We’ve launched!

We are thrilled to announce the redesign of BimlScript.com! We have kept the core elements but have worked to increase the usability of the site!

It’s All about Community!

Every day, we are amazed by the rapid and widespread adoption of Biml! We love hearing about people’s experiences, from first-time Biml users to experienced users exploring creative solutions to integrate Biml into their projects. To better enable this growing community, we wanted to make learning and sharing Biml code even easier.

Listed below are five key new features that work toward that goal:

• Updated Navigation & Iconography

In addition to the obvious visual improvements of the site, we have updated the navigation bar. It is now placed consistently at the top of all pages and floats when the page is scrolled. This enables quick and clear navigation to any area of the site in just a click or two. This change freed up space on the home page where the navigation tiles used to be. Now we have a banner area to feature upcoming Biml events and other great content opportunities.

• Browse Content Feature Restructured for Ease of Use

We took a long hard look at this feature, since it was the main place to browse for Biml resources. The big block buttons and flat grid presentation made poor use of screen real estate and created the potential to overwhelm the user. To address these issues, we moved the main category icons to the side and put the “Group By” radial selectors at the top. We also decided to display the user contributions in a collapsible list form so that you see things such as ratings, dates, and tags even when that “Group By” selector isn’t selected.

• Events Page

We have created a page that is devoted to all the Biml events around the globe including webinars! If you know of an event online or in your area, now you can let others know about it through BimlScript.com. Just as with external content, you can continue to manage your event using whichever sites and tools you prefer. This is simply a mechanism to aggregate Biml events around the world.

• Biml Break

Probably one of the most fun features we integrated into the new site is the ability to share the benefits of using Biml in your work and life. We now have a designated page where you are able to upload images of doing something you love with the time you saved by using Biml. If you happen to be doing it in a biml t-shirt, that’s even better! You’re your submission is approved by BimlScript.com administrators, the community will be able to like and comment on your Biml Break. Join us in celebrating how fun BI can be when you using awesome tools like Biml to eliminate rote work and let you focus on the fun aspects of BI again – and maybe also have a little time left over for yourself.

• Contribution by Linking to External Content

Are you and avid blogger or like writing technical articles on Biml? We have added a category to our Browse and Contribute pages that will allow you to link to your own personal page as long as it is about Biml. This enables you to feature your content on your own site, but also to get the benefits of discovery and linking from BimlScript.com!

We hope that these added features will bring the community even closer together, while helping you to find the best Biml solutions to problems in your data development work. Please enjoy and let us know what you think!

Due to the rapid adoption of Biml and Mist throughout Scandinavia, Rehfeld and Varigence are proud to present a 10 day speaking tour on Biml. From May 5 until May 15th the tour will travel through six cities in four different countries. The highlight of the tour is four full day Biml Master Classes in Copenhagen, Stockholm, Oslo, and Helsinki. The Master classes will be taught by the creator of Biml Scott Currie and Rehfeld Principal BI Architect Peter Hansen. Scott and Peter will work together to take your Biml skills to the next level. Click on the individual events below to reserve your spot today.

Denmark

• Biml Techie Meetup, Aarhus, May 5, 7-9pm
• Biml and Breakfast, Copenhagen, May 6, 9-11am
• Biml Afternoon Tea, Copenhagen, May 6, 4-6pm
• Biml Techie Meetup, Copenhagen, May 6, 7-9pm
• Biml Master Class, Copenhagen, May 7, 9-5pm

Sweden

• SQL Server user group meeting, Malmö, May 7, 6-9pm
• Biml and Breakfast, Stockholm, May 8, 9-11am
• Biml Afternoon Tea, Stockholm, May 8, 4-6pm
• SQL Server User Group Meeting, Stockholm, May 8, 6-9pm
• Biml Master Class, Stockholm, May 9, 9-5pm

Norway

• Biml and Breakfast, Oslo, May 12, 9-11am
• Biml Afternoon Tea, Oslo, May 12, 4-6pm
• Biml Techie Meetup, Oslo, May 12, 7-9pm
• Biml Master Class, Oslo, May 13, 9-5pm

Finland

• Biml and Breakfast, Helsinki, May 14, 9-11am
• Biml Afternoon Tea, Helsinki, May 14, 4-6pm
• Biml Techie Meetup, Helsinki, May 14, 7-9pm
• Biml Master Class, Helsinki, May 15, 9-5pm

If you have any questions about the tour please email Finn Simonsen at fas@rehfeld.dk or call +45 3170 1059.

