Getting Started with Biml

Have you ever needed to generate dozens (or even hundreds) of similar SSIS packages? Do you ever find yourself needing to regenerate a lot of packages when some piece of the upstream data format changes? These are not uncommon scenarios faced by ETL developers, but historically there haven’t been any good tools to help with this. However, we’re going to introduce you to one of the most useful tools you may ever use: Biml.

For ETL developers, Biml (Business Intelligence Markup Language) is a game changer. This is a great new tool for Microsoft business intelligence developers who want to make the most of their development efforts. In short, it’s an XML-based language that will allow you to programmatically create SSIS packages. Even better, it can be enhanced with VB.NET or C# scripting to create BimlScript, which allows you to dynamically build and modify a few, dozens, or even hundreds of packages with minimal effort. Best of all, you don’t need budget approval – if you already have Visual Studio, you can use Biml and BimlScript for free!

In this full-day presentation, we'll introduce you to dynamic package generation through Biml. Business intelligence consultants Tim Mitchell and Reeves Smith will walk you through the essentials of Biml – getting started, syntax, and common uses – followed by dozens of design patterns to improve your efficiency as an ETL developer.

Among the topics that we’ll cover:

• Overview of Biml – What is it? Where do I use it?
• Introduction to Biml syntax
• Biml in the Visual Studio environment
• Introduction to BimlScript syntax
• Dynamic package generation with BimlScript
• Metadata management with Biml
• Create a simple staging package project with dozens of packages in less than an hour
• Package (re)generation
• Source control
• Common design patterns for Biml in the enterprise
• Taking Biml to the next level with Mist

By the end of this full-day presentation, you should be equipped to get started immediately using Biml. It’s a revolutionary technology, and we hope that you’ll be as excited about Biml as we are.

Audience
This course is intended for business intelligence developers and other database professionals with experience creating and supporting SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS) packages. Attendees should have a working knowledge of the SSIS essentials. In addition, some experience with either C# or VB.NET, and a basic understanding of XML (or other markup language) would be helpful.

About the Presenters

Tim Mitchell is a business intelligence consultant, author, and trainer. He has been working with SQL Server for a decade, working primarily in business intelligence, ETL/SSIS, data quality, and reporting. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Computer Science from Texas A&M at Commerce, and has been a Microsoft SQL Server MVP since 2010. Tim is an independent BI consultant and a partner with Linchpin People.

As an active member of the community, Tim has spoken at international, regional, and local venues including the SQL PASS Summit, SQLBits, SQL Connections, SQL Saturday events, and various user groups and webcasts. Tim is coauthor of the book SSIS Design Patterns, and is a contributing author on the charity book project MVP Deep Dives 2. He is an active group member and speaker at the North Texas SQL Server User Group in the Dallas area.

You can visit his website and blog at TimMitchell.net or follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/Tim_Mitchell.

Reeves Smith is a consultant and trainer. He holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Applied Mathematics from University of Colorado at Colorado Springs and a Microsoft Certified Master with over 17 years of experience working with SQL Server. Reeves is an independent BI consultant and teammate with Linchpin People.

He is an active member of the Denver, CO, PASS chapter and delivers technical presentations at local and regional conferences and user groups. He has had the opportunity to work on various development and data warehouse projects within industries like banking, DoD, energy, entertainment, gaming, healthcare, manufacturing, oil and gas, travel, and telecommunication.

You can visit his website and blog at reevessmith.wordpress.com or follow him on Twitter at SQLReeves.