1. Biml for Beginners:
Speed Up Your SSIS
Development
Cathrine Wilhelmsen
EDMPASS · October 17th 2017

2. Session Description
Are you tired of creating and updating the same SSIS packages again and again? Is your wrist hurting
from all that clicking, dragging, dropping, connecting and aligning? Do you want to take the next step and
really speed up your SSIS development?
Say goodbye to repetitive work and hello to Biml, the markup language for Business Intelligence projects.
In this session we will look at the basics of Biml. First learn how to use Biml to generate SSIS packages
from database metadata. Then see how you can reuse code to implement changes in multiple SSIS
packages and projects with just a few clicks. Finally, we will create an example project that you can
download and start with to speed up your SSIS development from day one.
Stop wasting your valuable time on doing the same things over and over and over again, and see how
you can complete in a day what once took more than a week!

3. Biml Basics Tools & Projects
Code Management
…the next 60 minutes…

4. Cathrine Wilhelmsen
@cathrinew
cathrinew.net
Data Warehouse Architect
Business Intelligence Developer

5. You…
…?
SSIS developer
Easily bored
Tired of repetitive work

6. Work…
…?
Long development time
Many SSIS packages
Frequent requirement changes

7. job done!
new standards
...yay
Ever experienced this?

8. Ready for a change?

10. What is Biml?
Business Intelligence Markup Language
Easy to read and write XML language
Describes business intelligence objects:
• Databases, Schemas, Tables, Views, Columns
• SSIS Packages
• SSAS Cubes

11. Why use Biml?
SSIS: Plumbing Biml: Business Logic

12. SSIS: Plumbing
Time wasted on dragging, dropping, connecting, aligning
Create the same package over and over again with minor changes
Standards, patterns and templates must be defined up-front
Changes must be done in every single package
High risk of manual errors
More packages, more time

13. Biml: Business Logic
Spend time on what is unique in a package
Create a pattern once and reuse for all similar packages
Handle scope and requirement changes quickly and easily
Changes can be applied to all packages at once
Lower risk of manual errors
Longer time to start, but then reuse and scale

14. Will Biml solve all your challenges?
Probably not...
Biml is a tool for generating SSIS packages
Biml is not a pre-defined ETL framework
Biml is not a tool for automated deployment
...but it will solve many challenges!

15. How can Biml help you?
Biml is great for large projects with common patterns…
Timesaving: Many SSIS packages from one Biml file
Reusable: Write once and run on any platform
Flexible: Start simple, expand as you learn
…but is also useful for smaller projects!

16. What do you need?

17. BimlExpress
Free add-in for Visual Studio
Code editor with syntax highlighting and Biml Intellisense
More frequent updates than BIDS Helper
varigence.com/bimlexpress

18. BimlOnline
Free browser-based Biml editor
Code editor with Biml and C# Intellisense
Reverse-engineer from SSIS to Biml
bimlonline.com

19. BimlStudio
Licensed full-featured development environment for Biml
Visual designer and metadata modeling
Full-stack automation and transformers
varigence.com/bimlstudio

20. How does it work?
…generated packages look exactly like manually created packages

21. Biml syntax
<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">
<Packages>
<Package Name="EmptyPackage1"></Package>
<Package Name="EmptyPackage2"/>
</Packages>
</Biml>

22. Biml syntax: Root Element
<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">
<Packages>
<Package Name="EmptyPackage1"></Package>
<Package Name="EmptyPackage2"/>
</Packages>
</Biml>

23. Biml syntax: Collections of Elements
<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">
<Packages>
<Package Name="EmptyPackage1"></Package>
<Package Name="EmptyPackage2"/>
</Packages>
</Biml>

24. Biml syntax: Elements
<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">
<Packages>
<Package Name="EmptyPackage1"></Package>
<Package Name="EmptyPackage2"/>
</Packages>
</Biml>

25. Biml syntax: Attributes
<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">
<Packages>
<Package Name="EmptyPackage1"></Package>
<Package Name="EmptyPackage2"/>
</Packages>
</Biml>

26. Biml syntax: Full vs. Shorthand Syntax
<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">
<Packages>
<Package Name="EmptyPackage1"></Package>
<Package Name="EmptyPackage2"/>
</Packages>
</Biml>

