Diagram Tool Causes Strange Write Table Behavior

Using SQL Server 2000...
I'm creating a series of database diagrams for a database that has
~ 200 tables. The tables are segmented by module, so instead of
having one massive diagram I am creating a diagram per module.
All I'm doing is creating a new diagram, selecting all the tables
that belong to a module, and letting the software create the
diagram. I do make some format/layout changes to make the
diagram easier to read, but at no time am I making any structural
changes to the table.
For three of the four modules this approach has worked perfectly.
However, there is one set of tables that the tool thinks has been
altered, and it insists on writing the tables back to the database
before it will save it. The first time this happened I just said "No"
to any writing/saving and started over from scratch (I assumed I
had accidentally made a change to a table). The next time I added
all the module's tables, I simply moved one table two or three
inches to the left, and then tried to save the daigram (having 100%
confidence there were no accidental structural changes). Once
again, it wanted to write a few of the tables back to the database
before saving.
I have no idea why it thinks any structural changes occured to the
referenced tables. I certainly didn't make any, and on the rare
occasion I have accidentally made a change, I was able to
successfully start over by not writing/saving the change and
closing/opening the diagram.
Can anyone let me know what possible changes could have been
applied to a table(s) outside the diagram tool, that could affect the
diagram tool and make it think it needs to write the tables to the
database before saving?
ThanksHi Garth,
I don't know the answer to your question because I don't like, or use the
SQL Server diagramming tool - for the exact reason you're experiencing ...
changes to the diagram make changes to the database.
While I used to use ER/win (which is a fantastic tool), I've shifted to
Visio. Now, without the developer edition (I think that's the one) you can't
do a forward engineer, but you can reverse engineer any DB you can connect
to (ODBC, OLE DB, etc), it provides at least 80% of what matters in ER/win
(or Rational Rose) and you have the advantage that anyone with Visio can
read the file.
I admit it's going to be hard to learn it (as there is virtually no one on
the boards who know how), but I find it far, far superior to what is
available in SQL Server and more convenient than anything else.
Thanks,
Jay
"Garth Wells" <nobody@.nowhere.com> wrote in message
news:eQq7Mx1FIHA.4712@.TK2MSFTNGP04.phx.gbl...
> Using SQL Server 2000...
> I'm creating a series of database diagrams for a database that has
> ~ 200 tables. The tables are segmented by module, so instead of
> having one massive diagram I am creating a diagram per module.
> All I'm doing is creating a new diagram, selecting all the tables
> that belong to a module, and letting the software create the
> diagram. I do make some format/layout changes to make the
> diagram easier to read, but at no time am I making any structural
> changes to the table.
> For three of the four modules this approach has worked perfectly.
> However, there is one set of tables that the tool thinks has been
> altered, and it insists on writing the tables back to the database
> before it will save it. The first time this happened I just said "No"
> to any writing/saving and started over from scratch (I assumed I
> had accidentally made a change to a table). The next time I added
> all the module's tables, I simply moved one table two or three
> inches to the left, and then tried to save the daigram (having 100%
> confidence there were no accidental structural changes). Once
> again, it wanted to write a few of the tables back to the database
> before saving.
> I have no idea why it thinks any structural changes occured to the
> referenced tables. I certainly didn't make any, and on the rare
> occasion I have accidentally made a change, I was able to
> successfully start over by not writing/saving the change and
> closing/opening the diagram.
> Can anyone let me know what possible changes could have been
> applied to a table(s) outside the diagram tool, that could affect the
> diagram tool and make it think it needs to write the tables to the
> database before saving?
> Thanks
>
>

device_type = 7 in backupmediafamily?

