-----For executing the package we can use "execute package utilIty"----

----for deploying the package we can use "package deployment utilIty"—

SSRS:--

1. What are the main components of reporting services?a) Report designer, report server, report manager, report user.

2. Where can u publish the report?a) By using report designer or publish reports on report server.

3. What are the necessIty things for creating matrix report?a) Page, column, row, details

4. for generating reports which is used like RDBMS OR CUBE?a) Depends on data

5. What is assembly code in SSRS?a)

6. What is Rdl file?a) Rdl is a Report DefinItion Language. Every report is saving wIth Rdl Extension.

7. How can u create a job?a) Job is a group of reports.The reports can be processed eIther sequentially or parallel.

SSAS:-

1. What are the fixed measure and calculated measure?a) Normally we used fixed measures in SSIS mainly for calculating measures.Where as calculated measures uses in SSAS, while creating cube we can mention this calculated measure in the OLAP.

2. What are measures?a) Measures are numeric data based on columns in a fact table.

3. What are cubes?a) Cubes are data processing unIts composed of fact tables and dimensions from the data warehouse. They provided multidimensional analysis.

4. What are virtual cubes?These are combination of one or more real cubes and require no disk space to store them. They store only definItion and not the data.

DATAWARE HOUSE CONCEPTS:-1. Diff b/w OLTP AND OLAP?A)

OLTP OLAP1. transactional processing query processing2. time sensItive history oriented3. Operator & clerks view Managers, CEOs, PM’s views4. organized by transaction organized by subjects5. relatively smaller DB .large DB size6. volatile data non-volatile7. stores all data stores relevant data8. Not flexible flexible

2. Diff b/w star schema and snowflake?

a) STAR SCHEMA SNOWFLAKE_____________________________________1.centrally located fact table 1.centraly located fact tablesurrounded by de normalise surronded by the normalizedDimensions. dimension table.2.all dimensions will be link 2.all dim link wIth each other (or)directly wIth fact table. 1-N relationship wIth other table.3.It is easy to understand by 3.It is diff to understand.end user or tech people 4.It is diff to retrieve the data while4.We can easily retrieve data parsing the query against the facts n dim.By passing the simple queries.5.increase the query perform- 5.more joins.ance because It involve lessJoins.

What are fact tables?a) A fact table is a table that contains summarized numerical (facts) and historical data.This fact table has a foreign key-primary key relation wIth a dimension table. the fact table maintains the information in 3rd normal form.

3. Types of facts?a)1. AddItive:-able to add the facts along wIth all the dimensions-discrete numerical measures.-Ex:-retail sales in $2. semi addItive:-snapshot taken at a point in time- Measure of intensIty-not addItive along time dimensionsex:-account balance, inventory balance3.non-addItive:-numerical measures that can't be added across any dimensions.-intensIty measure arranged across all dimensionex:-room temperatures, averages

4. Data warehouse?a) A data ware house is a collection of data marts representing historical data from diff operational data sources (OLTP).The data from these OLTP are structured and optimized for querying and data analysis in a data warehouse.

5. Data mart?a) A data mart is a subset of a data warehouse that can provide data for reporting and analysis on a section, unIt or a department like sales dept, hr dept.

6. What is OLAP?a) OLAP stands for online analytical processing. It uses databases tables (fact and dimension table) to enable multi dimensional viewing, analysis and querying of large amount of data.

7. What is OLTP?a) OLTP stands for online transactional processing. Except data warehouse databases the other databases are OLTP.

These OLTP uses normalized schema structure.These OLTP databases are designed for recording the daily operations and transactions of a business.

8. What are dimensions?Dimensions are categories by which summarized data can be viewed. For example a profIt summary fact table can be viewed by a time dimension.

9. What are conformed dimension?a) The dimensions which are reusable and fixed in nature. Example customer, time, geography dimensions.

10. Staging area?a) It is a temporary data storage location, where various data t/r activIties take place.

11. Fact grain(granularIty)?a) The grain of fact is defined as the level at which the fact information is stored in a fact table.

12. What is a fact less fact table?a) The fact table which does not contain facts is called as fact table.Generally when we need to combine two data marts, then one data mart will have a fact less fact table and other one wIth common fact table.

13. What are measures?a) Measures are numeric data based on columns in a fact table.

14. What are cubes?a) Cubes are data processing unIts composed of fact tables and dimensions from the data warehouse. They provided multidimensional analysis.

15. What are virtual cubes?These are combination of one or more real cubes and require no disk space to store them. they store only definItion and not hte data.16.SCD's?a)type-I(current data)type-II(full historical information& Current data)type-III(Current data & Recent data)

SQL-SERVER-2005:-

1. Surrogate key?a)It is an artificial or synthetic key that is used as a substItute for a natural keys.It is just a unique identifier or number for each row that can be used for the primary key to the table.(It is a sequence generate key which is assigned to be a primary key in the system(table)).

2.primary key?a)can be used to uniquely identify every row of the table.

------unique + not null-------

3.foreign key?a)It is a column r combination of columns that contain values that are found in primary key of some table.It may be null, not unique.

4.composIte key?a)It is a primary key consisting of more than one column.

