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SQL Server Data Tools Preview update for October 2015

The SQL Server Data tools team is pleased to announce an update for SSDT Preview is now available. The SSDT Preview update for October 2015 adds a support for SSAS and SSRS projects in Visual Studio 2015. SSIS has addressed various issues reported from August and September preview releases. This update includes SQL database project features for SQL Server 2016 CTP3 and Azure SQL Database.

Important!

  • If you are trying out SSMS, SSDT and SQL Server 2016 CTP release on the same machine, please install or upgrade SQL Server 2016 CTP version to CTP3.0 before updating SSDT or SSMS to avoid a known issue on SSMS.

Who can benefit from using the Preview?

  • Analysis Services and Reporting Services developers on Visual Studio 2015 using SQL Server 2008 to 2014 and developers who would like to try the new CTP features SQL Server 2016. Check more detail about Analysis Services and Reporting Services features in this update.
  • Integration Services developers on Visual Studio 2015, experiencing issues from an existing installation of SSDT August and September 2015 preview update, or would like to try SSIS project on Windows 7 OS.
  • SQL Server 2016 CTP3.0 database developers who would like to try the new CTP features.
  • Azure SQL Database developers who would like to try the latest GA and Preview features.

Get it here:

Download SSDT October 2015 Preview for Visual Studio 2015 and Visual Studio 2013

  • The version number for the latest preview in Visual Studio 2015 is 14.0.51026
  • The version number for the latest preview in Visual Studio 2013 is 12.0.51026

Download Data-Tier Application Framework October 2015 Preview

  • The version number for the latest preview of DacFx is 13.0.3124.1

What’s New in SSDT and DacFx?

  • SSDT One-Installer support for SSAS and SSRS.
  • New SSIS features including Hadoop connector, control flow template, relaxed max buffer size of data flow task.
  • Various bug fixes in SSIS and support for Windows 7 OS.
  • SQL Server 2016 CTP3 feature support for database project.

Known issues:

  • SSDT side by side installation with SQL Server 2016 CTP2.4 and SSMS September release.
    • A breaking change was introduced between SQL Server 2016 CTP2.4 and CTP3.0. This may cause SSMS to crash if SSDT Preview October 2015 update is installed on the same machine where SSMS September 2015 update and SQL Server 2016 CTP2.4 are already installed. A workaround is to install SQL Server 2016 CTP3, SSMS October 2015 update first before SSDT Preview October 2015 update to avoid this issue.
  • SSIS side by side installation
    • SSIS developers may encounter an issue when SSDT Preview October 2015 update is installed side by side with SQL Server 2016 CTP 2.4 or older version on the same machine.
    • Debugging package with Data Flow Task may result in "Unable to save to XML" error. A workaround is to set "Run64BitRuntime" SSIS project property to False
  • SSIS Template issues
    • Connection managers binding to template instances can also be listed by other normal tasks or foreach loop containers. A workaround is to ignore the connection manager binding to template instances. Using those connection managers in other executables may lead to a unknown issue.
    • After renaming a template file, packages which contain the template reference cannot be updated automatically. A workaround is to manually edit the .dtsx.designer file to update the template references.
    • After replacing an executable in a template, the template instance in a package will be refreshed, but the connection manager name of the template instance is not prefixed with "(template)". A workaround is to remove the existing template instance and add a new one.
    • If an executable in a template is changed from a task to a container or vice versa, an existing package which contains the template cannot add any executable by double-clicking toolbox. A workaround is to add an executable by drag & drop.
    • When designing a package with template, some layout issue may occur. A workaround is to save a package before next operation after adding a new template instance.

Contact Us

If you have any questions or feedback, please visit our forum or Microsoft Connect page.  We are fully committed to improve the SSDT experience and look forward to hearing from you!

Comments

  • Anonymous
    October 28, 2015
    Congratulations on such a big step forward with this preview update! Very glad with the Windows 7 support. Now I am very much looking forward to the SSIS 2012 support in a next update (that is the last thing holding back full use of VS2015 for us).

  • Anonymous
    October 28, 2015
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    October 28, 2015
    The September update isn't supposed to be the last preview?

  • Anonymous
    October 29, 2015
    @Jeroen Thank you. Please stay tuned for SSIS 2012. SSIS team is working hard to enhance on that point. @Marek I will ping SSIS eng team about it. @DS19 We call it a fast-train release. Preview update has been and will be released on a on-going basis. When it reaches up to a GA quality, we will release a GA (RTM) update. FYI, SSDT and SQL Server CTP releases are independent to each other while we manage to release SSDT updates on the same day when SQL Server CTPs are released. Hope this clarifies it.

  • Anonymous
    October 29, 2015
    Eric, I did install new SSDT OCT preview. Now, i can see all BI related project templates. But under Analysis Service only Multidimensional Project, NOT tabular project. Do you know, when it will be available.

  • Anonymous
    October 29, 2015
    Also looking forward to SSIS 2012 support. Is there something that tells us which versions of SSIS, SSRS, and SSAS are supported with this installer? I'm having trouble finding that.