Does anyone know what device_type = 7 means in the
msdb..backupmediafamily table? The physical_device_name values are
strange (i.e., "model_00__9834ee39_40a6_4d36_9ba6_a65daaac40b9_").
Records for backups that I've initiated have device_type = 2 or 102
and the physical_device_name is the disk path of the backup file.
The SQL documentation shows six valid values for device_type: 2 or 102
= disk, 5 or 105 = tape, 6 or 106 = pipe.
Any insight is greatly appreciated.
TIA,
DougLooks like a virtual_device used to create backups using the VBDI API. The
Veritas SQL Server client uses this among others.
Sincerely,
Anthony Thomas
"Doug" wrote:
> Does anyone know what device_type = 7 means in the
> msdb..backupmediafamily table? The physical_device_name values are
> strange (i.e., "model_00__9834ee39_40a6_4d36_9ba6_a65daaac40b9_").
> Records for backups that I've initiated have device_type = 2 or 102
> and the physical_device_name is the disk path of the backup file.
> The SQL documentation shows six valid values for device_type: 2 or 102
> = disk, 5 or 105 = tape, 6 or 106 = pipe.
> Any insight is greatly appreciated.
> TIA,
> Doug
>

Developer Server performance on WinXP

Hi all,
I have a strange performance issue on one of our developer stations. This
station is Trad Chinese WinXP Pro with SQLServer 2000 Dev Ed installed on
it.
The problems are:
1) The tools (like QA for instance) cannot connect to other SQL Servers on
the network.
2) EM will take at least 1/2 minute to do any task. Any task like expand
the Databases tree to show all the databases... or ... expand one of the
databases to show the items(tables, storedproc, roles, etc) for that
database .. or .. expand the tables tree to show all the tables ... etc
This is a major problem since item 1 prevents this developer from testing
against another SQL Server. And, at the same time item 2 prevents the
developer from testing against his own local test server.
I have tried all the common things:
1) Reinstall SQL Server (and Client Tools) on this station
2) scan the disk (for lost clusters and such)
3) remove temp and other useless files
4) defrag the disk
Even the EM itself seems to repaint its windows slowly .. you can actually
see the drawing process.
The computer can otherwise access the network .. and no slow downs there
either.
Anyone have any thoughts?
Thanks in advance...
-BBHi Brian,
My first though is that its not SQL Server thats causing this but perhaps
the machine iteself.
If you go to Administration Tools -> Performance and set up the following
counters.
Pages/sec
Avg. Disk Queue Length
% Processor time
Network -> Bytes Total / Second.
My own personal opionon here is you may need more memory.
Peter
"Brian Burgess" wrote:

> Hi all,
> I have a strange performance issue on one of our developer stations. Thi
s
> station is Trad Chinese WinXP Pro with SQLServer 2000 Dev Ed installed on
> it.
> The problems are:
> 1) The tools (like QA for instance) cannot connect to other SQL Servers o
n
> the network.
> 2) EM will take at least 1/2 minute to do any task. Any task like expan
d
> the Databases tree to show all the databases... or ... expand one of the
> databases to show the items(tables, storedproc, roles, etc) for that
> database .. or .. expand the tables tree to show all the tables ... etc
> This is a major problem since item 1 prevents this developer from testing
> against another SQL Server. And, at the same time item 2 prevents the
> developer from testing against his own local test server.
> I have tried all the common things:
> 1) Reinstall SQL Server (and Client Tools) on this station
> 2) scan the disk (for lost clusters and such)
> 3) remove temp and other useless files
> 4) defrag the disk
> Even the EM itself seems to repaint its windows slowly .. you can actually
> see the drawing process.
> The computer can otherwise access the network .. and no slow downs there
> either.
> Anyone have any thoughts?
> Thanks in advance...
> -BB
>
>|||Hi Peter,
I'm inclined to agree that it is more likely a hardware issue. However the
amount of RAM installed is 512MB. Memory and disk scan report no problems
(although these scans are not infallible).
I set these parameters up on the PerfMon ... any thing I should watch for?
Any SQL Server settings I can/should 'tweak'?
Thx
-BB
"Peter Nolan" <PeterNolan@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:11490686-81F5-462A-85A1-9804A25301C1@.microsoft.com...[vbcol=seagreen]
> Hi Brian,
> My first though is that its not SQL Server thats causing this but perhaps
> the machine iteself.
> If you go to Administration Tools -> Performance and set up the following
> counters.
> Pages/sec
> Avg. Disk Queue Length
> % Processor time
> Network -> Bytes Total / Second.
> My own personal opionon here is you may need more memory.
> Peter
>
> "Brian Burgess" wrote:
>
This[vbcol=seagreen]
on[vbcol=seagreen]
on[vbcol=seagreen]
expand[vbcol=seagreen]
testing[vbcol=seagreen]
actually[vbcol=seagreen]

