National Provider Identifier (NPI) Validation using Luhn Algorithm

A National Provider Identifier (NPI) is a unique 10-digit identification number issued to health care providers in the United States by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS).

A 10-digit NPI Number may be validated using the Luhn algorithm by prefixing "80840" to the 10-digit number (80 indicates health applications and 840 indicates the United States).

The Luhn algorithm or Luhn formula, also known as the "modulus 10"  or "mod 10" algorithm, is a simple checksum formula used to validate a variety of identification numbers, such as credit card numbers, IMEI numbers, NPI numbers in US and Canadian Social Insurance Numbers. It was created by IBM scientist Hans Peter Luhn.

The last digit is the check digit. So the check is performed on the first 9 digits so that the last digit is obtained.

Control Flow, Data Flow Task, Precedence Constraints in SSIS

Control Flow
Control Flow contains  a group of tasks to achieve start to end. Without having a Control Flow, no package on SSIS can be made. It also determines under what conditions they're executed.

Data Flow Task
A task where data flows (what ETL does). A Data Flow Task has to be a part of a Control Flow. One control flow can have a number of Data Flow Tasks in it. Each Data Flow Task has to have a Source, may or may not have a Transform/Destination. But at least a transform or Destination followed by the Source. Source is used to extract the data, Transform is used to transform the data while Destination is used to Load the data to a destination.

Precedence Constraints 
Precedence Constraints link the individual executables together and determine how the workflow moves from one executable. The precedence constraints are the green, red and blue arrows (both solid and dotted) that connect the tasks and container to each other. Fig 1.

LDAP (Active Directory) Programming with C#

1. .NET Support 2 sets of classes of Active Directory(AD) operations.
2. System.DirectoryServices
   Older class, supports from .net 1.0. Supports all AD operations (setting password, enable/disable account, reterive AD objects).
3. System.DirectoryServices.AccountManagement
   Newer version (>=3.5), easier to manage AD operations. Usign UserPrincipal object to access LDAP object.

SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)

SQL Server Integration Services (SSIS)  -  to get the data from various sources and put the data to tables or create Cubes for data warehouse, used for ETL.

SSIS is a visual tool with drag and drop feature, which enables us to create SSIS, packages to perform ETL in a very short amount of time. 

Business Intelligence Development Studio (BIDS) is the only way where you develop and test the SSIS package. SSIS package is nothing but a complex XML file.

Start All Programs ->  Microsoft SQL Server 2008 R2 -> SQL Server Business Intelligence Development Studio.