DTSxChange Vs MSWizard

Features and Comparison
Page 1 of 27
Sr. No. 1.
Scope Connectio n
Issue/Feature Description ODBC Support
DTS MS DTS xChang Migratio e n Wizard
DTS xChange will migrate ODBC Connection (With DSN or DSN less) created in you DTS 2000 Package. MS DTS Migration wizard does not handle ODBC Connection properly and any DataPump Using ODBC connection will be converted to Embedded DTS Package (see below) which you will have to convert to DataFlow manually after Migration is done.
MS DTS Migration Wizard
DTS xChange
DTS xChange uses ADO.net Connection Type to support any ODBC Source inside DataFlow. If you using ODBC Source inside DataPump then DTS xChange will automatically create ADO.net Connection for you. Since there is no ODBC Source available for DataFlow Task DTS xChange creates DataReader Source to support ODBC Source. 2. Connectio n UDL File Support
DTS xChange will migrate any UDL connection created inside your DTS 2000 Package. MS DTS Migration wizard does not migrate UDL connection and any task(s) using UDL connection needs to be re-configured manually after migration is done. 3. Connectio n Password Protected MS Access Database Support
If you have Password Protected Access Database connection in DTS 2000 Package then password property will not be migrated by MS DTS Migration Wizard and after migration you have to go through manual editing of the SSIS package. DTS xChange Successfully migrates any password protected MS Access database connection. 4. Connectio n Flat File Connection (When not all flat file columns mapped) From our experience we have found that most of organizations use flat files heavily and that's why migrating Flat File Connection from DTS to SSIS is very important piece of Migration Process. If you have a flat file and you are not
Copyright 2008 DTSxChange.com

using all columns of the file in the mapping then MS DTS Migration wizard will not migrate the connection successfully. Please refer the following comparison for more detail. Test Case : Mapping in DTS Package [Flat File => SQL Server]
Page 2 of 27
DTS xChange
Here is an example of data when Columns not created properly during migration [Delimited File]
[Fixed Width File]
Page 3 of 27
5.
Connectio n
Flat File Connection (Columns mapped in different order) If you have Flat File connection in DTS Package and Columns of the Flat File connection are not mapped in Sequential order then your connection will not migrate successfully when you use MS DTS Migration Wizard. Look at the following very simple DTS mapping example (Flat File => SQL Server) There is nothing special about this mappings except the order they were created (i.e. 3rd Col Mapped, 2nd Col Mapped, 1st Col Mapped, 4th.. 5th... so on). Since 3rd column mapped first it was assigned DTSTransform_1. If you have the following case then using MS Migration Wizard will require you to recreate all the flat file columns and Mapping inside the DataFlow. DTS xChange will handle cases like below by going through several checks to determine validity of Flat File Column order.
Test Case : Mapping in DTS Package [Flat File => SQL Server]
DTS xChange
Page 4 of 27
6.
Connectio n
Flat File Connection (Complex Mappings) If flat file columns are mapped using one-one and many-many mapping in a single DataPump then most probably your Flat File Connection Migration will fail if you using MS DTS Migration Wizard. DTS xChange has complex algorithm which goes though several level of checks to create most accurate information about your flat file connection. Please check the couple of test cases which will not work with MS DTS Migration wizard but it will work fine if you use DTS xChange.
Test Cases : Will not work with MS DTS Migration Wizard but will work with DTS xChange
Page 5 of 27

7. Connectio n Flat File (When Header rows are skipped) You can use "Skip Row" setting in DTS when you don't want to load couple of staring lines from the flat file. These lines could be data rows or some unstructured information which you don't want to process to avoid any possible errors. When you migrate Flat File connection with MS DTS Migration Wizard then your connection will only migrate successfully if you skipping data rows with exact same number of columns. If you trying to skip some unstructured lines from flat file then you are in trouble, your connection will not Migrate. The following example shows comparison between MS DTS Migration Wizard and DTS xChange.
Page 6 of 27
Sample File used for test case
DTS Flat File Connection Properties
MS DTS Migration Wizard => Notice that First Record has been skipped which really should not.
DTS xChange =>All Rows are Parsed Correctly
8.
Connectio Flat File/Other Connections - NULL Handling (Only when Column of n string datatypes mapped to Numeric, DateTime, Boolean or any other

