Database Reference
In-Depth Information
The Visual Studio plug-in that comes with SQL Server is either SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT) or Business
Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) depending on which version of SQL Server you install. As of SQL 2012,
BIDS is a subset of SSDT, but in earlier versions it was a stand-alone plug-in. You may find the terms BIDS and
SSDT used interchangeably on the Internet, but do not let it worry you too much. Think of SSDT as the newer
version of BIDS instead of its replacement, and you will be ne. As you read though this topic, you will notice we
usually refer to both generically as Visual Studio.
With the BIDS/SSDT plug-in to Visual Studio, you can design SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS), SQL
Server Analysis Services (SSAS), and SQL Server Reporting Services (SSRS) projects using templates. These install
automatically into Visual Studio 2010 when you install SQL Server 2012. In fact, if you do not have Visual Studio
2010 already, the SQL Server installation will install it as well.
If it still seems confusing, consider the following:
•
Visual Studio is a host for development tools.
•
If we were to install Microsoft's C# development tools, for example, it would install Visual
Studio and the C# development plug-in for Visual Studio.
•
If we decided later to add Microsoft's Visual Basic .NET, it only needs to install the plug-in
to the already installed Visual Studio.
If we decided later to add Microsoft's SQL Server Data Tools, the installation checks to see whether a
compatible version of Visual Studio is already installed: if not, it will install it for you. If it already is installed,
it just adds the SSDT plug-in as an additional development tool. Either way, the BIDS/SSDT plug-in becomes
part of Visual Studio 2010.
Not
■
we provide a lot of detail about how to use these project templates throughout the topic, so don't be
intimidated by the sudden inundation of acronyms. in this chapter, we created all the projects for you as part of the
downloadable content. All you need to do is review these projects as we continue through this chapter.
Using Visual Studio
Visual Studio 2010 can be accessed either through SQL Server's menu item (Windows Start Button
➤
All
Programs Microsoft SQL Server 2012
➤
SQL Server Data Tools) or under the Visual Studio menu item (Windows
Start Button
➤
All Programs
➤
Microsoft Visual Studio 2010). Both options open Visual Studio 2010 and present
a selection of project templates in the New Project dialog window (Figure
2-3
).