Developer Server performance on WinXP

Hi all,
I have a strange performance issue on one of our developer stations. This
station is Trad Chinese WinXP Pro with SQLServer 2000 Dev Ed installed on
it.
The problems are:
1) The tools (like QA for instance) cannot connect to other SQL Servers on
the network.
2) EM will take at least 1/2 minute to do any task. Any task like expand
the Databases tree to show all the databases... or ... expand one of the
databases to show the items(tables, storedproc, roles, etc) for that
database .. or .. expand the tables tree to show all the tables ... etc
This is a major problem since item 1 prevents this developer from testing
against another SQL Server. And, at the same time item 2 prevents the
developer from testing against his own local test server.
I have tried all the common things:
1) Reinstall SQL Server (and Client Tools) on this station
2) scan the disk (for lost clusters and such)
3) remove temp and other useless files
4) defrag the disk
Even the EM itself seems to repaint its windows slowly .. you can actually
see the drawing process.
The computer can otherwise access the network .. and no slow downs there
either.
Anyone have any thoughts?
Thanks in advance...
-BB
Hi Brian,
My first though is that its not SQL Server thats causing this but perhaps
the machine iteself.
If you go to Administration Tools -> Performance and set up the following
counters.
Pages/sec
Avg. Disk Queue Length
% Processor time
Network -> Bytes Total / Second.
My own personal opionon here is you may need more memory.
Peter
"Brian Burgess" wrote:

> Hi all,
> I have a strange performance issue on one of our developer stations. This
> station is Trad Chinese WinXP Pro with SQLServer 2000 Dev Ed installed on
> it.
> The problems are:
> 1) The tools (like QA for instance) cannot connect to other SQL Servers on
> the network.
> 2) EM will take at least 1/2 minute to do any task. Any task like expand
> the Databases tree to show all the databases... or ... expand one of the
> databases to show the items(tables, storedproc, roles, etc) for that
> database .. or .. expand the tables tree to show all the tables ... etc
> This is a major problem since item 1 prevents this developer from testing
> against another SQL Server. And, at the same time item 2 prevents the
> developer from testing against his own local test server.
> I have tried all the common things:
> 1) Reinstall SQL Server (and Client Tools) on this station
> 2) scan the disk (for lost clusters and such)
> 3) remove temp and other useless files
> 4) defrag the disk
> Even the EM itself seems to repaint its windows slowly .. you can actually
> see the drawing process.
> The computer can otherwise access the network .. and no slow downs there
> either.
> Anyone have any thoughts?
> Thanks in advance...
> -BB
>
>
|||Hi Peter,
I'm inclined to agree that it is more likely a hardware issue. However the
amount of RAM installed is 512MB. Memory and disk scan report no problems
(although these scans are not infallible).
I set these parameters up on the PerfMon ... any thing I should watch for?
Any SQL Server settings I can/should 'tweak'?
Thx
-BB
"Peter Nolan" <PeterNolan@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:11490686-81F5-462A-85A1-9804A25301C1@.microsoft.com...[vbcol=seagreen]
> Hi Brian,
> My first though is that its not SQL Server thats causing this but perhaps
> the machine iteself.
> If you go to Administration Tools -> Performance and set up the following
> counters.
> Pages/sec
> Avg. Disk Queue Length
> % Processor time
> Network -> Bytes Total / Second.
> My own personal opionon here is you may need more memory.
> Peter
>
> "Brian Burgess" wrote:
This[vbcol=seagreen]
on[vbcol=seagreen]
on[vbcol=seagreen]
expand[vbcol=seagreen]
testing[vbcol=seagreen]
actually[vbcol=seagreen]

