Professional SQL Server® 2008 Integration Services

Chapter 21. Using SSIS with External Applications

SQL Server 2008 Integration Services accepts data from nearly any source and presents output, including ADO.NET datasets and SSIS data readers that are consumable by external applications. These features allow SSIS to sink and source external applications with ease. In this chapter, you take a look at three examples of external applications that utilize SSIS. This chapter is not intended to exhaust all possible combinations of external interface with SSIS, but rather to provide a sampling of some available functionality.

SSIS is flexible and configurable, so there are many ways to approach interaction with external applications. This book is rife with examples, including the following:

• Sources and Destinations: Implicit objects inside SSIS that provide connectivity to Data Sources and Destinations. New in 2008 are two new sources called the ADO.NET Source and the Performance Counters Source. The ADO.NET Source uses the .NET provider to access the data being sourced. The Performance Counters Source extracts performance measures from the operating system. There are also two new destinations added in 2008, one being the ADO.NET Destination, which loads data using the .NET provider, and the SQL Server Compact Edition Destination, which loads data into, well, the Compact Edition of SQL Server.

• Scripting: Arguably provides the most flexibility when interacting with external applications. Similar to Integration Services 2005, the Script Component ...