  • Anonymous
    November 02, 2015
    Any documentation on what's new in terms of SSRS?  Are there more extensive properties for charts?  Can I finally make conditional or expressive subreports?

  • Anonymous
    November 02, 2015
    I see SSIS sort by name still doesn't get persisted to the actual solution file - shame that something so simple can't be implemented by MS, as it makes managing a large SSIS project quite frustrating. It's been broken for YEARS now. I get asked to set my workspace servers every single time I open the solution that has my SSAS projects in it, once for each project.

  • Anonymous
    November 02, 2015
    Also getting this error: You cannot open the BIM file. Reason: The workspace database server 'localhost' was not found. Verify that there is an Analysis Services server instance running on 'localhost' in tabular mode. To change the workspace database server for the selected BIM file 'Model.bim', in Solution Explorer, select the BIM file 'Model.bim', and then in the Properties window, change the workspace database server. There are ZERO properties that show up in the properties window when I select the Model.bim file in that project. Also, what I mentioned in my prior post where it repeatedly asks for the workspace server only appears to occur until data is brought into the new workspace server (i.e., process all on the model). All four of my models previously were set up for a 'localhost' workspace server - for some reason it has persisted one, but not the other three. This appears to due to a settings file getting checked in from a previous version of visual studio where it often ignores .gitignore files. Removing the settings file fixed the issue.

  • Anonymous
    November 03, 2015
    Looking really good, I downloaded and installed to try however when opening a report in that was desinged for 2014 schemas.microsoft.com/.../reportdefinition automatically upgrades it to schemas.microsoft.com/.../reportdefinition which then means it can't be deployed to SSRS 2014. VS does not ask or warn about this activity. We need to be able to target the version of SSAS,SSIS,SSRS that we deploy to and be able to choose when to upgrade those files. Regards Toby

  • Anonymous
    November 04, 2015
    To confirm -- this version supports both SSIS 2014 and SSRS 2014 development? If so - that is AWESOME! Can we also use this version to edit and redeploy SSIS 2008R2 and SSRS 2008R2 solutions (backward compatible) or should we continue to use BIDS? Thank you for clarifying these points. :)

  • Anonymous
    November 05, 2015
    Thank you all for the great feedback and awesome participation! I will pull in our partners in SSIS, SSRS to answer your questions with a subject matter expertise. Short version of answer for the support matrix questions:

  • SSAS and SSRS support 2008 all the way to 2016 CTP3.0.
  • SSIS currently supports 2016 CTP3.0 only. But the support for SSIS 2012 and 2014 is coming as well. SSIS has some complex scenarios to address before it can be previewed and the team is working really hard to deliver this scenario. Please stay tuned.
  • Anonymous
    November 06, 2015
    The comment has been removed

  • Anonymous
    November 06, 2015
    Hey Kevin D., for the empty property grid issue we have a bug filed for it and it should be fixed in the next release. In order to see the properties you need to open the BIM in the designer. We also have a bug filed for the continual prompt for Workspace DB, you can also manage these settings in the VS -> Tools -> Options -> AS Tabular Designers settings. Lastly to the error your getting about the localhost DB what version of SQL Server do you have locally? 1200 Compat level projects won't work with older AS deployments you have to have SQL 2016 CTP 3.0 or higher. 1103 Compat level project should work fine.

  • Anonymous
    November 09, 2015
    Matthew - that's a bit of a catch 22 then. Can't open the bim because I can't set the workspace, can't set the workspace in the properties because I can't open the bim. As I said I managed to edit the setting file manually, but I really shouldn't have to do that. My AS server is on a separate server (not localhost), and is SQL 2016 CTP3.0. Also, I noticed you skipped over the sort by name issue, as has also happened on the MSDN forums here: social.msdn.microsoft.com/.../ssis-sort-by-name I guess the 'We are fully committed to improve the SSDT experience' is just stock template text for this blog after all?

  • Anonymous
    November 10, 2015
    Kevin D - sorry for the inconvenience with the settings file, as I mentioned the bug has been filed and it has already been fixed for the next release. As for the SSIS question I don't work on the Integration Services team so I'm unable to provide any guidance/help; however your question has been forward to their team and they hopefully can address your questions.

  • Anonymous
    November 24, 2015
    Are the T4 templates for SSDT Unit Testing available?  If so, where can I find them?

  • Anonymous
    November 25, 2015
    @Matt - and in typical fashion for the SSIS team, it's been ignored for over 3 weeks now.

  • Anonymous
    November 30, 2015
    I am experiencing issue with SSRS Preview 2015, report without tablix is showing error and not rendering in VS 2015. Does anyone experiencing similar issue ?

  • Anonymous
    November 30, 2015
    Hi, it is possible to create "Attribute-Folder" and "Measure-Folder" with the SSDT 2016 ? In the version SSDT 2014 I worked with the BIDS Helper. Thanks for the answer