27. Let's generate
some packages!

28. Goal: Load from source to staging

29. Add New Biml File from BimlExpress menu…

30. …or right-click on SSIS project to Add New Biml File

31. Biml files are placed under Miscellaneous

32. Check Biml For Errors from BimlExpress menu…

33. …or right-click on file to Check Biml For Errors

34. Generate SSIS Packages from BimlExpress menu…

35. …or right-click on file to Generate SSIS Packages

36. From Biml to SSIS: Control Flow
<Package Name="TruncateLoad" ConstraintMode="Linear">
<Tasks>
<ExecuteSQL Name="Truncate Table" ConnectionName="Staging">
<DirectInput>TRUNCATE TABLE DestinationTable</DirectInput>
</ExecuteSQL>
<Dataflow Name="Load Table">
<Transformations>...</Transformations>
</Dataflow>
</Tasks>
</Package>

37. From Biml to SSIS: Data Flow
<Transformations>
<OleDbSource Name="Source" ConnectionName="AW2014">
<ExternalTableInput Table="SourceTable" />
</OleDbSource>
<DerivedColumns Name="Add LoadDate">
<Columns>
<Column Name="LoadDate" DataType="DateTime">
@[System::StartTime]
</Column>
</Columns>
</DerivedColumns>
<OleDbDestination Name="Destination" ConnectionName="Staging">
<ExternalTableOutput Table="DestinationTable" />
</OleDbDestination>
</Transformations>

38. .biml vs .dtsx: human-readable vs ALL THE CODE!
(20% zoom)(150% zoom)

39. Ok, so we can go from Biml to SSIS…

40. …can we go from SSIS to Biml?

41. Yes! ☺

42. Let's reverse-engineer
some packages!

43. Package Importer in BimlOnline

44. Choose a File

45. Convert from SSIS to Biml

46. Choose and filter assets

47. Copy the Biml…

48. …or Create /Add to BimlOnline Project

49. The magic is in the

50. What is BimlScript?
Extend Biml with C# or VB code blocks
Import database structure and metadata
Loop over tables and columns
Expressions replace static values
Generate, control and manipulate Biml code

51. BimlScript Code Nuggets
<# … #> Control Nuggets (Control logic)
<#= … #> Text Nuggets (Returns string)
<#@ … #> Directives (Compiler instructions)
<#+ … #> Class Nuggets (Create C# classes)

52. BimlScript Syntax
<# var con = SchemaManager.CreateConnectionNode(...); #>
<# var metadata = con.GetDatabaseSchema(); #>
<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">
<Packages>
<# foreach (var table in metadata.TableNodes) { #>
<Package Name="Load_<#=table.Name#>"></Package>
<# } #>
</Packages>
</Biml>

53. BimlScript Syntax: Import metadata
<# var con = SchemaManager.CreateConnectionNode(...); #>
<# var metadata = con.GetDatabaseSchema(); #>
<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">
<Packages>
<# foreach (var table in metadata.TableNodes) { #>
<Package Name="Load_<#=table.Name#>"></Package>
<# } #>
</Packages>
</Biml>

54. BimlScript Syntax: Loop over tables
<# var con = SchemaManager.CreateConnectionNode(...); #>
<# var metadata = con.GetDatabaseSchema(); #>
<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">
<Packages>
<# foreach (var table in metadata.TableNodes) { #>
<Package Name="Load_<#=table.Name#>"></Package>
<# } #>
</Packages>
</Biml>

55. BimlScript Syntax: Replace static values
<# var con = SchemaManager.CreateConnectionNode(...); #>
<# var metadata = con.GetDatabaseSchema(); #>
<Biml xmlns="http://schemas.varigence.com/biml.xsd">
<Packages>
<# foreach (var table in metadata.TableNodes) { #>
<Package Name="Load_<#=table.Name#>"></Package>
<# } #>
</Packages>
</Biml>

56. Biml vs. BimlScript
Generate, control and
manipulate Biml with C#
XML Language
"Just plain text"

57. How does it work?

58. Yes, but how does it work?

59. Yes, but how does it actually work?
<# foreach (var table in RootNode.Tables) { #>
<Package Name="Load_<#=table.Name#>" />
<# } #>
<Package Name="Load_Customer" />
<Package Name="Load_Product" />
<Package Name="Load_Sales" />

60. Let's generate
a lot of packages!

61. Of course I can create 200 SSIS Packages!
…what do you need me to do after lunch?

62. Code Management

63. Don't Repeat Yourself
Move common code to separate files
Centralize and reuse in many
projects
Update code once for all projects
1. Include files
2. CallBimlScript with parameters
3. Tiered Biml files

64. Include Files
Include common code in multiple files and projects
Can include many file types: .biml .txt .sql .cs
Use the include directive
<#@ include file="CommonCode.biml" #>
This directive will be replaced by the included file
Works like an automated Copy & Paste

65. Include Files

66. Include Files

67. Include Files

68. CallBimlScript with Parameters
Like a parameterized include or stored procedure
File to be called (callee) specifies input parameters
<#@ property name="Param" type="String" #>
File that calls (caller) passes input parameters
<#=CallBimlScript("CommonCode.biml", Param)#>

69. CallBimlScript with Parameters

70. CallBimlScript with Parameters

71. CallBimlScript with Parameters

72. CallBimlScript with Parameters

73. CallBimlScript with Parameters

74. Tiered Biml Files
Split Biml code in multiple files
Specify tiers by using the template directive
<#@ template tier="2" #>
Biml files without BimlScript are implicitly tier 0
Biml files with BimlScript are implicitly tier 1

75. Tiered Biml Files
Biml is compiled from lowest to highest tier to:
• Solve logical dependencies
• Build solutions in multiple steps behind the scenes
For each tier, objects are added to the RootNode
Higher tiers can use objects from lower tiers

76. What is this RootNode?
When working with flat Biml,
the <Biml> root element contains
collections of elements:
<Biml>
<Connections>...</Connections>
<Databases>...</Databases>
<Schemas>...</Schemas>
<Tables>...</Tables>
<Projects>...</Projects>
<Packages>...</Packages>
</Biml>
When working with BimlScript,
the RootNode object contains
collections of objects:

77. Inside the Black Box: Tiered Biml Files
<#@ template tier="1" #>
<Connections>...</Connections>
<#@ template tier="2" #>
<Packages>...</Packages>
<#@ template tier="3" #>
<Package>...</Package>

78. Inside the Black Box: Tiered Biml Files
<#@ template tier="1" #>
<Connections>...</Connections>
<#@ template tier="2" #>
<Packages>...</Packages>
<#@ template tier="3" #>
<Package>...</Package>

79. Inside the Black Box: Tiered Biml Files
<#@ template tier="1" #>
<Connections>...</Connections>
<#@ template tier="2" #>
<Packages>...</Packages>
<#@ template tier="3" #>
<Package>...</Package>

80. Inside the Black Box: Tiered Biml Files
<#@ template tier="1" #>
<Connections>...</Connections>
<#@ template tier="2" #>
<Packages>...</Packages>
<#@ template tier="3" #>
<Package>...</Package>

81. Inside the Black Box: Tiered Biml Files
<#@ template tier="1" #>
<Connections>...</Connections>
<#@ template tier="2" #>
<Packages>...</Packages>
<#@ template tier="3" #>
<Package>...</Package>

82. Inside the Black Box: Tiered Biml Files
<#@ template tier="1" #>
<Connections>...</Connections>
<#@ template tier="2" #>
<Packages>...</Packages>
<#@ template tier="3" #>
<Package>...</Package>

83. Inside the Black Box: Tiered Biml Files
<#@ template tier="1" #>
<Connections>...</Connections>
<#@ template tier="2" #>
<Packages>...</Packages>
<#@ template tier="3" #>
<Package>...</Package>

84. Inside the Black Box: Tiered Biml Files
<#@ template tier="1" #>
<Connections>...</Connections>
<#@ template tier="2" #>
<Packages>...</Packages>
<#@ template tier="3" #>
<Package>...</Package>

85. Inside the Black Box: Tiered Biml Files
<#@ template tier="1" #>
<Connections>...</Connections>
<#@ template tier="2" #>
<Packages>...</Packages>
<#@ template tier="3" #>
<Package>...</Package>

86. Inside the Black Box: Tiered Biml Files
<#@ template tier="1" #>
<Connections>...</Connections>
<#@ template tier="2" #>
<Packages>...</Packages>
<#@ template tier="3" #>
<Package>...</Package>

87. Inside the Black Box: Tiered Biml Files

88. How do you use Tiered Biml files?
1. Create Biml files with specified tiers
2. Select all the tiered Biml files
3. Right-click and click Generate SSIS Packages
1
2
3

89. How does this actually work?

90. Biml Basics Tools & Projects
Code Management
…the past 60 minutes…

91. Where can I learn more?
Free online training
bimlscript.com

92. Get things done
Start small
Start simple
Start with ugly code
Keep going
Expand
Improve
Deliver often

93. Biml on Monday…
…BimlBreak the rest of the week ☺

94. @cathrinew
cathrinew.net
linkedin.com/in/cathrinewilhelmsen
hi@cathrinew.net
slideshare.net/cathrinewilhelmsen
Biml resources and references:
cathrinew.net/biml