ETL SSIS Packages

For Microsoft's detailed explanation of SSIS Packages, see the MSDN article at Integration Services Packages.

SSIS packages are stored as a file with a DTSX extension. When you view a DTSX file from an XML editor, the file appears as an XML document.

When you view a DTSX file with SQL Server Business Intelligence Development Studio (Visual Studio 2008 with Business Intelligence projects), there are added visualizations for the SSIS package. For example, you can view a Control Flow for an SSIS package:

Visual Studio 2010 does not support Business Intelligence Projects, to work with Business Intelligence Projects, you must install Visual Studio 2008. You must also select the Business Intelligence options when you install SQL Server Management Studio.

These visualizations enable drill-down and properties information. Here is an example of a Data Flow: