Watching Out for JAVA vulnerabilities on your Servers and Workstations

Oracle has released a new patch to Java recently.  Should you install it?

Here's some links / tools to use to find out where your systems stand with regard to JAVA:

How to turn off Java on your browser - and why you should do it now

What Version of Java Are You Using?

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October 18, 2012: For the latest "issues" with the just-released updates to Java (v7 update 9 and v6 update 37) see Michael Horowitz's Computerworld blog The ugly side of the latest Java updates..

Remember that the Point is To Drain the Swamp... (Following The MDM Quest )

As you are working on your part of an ETL project, you will provide the most value if you remember your role as part of the data quality challenge for the whole organization.  I think you'll find the following linked article (All the Ingredients for Success: Data Governance, Data Quality and Master Data Management) helpful for keeping your attention on the big picture.

Latest Evolution of Data Services from SAP

Headline:  SAP Delivers New Packages to Accelerate Customer Success

Exciting additions and refinement from SAP.

Flat Files: Handling and Flexibility

I was recently modifying some BODS jobs on a project, and I realized I need to brush up on my knowledge of flat files.

Here's an excellent tutorial at DWBI Concepts

Catching Errors Early: SQL Query

Applies to BODS 3.2, 4+

As BODS users know, the validation features (toolbar) built into to BODS do not catch the errors caused by a missing database or table or an access rights fail in the script of an SQL query.

For this reason, when dealing with a job which takes multiple hours, and which contains a SQL query well into the flow of the job, the user would be wise to place SQL logic which mirrors the later logic by placing dummy code containing  a 'select top 10 * from {database}.{table}'.

The benefit of this is that the error will be detected early on in the job run.