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Providing Feedback for SQL Server 2008

Microsoft appreciates you taking the time to help us improver our Microsoft SQL Server products and documentation. You can provide suggestions and bug reports about the product features and user interface, submit documentation feedback, and opt to send error reports and usage data automatically to Microsoft for analysis. Each of these three feedback options is described here.

Submitting Feedback About the Product

Use the SQL Server feedback page on Microsoft Connect to send suggestions and bug reports about SQL Server features. This includes features such as the tools and utilities, languages, and programming interfaces.

You can find the Microsoft Connect SQL Server feedback page in many ways.

  • Go to the Microsoft Connect SQL Server feedback Web page.

  • On the Help toolbar of the Business Intelligence Development Studio, click the Send Feedback button, or select the Community/Send Feedback command.

  • On the Help toolbar of the SQL Server Management Studio, Click the Send Feedback button.

  • On the Help toolbar of SQL Server Books Online, click the Send Feedback button.

The Help toolbar does not appear in the Business Intelligence Development Studio or the SQL Server Management Studio until you either:

  • Access Help from the utility.

  • Select the Help check box on the Toolbars tab of the Tools/Customize… command.

Submitting Feedback About the Documentation

If you have SQL Server documentation feedback, send your suggestions or report inaccuracies in the SQL Server documentation, tutorials, sample applications, and sample databases to the documentation team. Each topic in Books Online has a Documentation Feedback dialog box at the bottom of the topic. Select a rating and then click the Send Feedback button. Books Online opens an e-mail in which you can type your suggestion or report, and then send the e-mail to Microsoft.

Automatic Error and Usage Reporting

You can enable features to automatically report errors and to send data about how you use SQL Server software and services. Microsoft uses this information to improve SQL Server. All the data is confidential. For more information about how to enable automatic error reporting, and how Microsoft uses the data and treats it confidentially, see Error and Usage Report Settings.

Managing Automatic Usage Reporting

Automatic usage reporting enables you to decide whether to collect and send data to Microsoft. SQL Server uses two pipelines to report usage data. Both pipelines report similar data but the data for different programs and are turned on or off separately. Turning a pipeline on or off using any one of the programs also stops or starts data collection from the other programs that share the same pipeline.

  • One pipeline is used to report usage data for all SQL Server, except for Books Online and some of the Microsoft Visual Studio-based user interface elements in the SQL Server tools. For more information about how to turn on this pipeline during setup, see Error and Usage Report Settings. After setup, you can also turn off (or turn on) this pipeline. To do this, in the Business Intelligence Development Studio, open a SQL Server-based project and then, from the Help menu, select Customer Feedback Options. This command will not appear until you have opened a SQL Server-based project.

  • The other pipeline is used for SQL Server Books Online, the Visual Studio-based user interface elements of the SQL Server tools, and Visual Studio. After setup, you can also turn off (or turn on) this pipeline. To do this, in the Business Intelligence Development Studio, open a SQL Server-based project and then, from the Help menu, select Customer Feedback Options. This command will not appear until you have opened a SQL Server-based project.

Helping Build a Better Books Online

By opting to enable usage reporting for SQL Server Books Online, you help the team develop better documentation over time. The aggregate data we receive helps us learn what customers need. We learn how they move between topics, how often they view particular topics, and which topics they consider to be the most useful and the least useful.

Your feedback enables us to understand how you use the documentation. This helps us allocate our writing resources to the most important topics and design future documentation systems for SQL Server. This usage information from Books Online also helps us identify the features for which customers frequently seek help. This indicates areas that might need usability improvements.