Interview about Azure Data Factory Updates

Last year at Microsoft Ignite, I was fortunate enough to interview Mike Flasko and Sanjay Krishnamurthi. This year, I got to have a follow-up chat with Mike Flasko and Sharon Lo! We talked about the recent and upcoming Azure Data Factory updates 🤓

In this interview, Mike and Sharon share the highlights from their session at Microsoft Ignite 2018. What are visual Data Flows? How are Azure Data Factory Data Flows different from the recently announced Power BI Dataflows? What’s on the Azure Data Factory roadmap? And finally, how can you provide feedback and get involved in private previews?

Azure Data Factory Updates with Mike Flasko and Sharon Lo

(I apologize for the unsteady video 😔 Unfortunately, I didn’t see how shaky it was until post-production. If it gets too distracting to watch, please just listen. Mike and Sharon share a lot of interesting things!)

Thank you so much to Mike and Sharon for chatting with me on a busy day 😃

Don't Repeat Your Biml - C# Extension Methods

Biml Wheel.

In a previous blog post, we looked at how to use C#/VB Code Files in Biml. There are several benefits to moving custom C# code into separate files. It allows you to reuse that code across multiple projects and solutions. You can maintain the code in your editor of choice, taking advantage of intellisense and syntax highlighting. And finally, my personal favorite: you can create custom extension methods.

In this post, we will look at how to simplify our Biml projects by creating and using C# extension methods. We will build on the examples from the previous C#/VB Code Files in Biml blog post.

TENK Tech Camp 2018 - Experiences Volunteering

TENK Tech Camp 2018 was a 2-day event for teenage girls who are interested in technology and science. On August 9-10th, 2018, over 200 girls gathered at Teknisk Museum (Norwegian Museum of Science and Technology) in Oslo, Norway to attend workshops about coding, hacking, artificial intelligence, chatbots, design thinking, app development, web development - and rocket engineering!

Group photo of all the TENK Tech Camp attendees, mentors and organizers outside Teknisk Museum.

Organizing Visual Studio Projects in Solution Folders

Visual Studio logo.

Do you have large Visual Studio solutions with many projects? Are you looking for an easy way to hide some projects while working on others? Maybe you are a fellow speaker looking for a way to group and organize your demo files? Solution Folders may be what you are looking for!

Biml for OData Source and Connection Manager in SSIS

Biml Wheel.

As of July 2018, there is no built-in Biml support for OData. To work with OData in Biml, you have to create a custom source and connection manager. This requires more Biml code than built-in functions like OleDbSource and may look a little overwhelming at first. But don’t worry! You don’t have to start from scratch.

In this blog post, we will first look at the properties of the OData Connection Manager and how to script it in Biml. Then, we will do the same for the OData Source. Finally, we will tie it all together and create a complete SSIS package that you can use a starting point for your own projects.