I've been working in SQL 2012 the past couple weeks on a new project, and I'm finally getting past the "new car smell"/honeymoon period. Over the last 2-3 days I've encountered some more subtle and insidious changes of which I'm not a fan. At all.
To be sure, I am mostly OK with the cosmetic changes in the toolset. The exception there being SSIS, because I loved how it was all "the light is green, the trap is clean" in 2005 and 2008. Yeah, it's a little less cartoony now. But I love cartoons, so that's not exactly value-add to me... Also, I don't see any real difference thus far between BIDS and the spankin' new "SQL Server Data Tools". Feels like the same thing (subject-are-limited version of Visual Studio) with a new name.
And, you know, I generally expect things to change between software versions. Especially when you're dealing with Microsoft. :) But I feel like anytime a software "upgrade" or new version removes or deprecates commonly used functionality, that's a step in the wrong direction.
Obviously, there are exceptions. For instance, since we're talking about MS, I'm quite cool with Windows 8 and its new touchscreen oriented interface. Because, honestly, do you really love the mouse that much? Seriously, though, I think it looks great and is very usable once you get over the slight learning curve required to deal with any new OS.
Where I have problems is with things that are maybe a little more under the covers. Things that you take for granted because they are integrated into a given piece of software's basic workflow and usability profile. And this is where I feel like there are shenanigans at play in SQL 2012.
I discovered this week, to my chagrin, that automatic metadata refresh seems to have been surgically removed from the SSIS 2012. Say you build a data flow including some components you will likely use again in the project -- like, say, a Lookup on a Date dimension. In the 2005/2008 world, you could copy/paste the component(s) into a new Data Flow, hook them up, and SSIS would update the pasted component's metadata and -- BLAMMO -- reuse! Right? Well, not so much in 2012. It won't automatically refresh any metadata. Another example: You create an OLE DB component, drop a SQL query in it and continue on your merry way. But the DBA changes one of the columns in your from a VARCHAR(50) to a VARCHAR(100). In 2005, the next time you open the package, SSIS would identify this and prompt you to accept the metadata update so your OLE DB source is in sync. Handy, yes? Well, kiss it goodbye. That's all manual in 2012, from what I'm seeing so far.
A more straightforwardly bald-faced Surgical Feature Removal exists in SSAS, and it SOOOO rubs me the wrong way. The cube browser in SQL Server Data Tools no longer supports hierarchical display. That's right: when you browse the cube, your hierarchical dimensions are displayed as a flat table. I mean, COME ON! Seriously? If I wanted a G-D table, I'd write a query! Microsoft's responses online have mumbled something about "use Excel to view hierarchy-style data", but I'm not trying to hear that, honestly. Excel is all fine and good for users, but I want a DEVELOPMENT TOOL that has SUPERPOWERS. Not something that has to be "fixed" or "completed" via Excel.
And that may be just the tip of the iceberg. I haven't touched SSRS 2012 yet. And now I'm afraid to. Between the giant fumble with PowerView (doesn't work with multidimensional? Really? Seriously?) and these things I'm encountering, I'm a little bearish on working with SQL 2012 BI stuff.
How about y'all? Anything in the SQL 2012 BI toolset sticking in your craw?
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