There will be several Biml presentations between now and the end of 2013. If you have a presentation focusing on Biml that's not listed, please let us know on the comments below or post it at the Biml User Group on Linkedin.

Biml had a great showing and according to this blogger was a star of PASS Summit 2013.

Biml got started at the Summmit on Tuesday, October 15th, when Varigence and Linchpin People presented the first ever full day Biml training event. The Workshop was held at the Wake Forest University Charlotte Center and sold out with 50 plus people in attendance. Presenters included Andy Leonard and Tim Mitchell as well as the creator of Biml Scott Currie.

At the Summit itself, Biml was an integral part of at least six presentations. These presentations included:

• Automate Your ETL Infrastructure with SSIS and PowerShell - Allen White - This presentation is available on PASS TV.
• Building a Supportable ETL Framework - David Darden 
• Data Cleansing in SSIS - Tim Mitchell 
• Designing an SSIS Framework - Andy Leonard 
• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle: Automating Your BI Framework - Stacia Misner 
• Type More, Click Less: Programmatically Build SSIS Packages - Bill Fellows 

Due to Biml's growing popularity among BI professionals, SQL ServerCentral.com has launched a stairway series on Biml. Andy Leonard from Linchpin People and and Paul Waters from Varigence will be writing the "Stairway to Biml" articles.

SQL Server Central's Stairways are designed to get a beginner up and running on SQL Server based technologies. Each Stairway is a SQL tutorial series focused on a single topic and is arranged into no more than a dozen easily-navigable tutorials. Each level is the length of a typical magazine tutorial, and emphasizes practical, hands-on learning, with just enough background theory to help you understand the topic at a deeper level.

Level One of the staircase entitled, "What is Biml" was read over 8000 times on its first day of release. Levels Two through Four of the Stairway are scheduled to be released as follows:

• Level 2 - Wednesday, July 31, 2013
• Level 3 - Wednesday, August 7, 2013
• Level 4 - Wednesday, August 14, 2013

Levels five through twelve will be released over the remainder 2013.

On Saturday, May 18th at SQL Saturday #220 in Atlanta, Paul Waters and Andy Leonard gave standing room only presentations on Biml. Due to the fire code several people had to be turned away once the rooms reached capacity. Later in the day the organizers let Paul give an encore presentation of his Biml talk to allow everyone the opportunity to learn about the future of BI development.

Paul Waters presenting "Automating SSIS Development with Biml."

Andy Leonard presenting "Using BIML as an SSIS Design Patterns Engine."

Varigence and Linchpin People will be presenting a full day workshop about Biml on Tuesday, October 15th in Charlotte, NC. Come see why BI professionals around the world think Biml is the future of data integration and BI. Registration is only $69. Register before July 15th, and receive the early bird price of just $49. Hot breakfast, lunch, breaktime refreshments, online workshop materials, and t-shirt are included. Parking at WFU parking gargage is approximately $16 for the day. Event sign-in and breakfast begins 30 minutes before workshop's start. To register go to http://bimlscript.eventbrite.com/

BimlScript.com would like to wish all Biml users a Happy New Year. We plan to have lots of new content posted throughout 2013 so visit BimlScript.com frequently to bring your Biml skills to the next level. And if you haven't already make sure to join the Biml Users Group on Linkedin and follow us on Twitter to network with hundreds of other Biml users.

Senior Microsoft consultant Argenis Fernandez (pictured above) and Denny Cherry have a great talk together on Episode 15 of People Talking Tech. They discuss Business Intelligence Markup Language (Biml) starting at 18:10 of the podcast. They also discuss the book SQL Server 2012 Integration Services Design Patterns written by Andy Leonard, Matt Masson, Tim Mitchell, Jessica Moss and Michelle Ufford. The Design Patterns book has a full chapter devoted to Biml.

Biml's popularity is continuing to grow with more business intelligence professionals using it everyday. Due to Biml being increasingly mentioned in technical books and blogs it has garnered its own article on Wikipedia. Check it out at Wikipedia - Biml Article.