Developer Server performance on WinXP

Hi all,
I have a strange performance issue on one of our developer stations. This
station is Trad Chinese WinXP Pro with SQLServer 2000 Dev Ed installed on
it.
The problems are:
1) The tools (like QA for instance) cannot connect to other SQL Servers on
the network.
2) EM will take at least 1/2 minute to do any task. Any task like expand
the Databases tree to show all the databases... or ... expand one of the
databases to show the items(tables, storedproc, roles, etc) for that
database .. or .. expand the tables tree to show all the tables ... etc
This is a major problem since item 1 prevents this developer from testing
against another SQL Server. And, at the same time item 2 prevents the
developer from testing against his own local test server.
I have tried all the common things:
1) Reinstall SQL Server (and Client Tools) on this station
2) scan the disk (for lost clusters and such)
3) remove temp and other useless files
4) defrag the disk
Even the EM itself seems to repaint its windows slowly .. you can actually
see the drawing process.
The computer can otherwise access the network .. and no slow downs there
either.
Anyone have any thoughts?
Thanks in advance...
-BBHi Brian,
My first though is that its not SQL Server thats causing this but perhaps
the machine iteself.
If you go to Administration Tools -> Performance and set up the following
counters.
Pages/sec
Avg. Disk Queue Length
% Processor time
Network -> Bytes Total / Second.
My own personal opionon here is you may need more memory.
Peter
"Brian Burgess" wrote:
> Hi all,
> I have a strange performance issue on one of our developer stations. This
> station is Trad Chinese WinXP Pro with SQLServer 2000 Dev Ed installed on
> it.
> The problems are:
> 1) The tools (like QA for instance) cannot connect to other SQL Servers on
> the network.
> 2) EM will take at least 1/2 minute to do any task. Any task like expand
> the Databases tree to show all the databases... or ... expand one of the
> databases to show the items(tables, storedproc, roles, etc) for that
> database .. or .. expand the tables tree to show all the tables ... etc
> This is a major problem since item 1 prevents this developer from testing
> against another SQL Server. And, at the same time item 2 prevents the
> developer from testing against his own local test server.
> I have tried all the common things:
> 1) Reinstall SQL Server (and Client Tools) on this station
> 2) scan the disk (for lost clusters and such)
> 3) remove temp and other useless files
> 4) defrag the disk
> Even the EM itself seems to repaint its windows slowly .. you can actually
> see the drawing process.
> The computer can otherwise access the network .. and no slow downs there
> either.
> Anyone have any thoughts?
> Thanks in advance...
> -BB
>
>|||Hi Peter,
I'm inclined to agree that it is more likely a hardware issue. However the
amount of RAM installed is 512MB. Memory and disk scan report no problems
(although these scans are not infallible).
I set these parameters up on the PerfMon ... any thing I should watch for?
Any SQL Server settings I can/should 'tweak'?
Thx
-BB
"Peter Nolan" <PeterNolan@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:11490686-81F5-462A-85A1-9804A25301C1@.microsoft.com...
> Hi Brian,
> My first though is that its not SQL Server thats causing this but perhaps
> the machine iteself.
> If you go to Administration Tools -> Performance and set up the following
> counters.
> Pages/sec
> Avg. Disk Queue Length
> % Processor time
> Network -> Bytes Total / Second.
> My own personal opionon here is you may need more memory.
> Peter
>
> "Brian Burgess" wrote:
> > Hi all,
> >
> > I have a strange performance issue on one of our developer stations.
This
> > station is Trad Chinese WinXP Pro with SQLServer 2000 Dev Ed installed
on
> > it.
> > The problems are:
> > 1) The tools (like QA for instance) cannot connect to other SQL Servers
on
> > the network.
> > 2) EM will take at least 1/2 minute to do any task. Any task like
expand
> > the Databases tree to show all the databases... or ... expand one of the
> > databases to show the items(tables, storedproc, roles, etc) for that
> > database .. or .. expand the tables tree to show all the tables ... etc
> >
> > This is a major problem since item 1 prevents this developer from
testing
> > against another SQL Server. And, at the same time item 2 prevents the
> > developer from testing against his own local test server.
> >
> > I have tried all the common things:
> > 1) Reinstall SQL Server (and Client Tools) on this station
> > 2) scan the disk (for lost clusters and such)
> > 3) remove temp and other useless files
> > 4) defrag the disk
> >
> > Even the EM itself seems to repaint its windows slowly .. you can
actually
> > see the drawing process.
> >
> > The computer can otherwise access the network .. and no slow downs there
> > either.
> >
> > Anyone have any thoughts?
> >
> > Thanks in advance...
> >
> > -BB
> >
> >
> >