SQL Server Data Tools GA update for June 2016

The SQL Server Data Tools team is pleased to announce an update for SSDT General Availability (GA) is now released. The SSDT GA update for June 2016 added support for the latest updates of SQL Server 2016 RTM, various bug fixes.

 

Get it here: Download SSDT GA June 2016 for Visual Studio 2015 and Visual Studio 2013

Download Data-Tier Application Framework June 2016

  • The version number for GA is 13.0.3314.1

 

What’s new in SSDT?

One Installer for SQL Server database and Business Intelligence (BI) tools

  • New unified setup for both Database and Business Intelligence (BI) tools in Visual Studio 2015.
  • Simple to acquire and integrate SQL Server database, Analysis Services, Reporting Services and Integration Services designer developer experience.

Support for multiple SQL Server versions

Monthly SSDT update release for faster response to customer

  • New and unified SSDT download page.
  • Shipping every month on the web.
  • Faster to address customer feedback every month.
  • Light-up support for new Azure SQL Database features.
  • Automatic update notification.

SQL Server Analysis Service Enhancements

Project templates added for Tabular 1200 models in SSDT

  • No longer need two versions of SSDT for building relational and BI projects.
  • Adds project templates for Analysis Services solutions, including Analysis Services Tabular Projects used for building models at the 1200 compatibility level.
  • Includes other Analysis Services project templates for multidimensional and data mining solutions.

Improved DAX formula editing

  • Updates to the formula bar help you write formulas with more ease by differentiating functions, fields and measures using syntax coloring
  • Provides intelligent function and field suggestions and tells you if parts of your DAX expression are wrong using error 'squiggles'.
  • Allows you to use multiple lines (Alt + Enter) and indentation (Tab).

Improved SSDT modeling performance for Tabular 1200 models

  • For Tabular 1200 models, metadata operations in SSDT are much faster. By comparison, on the same hardware, creating a relationship on a model set to the SQL Server 2014 compatibility level (1103) with 23 tables takes 3 seconds, whereas the same relationship on a model created set to compatibility level 1200 takes just under a second.

Improved DAX formula editing

  • With formula fixup on a Tabular 1200 model, SSDT will automatically update any measures that is referencing a column or table that was renamed.

Support for Visual Studio configuration manager

  • To support multiple environments, like Test and Pre-production environments, Visual Studio allows developers to create multiple project configurations using the configuration manager. Multidimensional models already leverage this but Tabular models do not. With this release, you can now use configuration manager to deploy to different servers.

Set default for bi-directional cross filters in tabular models in SSDT

  • This release enables bi-directional cross filters by default for tabular models at the 1200 compatibility level in SSDT. Filters are only auto-generated when the direction can be established with a high degree of certainty. If there is ambiguity in the form of multiple query paths across table relationships, a filter won't be created automatically. See Bi-directional cross filters for tabular models in SQL Server 2016 Analysis Services for details.

Calculated tables in SSDT

  • A calculated table is a model-only construction based on a DAX expression or query in SSDT. When deployed in a database, a calculated table is indistinguishable from regular tables.
  • There are several uses for calculated tables, including the creation of new tables to expose an existing table in a specific role. The classic example is a Date table that operates in multiple contexts (order date, ship date, and so forth). By creating a calculated table for a given role, you can now activate a table relationship to facilitate queries or data interaction using the calculated table. Another use for calculated tables is to combine parts of existing tables into an entirely new table that exists only in the model. See Create a Calculated Table (SSAS Tabular) to learn more.

Translations in SSDT

  • You can now store translated metadata in a Tabular 1200 model. Metadata in the model includes fields for Culture, translated captions, and translated descriptions. To add translations, use the Model > Translations command in SQL Server Data Tools. See Translations in Tabular models (Analysis Services) for details.

Tabular Model Scripting Language (TMSL) supported in SSDT

  • Scripts can easily be generated in SSDT for tabular models at compatibility level 1200. Functionally, TMSL is equivalent to the XMLA ASSL extension that provides multidimensional object definitions, except that TMSL uses native descriptors like model, table, and relationship to describe tabular metadata. See Tabular Model Scripting Language (TMSL) Reference for details about the schema.

SQL Server Database Project Enhancements

Comprehensive programmability support for all new features of SQL Server 2016

  • Easy to develop, build and deploy SQL Server 2016 database.
  • Security: Always Encrypted, Row-Level security, Dynamic Data Masking, Transparent Data Encryption, Azure Active Directory.
  • Performance and Hyperscale: In-memory OLTP v2 support, Stretch Data Warehouse.
  • Modern RDBMS: Temporal, JSON, Polybase.
  • Visit what’s new in SQL Server 2016 to learn more.

End-to-End support for Database Lifecycle Management (DLM) & DevOps practice

New Connection Experience for Microsoft SQL Server and Azure SQL Database

  • Easily connect to any database from your history – from Publish, Schema Compare, Data Compare.
  • Pin favorite connections for easy access.
  • Browse your Azure SQL Databases direct from Visual Studio and simply click to connect.
  • Azure firewall rule creation is automatically handled at connection time. See https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VUHk-o8gjpI for details.

 

SQL Server Integration Services Enhancements

SSIS Designer creates and maintains packages for SQL Server 2016, 2014, or 2012

  • Create, maintain, and debug packages that target SQL Server 2016, SQL Server 2014, or SQL Server 2012. In Solution Explorer, right-click on an Integration Services project and select Properties to open the property pages for the project. On the General tab of Configuration Properties, select the TargetServerVersion property, and then choose SQL Server 2016, SQL Server 2014, or SQL Server 2012.

Reuse Control Flow across Packages by Using Control Flow Package Parts

  • Save a commonly used control flow task or container to a standalone part file (a “.dtsxp” file) and reuse it multiple times in one or more packages by using control flow package parts.

Support for OData V3 and V4 data sources

  • For OData V3 protocol, the component supports the ATOM and JSON data formats.
  • For OData V4 protocol, the component supports the JSON data format.

Column names for errors in the data flow

  • When you redirect rows in the data flow that contain errors to an error output, the output contains a numeric identifier for the column in which the error occurred, but does not display the name of the column. Now the name of the column in which the error occurred can be displayed Advanced Editor and Data Viewer.

Support for Hadoop and HDFS

  • The Hadoop Connection Manager now supports both Basic and Kerberos authentication.
  • The HDFS File Source and the HDFS File Destination support both Text and Avro format. HDFS File Source also support ORC format.
  • The Hadoop File System task now supports the "Within Hadoop" option in addition to the "To Hadoop" and the "From Hadoop" options.

AutoAdjustBufferSize property

  • When you set the value of the new AutoAdjustBufferSize property to true, the data flow engine automatically calculates the buffer size for the data flow.

SQL Server Reporting Services Enhancements

Connectivity improvements

  • Support for Oracle ODP.NET natively
  • Support for Teradata 14.x
  • Support for SAP BW Session Security
  • Support for Personalized Connection Strings

Tree Map and Sunburst Charts

  • Enhance your reports with Tree Map and Sunburst charts, great ways to display hierarchal data. For more information, see Tree Map and Sunburst Charts in Reporting Services.

Modern paginated reports

  • Design beautifully modern paginated reports with new, modern styles for charts, gauges, maps and other data visualizations.

 

Contact us:

If you have any question 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!