Once again Biml was a hit at a SQL Saturday event. On Saturday, October 27th at SQL Saturday #174 in Charlotte Varigence associates Paul Waters and Steven Currie gave demonstrations of Biml to attendees throughout the day. Paul also gave an hour long presentation on Biml entitled, "Automating SSIS Development with Biml." Once again Paul presented to a standing room only crowd that loved learning about Biml.

This SQL Saturday was a BI Edition and had several Microsoft MVPs and industry experts speaking on various Business Intelligence topics.

Steven Currie and Paul Waters at Varigence Booth.

Paul Waters presenting, "Automating SSIS Development with Biml."

On Saturday, October 13th Paul Waters presented, "Automating SSIS Development with Biml" at SQl Saturday #163 in Dallas, Texas. In his presentation Paul started by showing how Biml can be used to solve common BI problems. Then after discussing the basics of BimlScript he finished by covering practical examples using the BIDS Helper add-in to automate SSIS development. The presentation was standing room only and the audience loved learning about Biml.

This SQL Saturday was a BI Edition and had several Microsoft MVPs and industry experts speaking on various Business Intelligence topics. The next SQL Saturday BI Edition will be in Charlotte, NC on Saturday, October 27 and Paul will again be presenting "Automating SSIS Development with Biml". To learn more about SQL Saturday Charlotte BI Edition go to SQL Saturday #174.

Paul Waters giving Biml presentation at SQL Saturday #163. Photo courtsey of Ryan Adams.

Due to the increased use use by BI professionals worldwide two recently published books discuss Biml. The first book, SQL Server 2012 Integration Services Design Patterns was released on September 8, 2012 and devotes a full chapter to Biml. This book was written by SSIS gurus Andy Leonard, Matt Masson, Tim Mitchell, Jessica Moss and Michelle Ulford. This book is a terrific resource for learning Biml. The Biml chapter begins with a brief history and then explains step by step, with several screen shots, how to:

• Build your first Biml file inside of BIDS Helper
• Build a pattern for Basic Incremental Load in a SSIS package
• Use Biml as a SSIS Design Patterns Engine

In addition to the Biml chapter, Design Patterns covers 19 additional topics related to SQL Server 2012 that will help take your SSIS skills to the next level. SQL Server 2012 Integration Services Design Patterns is available through Amazon or Apress.

The second book Microsoft SQL Server 2012 Integration Services was released on September 19, 2012 and was written by members of Microsoft’s SQL Server Integration Services team. This book briefly talks about Biml as an alternative to creating SSIS automation solutions. This book will show you how to:

• Use SSIS to extract, transform, and load data from multiple data sources
• Apply best practices to optimize package and project configuration and deployment
• Manage security settings in the SSISDB catalog and control package access
• Work with SSIS data quality features to profile, cleanse, and increase reliability
• Monitor, troubleshoot, and tune SSIS solutions with advanced features such as detailed views and data taps
• Load data incrementally to capture an easily consumable stream of insert, update, and delete activity

Both books are available for purchase through Amazon.

As companies collect ever increasing quantities of information about their business, efficient resources to develop business intelligence solutions are critical to keeping up with the flood of data. Thousands of users have already discovered that the Biml language makes it possible to quickly, easily, and manageably author end-to-end BI solutions. Biml is an XML-based development language that can automatically generate large amounts of assets for any version of the Microsoft SQL Server platform (e.g. T-SQL scripts, SSIS packages, SSAS cubes, and more). What some may not know is that Biml also enables you to easily share solutions to common BI problems, without having to rewrite lots of code or share proprietary details of database structure.

BimlScript.com is intended to provide a hub for sharing BimlScripts, patterns, and best practices to further accelerate the work of Biml users. It is an online community for learning Biml, developing and sharing Biml solutions to BI problems, and helping others achieve success with Biml. Users can get started learning and authoring Biml, expand their knowledge by browsing the site's walkthroughs, video tutorials, and snippets, contribute their Biml knowledge to the community, and even develop Biml directly in their own browser.

We know Biml is revolutionizing how BI is done, and we're confident that you're about to have the same jaw-dropping experience.