Last week I visited Belgium for the first time to attend and speak at my first SQL Server Days 2015. It was a truly great event, and I would like to say a huge thank you to the organizers and volunteers for making it a wonderful couple of days for speakers and attendees!

The venue was spectacular, but unfortunately none of my pictures do it justice. Take a look at the great pictures on the SQL Server Days Facebook page instead. I loved the huge open area in the middle where everyone could meet during breaks, and I was so happy there was unlimited coffee and chocolate! 🤩 The rooms were all unique and fun to present in. One room looked like a library, another like a bar, and I presented in the room that was decorated like a train station - with trains in it!

One of the main tasks in Biml projects is to import source metadata. The recommended method is GetDatabaseSchema. This method returns an ImportResults object that contains SchemaNodes (schema metadata) and TableNodes (table and view metadata).

Are you using Biml so you won’t have to do the same tasks over and over and over again in multiple SSIS packages? If so, you probably don’t want to write the same Biml code over and over and over again either. Instead, you can move common code to separate files, centralize and reuse these files in many projects, and update code in one file to make changes to all projects. One of the ways to apply this Don’t Repeat Yourself software engineering principle in Biml is to use CallBimlScript.

In addition to using CallBimlScript, there are four other main ways you can avoid repeating your Biml code:

• Include Files
• Tiered Biml Files
• C#/VB Code Files
• Transformers (BimlStudio feature only)

In this post we will look at how to use CallBimlScript with Parameters.

Back in June I did a #SQLHangout with Boris (@brshristov) about Biml that I called “Blabbering about Biml”. (Boris is much nicer, he called it “Biml. An Introduction.”)

Yesterday we did another episode called SQLHangout #26 - Biml in the Real World. This time we were joined by João Lopes (@SQLSniper), Rasmus Reinholdt (@RasmusReinholdt) and Régis Baccaro (@regbac) - great guys that I admire. It was interesting to hear how we use Biml in different ways and what we would like to see happen in 2015. I look forward to seeing all of them again and learn from their experiences!

Five people from Bulgaria, Denmark, Portugal and Norway talking about Biml - isn’t that awesome? 🤓

When Boris (@brshristov) invited me to a SQLHangout I was really honored and couldn’t say no. It’s such a fun idea and I’ve really enjoyed watching the other SQLHangouts. It’s great to see people’s personalities shine through in videos instead of only reading their blog posts, and I learn something new.

I suggested to chat about Biml, something I’ve only recently begun learning myself that has already saved me many hours of work. I still have so much to learn, but the fact that it took me about 20 hours to learn something new that has saved me and my coworkers hundreds of hours already… That’s worth sharing. If I can do it, you can do it!

Boris named the video “Biml. An introduction.” I thought a more appropriate name was “Blabbering about Biml” 🤓

(“Oh hi!”)

I forgot to mention their names, but thank you to Julie Smith (@JulieChix) and André Kamman (@AndreKamman) for inspiring me to learn more Biml in their SQLSaturday sessions in Tampa and Copenhagen! 😊