non string columns) You will rarely face NULL Handling issues in DTS 2000 Package because everything in DTS is implicit, which means DTS will always go ahead and convert data type of your data to match with Target Column Data Type regardless you really need it or don't need it. This gives you ease of use because you don't have to deal with type conversion but with the price of performance. On the other hand SSIS uses Explicit Conversion which means SSIS will not do type casting of the data unless you explicitly specify (Data Conversion Task is used for this purpose). This gives better performance compared to DTS but you have to do additional work to setup Data Conversion. It is highly possible that you may or may not have data in all columns or rows when loading data from source. Consider the following scenario if you have empty value or spaces only (generally Fixed width File has spaces when no data found in the column) With SSIS when any source column of string data type (i.e. varchar, nvarchar, text, ntext ... etc.) mapped to non-string data type and data coming from source has blank values or Spaces then most likely DataFlow will through an error. DTS always convert blank string to NULL but SSIS does not do that automatically. In SSIS you have to write complex expression to convert blank values or spaces to NULL. MS DTS Migration Wizard does not support NULL handling and you will have to modify Data Flow to take care of various issues related to NULL. Good news is all tedious and time consuming work will be done for you if you use DTS xChange to Migrate DTS Packages. Please review the following examples how DTS xChange helps you save significant amount of development/testing time.
Page 7 of 27
Example of Blank values in Delimited Flat File
Example of Blank values (i.e. Spaces) in Fixed width Flat File
NULL Handling Rule Options in DTS xChange
Page 8 of 27
DataFlow generated using DTS xChange (with NULL Handling Rule Turned ON)
9.
Connectio n
SQL Native Client Support MS DTS Migration Wizard does not support SQL Native Client. Which means if you have used SQL Native Client Provider in DTS Package then connection will not migrate at all and all task(s) using that connection must be re-configured. DTS xChange supports SQL Native Client so any connection using SQL Native Client will work without any issue when its migrated using DTS xChange.
10.
Connectio Fixed Width Flat File Destination (Last Column Marked as Quotable n using Text Qualifier) In DTS When you dealing with Fixed width Flat File you don't have to worry about TextQualifier for columns because they are only used for Delimited file. But by default all string datatype columns of flat file are created with "Quotable" setting and Numeric/DateTime with "Not Quotable". If you have last column with any of string datatypes then MS DTS Migration Wizard will generated in proper data in the fixed width file. Please check the following comparison between MS DTS Migration Wizard and DTS xChange output.
Sample Properties of DTS Fixed Width Flat File Destination
Page 9 of 27
DTS xChange
Not Correct: Quoted last column in Fixed Width File
11.
Connectio Consolidate Duplicate Connections (i.e. Connections with Same n Attributes) If you have worked with DTS then you probably know that there is no way in DTS where you can create connection once and used multiple times in many data flow tasks. This limitation is gone in SSIS because you can create connection once and reuse many times in several DataFlow tasks. But when you use MS DTS Migration Wizard you cannot leverage this new powerful SSIS feature. Well if you using DTS xChange then you don't have to worry about this anymore. DTS xChange has a rule called "Consolidate Connections". This rule compares connection attributes and creates a single connection for all connection which has same attributes (i.e. ServerName, UserName, Password, Database etc.) Check the following example where all SQL Connections are consolidated to one connection because they all point to same server and same database with all other attributes matching. Sample DTS Package
Page 10 of 27
DTS xChange
12.
Variable
Variable with special characters (i.e. @, $, % etc.) In DTS there is no restriction on how you can name a variable. Which means you can use any special characters like @, $, % etc. along with Alpha Numeric characters. On the other hand SSIS is very restrictive about variable naming and you can only use Alphanumeric characters and underscore ("_"). MS DTS Migration wizard will fail if you have used any special character in variable name (i.e. @MyFilePath). DTS xChange solves this issue by cleaning any invalid characters and creating a valid SSIS Variable Name. DTS xChange also replaces invalid variable name from the following tasks. ActiveX Script Execute DTS Package Task (inner/outer variable) Execute SQL Task (Variables used in Parameter Mappings) Dynamic Properties Task Dynamic Properties Task In DTS Dynamic Property Task is used to configure Variables, Connections or Tasks at run time. There is no equivalent task in SSIS but there are other ways to change properties at runtime in SSIS using expressions. But still many features of Dynamic Properties are not available in SSIS (e.g. reading from
13.
Task