4. indexes?a) It is an access strategy that is a way to sort and search records in the table.Indexes are essential to improve the speed wIth which records can be located and retrieved from a table.Types: - cluster index (can create only one index on table)Non-cluster index (can create 249 indexes on table)Unique indexComposite index(Simple index, reverse key index, bitmap index, function index)

5. View?a) It is used for data security reasonTo reduce the redundant data.

6. Cluster?a) 1-many access path.Clusters are used to store data from diff tables in the same physical data blocks.

7. Sequences?a) It is used to quickest way to retrieve the data.

8. Cursors?a) Implicit cursorExplicit cursorParameter cursor

9. Triggers?a) Row triggerStatement trigger10. Transactions?Save pointCommit & rollback.11. Security?a) EncryptionLockingLevel of lockings row level, page level, table level12.constraints?a)primary->foreign(reference)->check->unique->

13. Diff b/w having and where?a) after performing 'group by' operation 'having wil again filter the records based on having condItion'where' is used to filter the data based on a condItion and It applies to retrive on a particular column.14. Joins?a) Join can combine the information from two tables into a single unit.inner join:-they matched the records together based on one or more common fields(matched-records only).outer join:-

full join:-It combines the all rows on both sides of the join.cross join:-15. Union & union-all?a) Union:-columns, data types should be sameSelect distinct valuesRemove duplicatesUnion-all:-displays all the rows exact & duplicates.16. Diff b/w drop, delete & truncate?delete:-delete all rows at a timedelete a single row data based on condItion.memory allocation will be therestructure will be theretruncate:-delete all rows at a timecan't delete single row at a timememory allocation deletedtable structure wil be theredrop :- delete all rows at a timecan't delete single row at a timememory allocation can be deletedtable structure also do deleted----------------queries---------------1.Nth highest salary?select rownum,sal from (select rownum,sal from emp order by sal desc)group by rownum,sal having rownum=&N; (OR)select top 1 sal from (select top 10 sal from emp order by sal desc) A

Answers to Advanced SSIS Interview QuestionLast week I wrote a set of Advanced SSIS Interview Questions.  Here are the answers I came up for these.  Of course you may have some variation of what I have and I would love to hear how you would answer these.  Feel free to email me how you would answer them.  I’ll skip the demonstrate/whiteboard part of the questions. 1. Demonstrate or whiteboard how you would suggest using configuration files in packages.  Would you consider it a best practice to create a configuration file for each connection manager or one for the entire package? There should be a single configuration file for each connection manager in your packages that stores their connection string information.  So if you have 6 connection

managers then you have 6 config files.  You can use the same config file across all your packages that use the same connections.  If you have a single config file that stores all your connection managers then all your packages must have contain the connection managers that are stored in that config file.  This means you may have to put connection managers in your package that you don’t even need.2. Demonstrate or whiteboard how checkpoints work in a package. When checkpoints are enabled on a package if the package fails it will save the point at which the package fails.  This way you can correct the problem then rerun from the point that it failed instead of rerunning the entire package.  The obvious benefit to this is if you load a million record file just before the package fails you don’t have to load it again.3. Demonstrate or whiteboard using a loop in a package so each file in a directory with the .txt extension is loaded into a table.  Before demonstrating this tell which task/container accomplishes this and which enumerator will be used.  (Big hint on which task/container to use is that it requires and enumerator) This would require a Foreach Loop using the Foreach File Enumerator.  Inside the Foreach Loop Editor you need to set a variable to store the directory of the files that will be looped through.  Next select the connection manager used to load the files and add an expression to the connection string property that uses the variable created in the Foreach Loop.4. Demonstrate or whiteboard how transactions work in a package. If transactions are enabled on your package and tasks then when the package fails it will rollback everything that occurred during the package. First make sure MSDTC (Microsoft Distributed Transaction Coordinator) is enabled in the Control Panel -> Administrative Tools -> Component Services. Transactions must be enabled not only on the package level but also on each task you want included as part of the transaction. To have the entire package in a transaction set TransactionOption at the package level to Required and each task to Supported.5. If you have a package that runs fine in Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) but fails when running from a SQL Agent Job what would be your first guess on what the problem is? The account that runs SQL Agent Jobs likely doesn’t have the needed permissions for one of the connections in your package. Either elevate the account permissions or create a proxy account.To create a proxy account you need to first create new credentials with the appropriate permissions. Next assign those credentials to a proxy account. When you run the job now you will select Run As the newly created proxy account.6. What techniques would you consider to add auditing to your packages?  You’re required to log when a package fails and how many rows were extracted and loaded in your sources and destinations. I like to create a database that is designated for package auditing. Track row counts coming from a source and which actually make it to a destination. Row counts and package execution should be all in one location and then optionally report off that database. There are also third party tools that can accomplish this for you (Pragmatic Works BI xPress).7. What techniques would you consider to add notification to your packages?  You’re required to send emails to essential staff members immediately after a package fails.

This could either be set in the SQL Agent when the package runs or actually inside the package you could add a Send Mail Task in the Event Handlers to notify when a package fails. There are also third party tools that can accomplish this for you (Pragmatic Works BI xPress).8. Demonstrate or whiteboard techniques you would use to for CDC (Change Data Capture)?  Tell how you would write a package that loads data but first detects if the data already exists, exists but has changes, or is brand new data for a destination. If for some reason you’ve avoided using a whiteboard to show your ideas to this point then make sure you start on this question! For small amounts of data I may use the Slowly Changing Dimension.More often than not the data is too large to use in such a slow transform. I prefer to do a lookup on the key of the target table and rows that don’t match are obviously new rows that can be inserted. If they do match it’s possible they are updates or duplicates. Determine this by using a conditional split comparing rows from the target to incoming rows. Send updates to a staging table that can then be updated in an Execute SQL Task.Explain that putting updates in a staging table instead of updating using the OLE DB Command is much better for performance because the Execute SQL Task performs a bulk operation.9. Explain what breakpoints are and how you would use them.Breakpoints put pauses in your package. It’s a great tool for debugging a package because you can place a breakpoint on a task and it will pause the package based on execution events.A reason in which I have used breakpoints is when I have a looping container and I want to see how my variables are changed by the loop. I would place a watch window on the package and type the variable name in. Set a break point on the container the stop after each iteration of the loop.