Data File, Reading From INI). DTS xChange generates all necessary code for you to Migrate DTS Dynamic Properties Task. DTS xChange Creates Script Task and Set of SSIS Variables in order to Migrate same functionality of Dynamic Properties Task from DTS. MS DTS Migration Wizard does not support Dynamic Property Task but if you use DTS xChange then all the functionalities of Dynamic Properties Task will be migrated successfully. Reading Values From ------------------------ INI - Environment Variable - Data File - Constant - Global Variable - Query Setting Value To ------------------------ Global Variable - Task Property - Connection Property MS DTS Migration Wizard does not migration Dynamic Properties Task. 14. Task FTP Task (Overwrite = True) MS DTS Migration Wizard does not migrate "Overwrite" property when its migrated to SSIS so you have manually change the setting after migration is completed. 15. Task Execute DTS Package (Child Package Conversion Rule) DTS has a task called Execute Package Task which allows you to execute other package stored in SQL Server or on File System as COM Structured File. If you planning to migrate all DTS Packages to SSIS Packages then you have to use Execute SSIS Package Task instead of Execute DTS Package Task.
Page 11 of 27
If you are using MS DTS Migration Wizard then all Execute Package Tasks will be replace with Execute DTS 2000 Package Task instead of Execute SSIS Package Task. Because of this limitation you have to re-configure the migrated package manually. To convert this functionality you have to perform the following steps. 1. Migrate all child DTS packages to SSIS. 2. Create new Connection (File Connection or OLEDB Connection) for each Child Package being called. 3. Replace all Execute DTS 2000 Package task with Execute SSIS Package Task 4. Configure Execute SSIS Package Task Properties (i.e. Connection, PackageName etc.)

You must be thinking wow its lot of work then.. Yes you are right it is very time consuming when you have so many child packages in single Master package. Well... good news is DTS xChange has made you life very easy when you have to deal with Parent/Child DTS Packages. DTS xChange has inbuilt rule called "Convert Child Packages". This rule will automatically scan all child packages up to N Level deep and migrate them all to SSIS Package and apply all necessary changes listed above. DTS xChange also migrate inner/outer variables of Execute DTS Package task. The following screen shows "Convert Child Package" rule options in DTS xChange
Page 12 of 27
Configuration screen for Convert Child Package Rule
16.
Task
Bulk Insert Task (When row delimiter is specified) In DTS when you use Bulk Insert Task you have two options to specify the layout of the data file. 1. Specify Format File 2. Use Row Delimiter/Column Delimiter First option works fine with MS DTS Migration Wizard but when you select 2nd Option Bulk Insert Task in SSIS will not work and you have to manually configure the task after spending time for troubleshooting.
Page 13 of 27
DTS xChange Successfully Migrate Bulk Insert Task and it will work fine with any option you choose in DTS. 17. SSIS Features Auditing Framework Support DTS xChange comes with out of the box full auditing of SSIS Package execution. Ao get support for auditing all you have to do is select "Add Auditing Framework" rule and all hard work will be done for all migrated packages. DTS xChange comes with SSIS Report Viewer application to analyze Trend and Detail about every single package execution which has Auditing Framework Support. You can audit the following information using reports provided with SSIS Report Viewer Application Which packages are currently running and which task is running inside the package. Historical package execution detail for selected date range (i.e. Run time, Errors, Warnings etc.) Error and Warning by Task and Package Run time by Task and Package Extracted and Loaded Records along with their source and target information (e.g. Table/View, Sql Query, File Name, Component Name, Data Flow Name, Connection String etc.). Run time Trend for several days/weeks/years by Package and Task Error/Warning/ Trend by Package and Task Extract/Load Trend by Package, DataFlow Extract/Load Trend by Data Object (e.g. File, Table/View or Sql Query)
The following screen shows various options you can specify to configure "Auditing Framework" rule. Configuration screen for Auditing Framework
Page 14 of 27
Auditing Reports - Extract/Load Trend
Auditing Reports - Extract/load Detail
Page 15 of 27
Auditing Reports - SSIS Package Execution History
Auditing Report - Package Execution Trend
Page 16 of 27
18.
SSIS Features
SQL Server Logging (SSIS Built-In Provider) Logging to SQL Server using built in Logging Provider is another way to capture various package/task events with some useful information. Here are the key differences between "Logging Through Event Handler" and "Logging to SQL using Built-In Provider" are as below. - If you choose to use "Logging Through Event Handler" Rule then you can capture some really important Audit data e.g. PackageName, IsInteractiveMode (i.e. Package called from Job or SSIS Designer) and another huge advantage is you can utilize Operational Data Warehouse shipped with DTS xChange to perform Trending Analysis. - If you choose to use "Logging Through Event Handler" Rule then you can use additional components provided with DTS xChange to build Operational Data Warehouse, which includes Operational Data Warehouse, Excel Reports, Reporting Services Reports, Cubes etc.
Configuration screen for Logging to SQL Server Rule (Built-In Logging Provider)
Page 17 of 27
19.
SSIS Features
Text File Logging (SSIS Build-In Provider) If you want to log various events of package or task into Text file then you can turn on "Logging to Text file" rule.
Configuration screen for Logging to Text File Rule (Built-In Logging Provider)
20.
SSIS Features
Deployment Framework (Easily Deploy Packages to different environment without many changes) This is another powerful feature of DTS xCHange. When you turn on this rule DTS xChange will generate XML Configuration file for Connection so you can easily modify connection information when without modifying SSIS package itself. Config files are very helpful when you have Dev/QA/Prod environment and each environment needs different connection settings.

There are two ways you can create XML Config files using Config File Rule in DTS xChange. 1. One Config File for each unique Connection (Shared Config file across many packages) 2. One Config file for each Package By default first option is selected. This option will create config file for selected Connection type and it is used across the packages using that same connection. For example if you have 50 Packages and you are using OLEDB connection for Northwind then instead of 50 Config files only one Config file for Northwind connection will be created and it will be used by all 50 Packages. This option requires consolidate connection rule turned on and all connections will be renamed to enforced standard naming convention. NOTE : When this option is selected the naming convention for Config file and connection manager is <CONNECTION TYPE>_<DATASOURCE>_<Counter> Second option will create one Config file for each Package and they are not shared with any other package. So if you decide to change connection information for certain connection then you have to change it in all Config files having that connection information. This rule doesn't enforce any naming convention for connection manager like first option and it also doesn't require Consolidate Connection Rule Turned On.
Page 18 of 27
Configuration screen for Dynamic Connection Rule
21..
SSIS Features
Wrap Package in a Transaction DTS xChange allows you to utilize Transaction Support in SSIS by using Transaction Rule. When Transaction Rule is enabled in DTS xChange and if any

failure occurs during package execution then rollback operation will be performed to restore original state of the data before package was executed.
Page 19 of 27
Configuration screen for Wrap Package in a Transaction Rule
22.
SSIS Features
Full Validation of Package After Migration DTS xChange Perform Full Validation of the Migrated Package if "Validate Package After Migration" option is selected on the "Verify and Process" screen. Validation process will find out any potential errors in the package (e.g. Column Mapped is Missing in the Database, Truncation Warnings, Performance Enhancement Warnings, Invalid File Path Warning etc.).
Validation Summary after Migration
23.
Other Features
Package Profiling and Searching Capability DTS xChange offers a feature called Package Profiler. Here is the few things you can do using this tool. 1. Estimate the effort required to Migrate selected Package(s) (Time & $$$) 2. Search for Packages containing specific Task(s) (e.g. Search all Packages with Send Mail task) 3. Find out the % distribution and Total count of various Tasks in the selected Package(s) 4. Find out the % distribution and Total count of various Connection Types in the selected Package(s) 5. Save Report in PDF/Excel

Profiler Estimate Screen
Page 20 of 27
Profiler Report (Task Summary)
Profiler Report (Data Provider Summary)
Page 21 of 27
Profiler Report (Package Detail)
24.
Other Features
View/Save/Delete Migration History In the past with MS DTS Migration Wizard there was no way to see detailed log of Migration/Validation. DTS xChange takes care of this problem. Every time Migration is completed DTS xChange creates log files for Migration summary and Validation Summary so you can review it any time you want by choosing View Log option.
Page 22 of 27
View Migration History
25.
Usability
Remember Application Settings MS DTS Migration Wizard does not save any settings after you close the application which means you have to re-enter everything including source and target information, list of packages. This becomes frustrating if you are using Wizard frequently. DTS xChange takes care of old problem and it saves most of setting you enter or select including Source Connection Information Target Connection Information Package list selected for Migration Rules selected for Migration Window size and location
26.
Usability
Multiple DTS Files selection (i.e. COM Structured Files) for Migration If you using MS DTS Migration Wizard and you are migrating dts files to SSIS Packages then you will be little disappointed to know that MS Wizard does not allow you to choose more than one file for migration. Using DTS xChange you can select and Migrate as many dts files as you want.
DTS xChange
27.
Usability
Selection for Overwrite Option in three ways (1.Always Overwrite, 2.Prompt If Exists, 3.Skip If Exists) DTS xChange Provides you flexibility to choose overwrite option. On the other had MS DTS Migration Wizard always prompts if file exists.
Page 23 of 27
Overwrite Option
Skip Package Warning and Status
28.
Usability
Support for Re-Process Packages without Re-Selecting same options again In DTS xChange its also possible to re-migrate all selected packages by just one click. If you using MS DTS Migration Wizard then you have to close the Wizard completely and select same source/target again.
29.
Usability
Support for going Back from any step of the wizard In the MS DTS Migration Wizard once you are done with Migration it is not possible to go to the previous screen to select new packages for migration which means every time you want to migrate new package you have to completely close the wizard before you can select new package(s). DTS xChange is very flexible and it allows you to go back and forth from any step of the wizard and you can also go to the first screen from any step by just clicking on the reload button
30.
Usability
Browse Path for SSIS Packages stored on SQL Server Unlike DTS now you can organize SSIS packages in folders while they are stored on SQL Server. But if you are using MS DTS Migration Wizard you can't specify Folder Path for SSIS. With DTS xChange you can store all migrated packages to any SSIS Folder on SQL Server.
Browse SSIS Folder (DTS xChange)
Page 24 of 27
SSIS Server Explorer (MS SQL Server Management Studio)
31.
Usability
Better progress feedback using Migration Counters, Labels and Progressbar DTS xChange Provides rich information during migration so user can see exactly what is going on behind the scene.
Migration Progress Screen
Page 25 of 27
32.
Usability
Detailed Migration Log Once Migration is done you can see detailed log with rich information (i.e. Migrated Variable Name/Value/Data Type ... etc). The Bottom Pan is split in 3 sections where first section is text of the TreeNode, second section is more detailed message (e.g. Full Error Message) and last section is attributes of selected node. You can also view just summary by un-checking "Show Detail" Check box at the bottom.
Migration Log (Detail View)
Page 26 of 27
Migration Log (Summary View)
33.
Other Features
Data Conversion Support You will rarely face Data Conversion issues when you use DTS because DTS uses implicit conversion, which means DTS will always go ahead and convert data type of your data to match with Target Column data type regardless you really need it or don't need it. This gives you ease of use because you don't have to deal with type conversion but with the price of performance.

On the other hand SSIS uses Explicit Conversion which means SSIS will not do type casting of the data unless you explicitly specify (Data Conversion Task is used for this purpose). This gives better performance compared to DTS but you have to do additional work to setup Data Conversion. During the DataPump migration DTS xChange check DataTypes of Source and Target Columns and it automatically adds Data Conversion Transformation if Type Casting is required to handle explicit conversion. MS DTS Migration Wizard also has similar process of adding data conversion support but many cases of Data conversion not supported by MS DTS Migration Wizard which includes any of the following cases DT_TEXT => DT_STR DT_TEXT => DT_WSTR DT_NTEXT => DT_STR DT_NTEXT => DT_WSTR DT_STR => DT_TEXT DT_STR => DT_NTEXT DT_WSTR => DT_TEXT DT_WSTR => DT_NTEXT NOTE: All above data types are SSIS Specific data types. DT_STR is equivalent to varchar or char data type in SQL Server and DT_WSTR (Unicode) is equivalent to nvarchar or nchar. All above cases are supported by DTS xChange. Below is the screenshot of sample Data Conversion Transformation added by DTS xChange to handle conversion of Non-Unicode data to Unicode data.
Page 27 of 27
Data Conversion in Data Flow

DTSxChange Vs MSWizard

Caricato da

Informazioni sul documento

Titolo originale

Copyright

Formati disponibili

Condividi questo documento

Condividi o incorpora il documento

Opzioni di condivisione

Hai trovato utile questo documento?

Questo contenuto è inappropriato?

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

DTSxChange Vs MSWizard

Caricato da

Copyright:

Formati disponibili

Features and Comparison

Issue/Feature Description ODBC Support

DTS MS DTS xChang Migratio e n Wizard

MS DTS Migration Wizard

Copyright 2008 DTSxChange.com

Features and Comparison

MS DTS Migration Wizard

[Fixed Width File]

Copyright 2008 DTSxChange.com

Features and Comparison

MS DTS Migration Wizard

Copyright 2008 DTSxChange.com

Features and Comparison

Copyright 2008 DTSxChange.com

Features and Comparison

Copyright 2008 DTSxChange.com

Features and Comparison

Sample File used for test case

DTS Flat File Connection Properties

DTS xChange =>All Rows are Parsed Correctly

Copyright 2008 DTSxChange.com

Features and Comparison

Example of Blank values in Delimited Flat File

Example of Blank values (i.e. Spaces) in Fixed width Flat File

NULL Handling Rule Options in DTS xChange

Copyright 2008 DTSxChange.com

Features and Comparison

Sample Properties of DTS Fixed Width Flat File Destination

Copyright 2008 DTSxChange.com

Features and Comparison

MS DTS Migration Wizard

Not Correct: Quoted last column in Fixed Width File

Copyright 2008 DTSxChange.com

Features and Comparison

MS DTS Migration Wizard

Copyright 2008 DTSxChange.com

Features and Comparison

Copyright 2008 DTSxChange.com

Features and Comparison

Configuration screen for Convert Child Package Rule

Copyright 2008 DTSxChange.com

Features and Comparison

Copyright 2008 DTSxChange.com

Features and Comparison

Auditing Reports - Extract/Load Trend

Auditing Reports - Extract/load Detail

Copyright 2008 DTSxChange.com

Features and Comparison

Auditing Reports - SSIS Package Execution History

Auditing Report - Package Execution Trend

Copyright 2008 DTSxChange.com

Features and Comparison

Copyright 2008 DTSxChange.com

Features and Comparison

Copyright 2008 DTSxChange.com

Features and Comparison

Configuration screen for Dynamic Connection Rule

Copyright 2008 DTSxChange.com

Features and Comparison

Configuration screen for Wrap Package in a Transaction Rule

Validation Summary after Migration

Copyright 2008 DTSxChange.com

Features and Comparison