From ADF Inventory to a Fabric Operating Model: A Practical Migration Playbook (Part 2)
A practical guide to building a portable, metadata-driven ingestion framework for Microsoft Fabric. Learn how JSON configuration, Pipelines or Airflow orchestration, watermarks, retries, and audit tables work together to make data ingestion scalable and safe.From ADF Inventory to a Fabric Operating Model: A Practical Migration Playbook
Migrating from Azure Data Factory to Microsoft Fabric is not a one-for-one conversion. This practical playbook helps you assess existing workloads, choose the right Fabric pattern—Mirroring, Copy jobs, Pipelines, or Notebooks—and validate the move safely through metadata-driven design, reconciliation, and phased cutover.
Understanding SHOWPLAN_ALL in Fabric SQL
As data engineers, we spend a significant amount of time writing SQL queries to ingest, transform, and analyze data. However, producing the correct result is only half the story. Equally important is understanding how the SQL Server Query Optimizer executes our queries. One of the most effective ways to inspect the optimizer's decisions is by using SHOWPLAN_ALL. In this article, I'll demonstrate how to use SHOWPLAN_ALL in SQL Server and Microsoft Fabric SQL Database, explain what it does, discuss a common pitfall, and show you how to resolve it. What is SHOWPLAN_ALL? SHOWPLAN_ALL is a session-level SQL Server setting that instructs the query optimizer to return the estimated execution plan instead of executing the query. Rather than returning data, SQL Server provides detailed information about the physical operators it intends to use, allowing us to understand how the query will be processed before it runs. This is particularly useful when: Investigating slow-running queries. Understanding optimizer decisions. Identifying expensive operations such as sorts and scans. Comparing different query implementations. Tuning SQL for better performance. Unlike PostgreSQL, MySQL, Oracle, or Databricks SQL, which support variations of the EXPLAIN command, SQL Server relies on SHOWPLAN_ALL and graphical execution plans. Orders Table For this walkthrough, I'll use anorders table in Fabric SQL CREATE TABLE orders ( order_id INT PRIMARY KEY NOT NULL, order_date DATE NOT NULL, customer VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL, amount INT NOT NULL ); After populating the table with data, I'll calculate a running total using a window function. Sample Query SELECT order_id, order_date, customer, amount, SUM(amount) OVER ( ORDER BY order_date, order_id ) AS running_total FROM orders ORDER BY customer, order_date, order_id; Without any execution plan settings enabled, SQL Server executes the query normally and returns the dataset. Viewing the Estimated Execution Plan To inspect how SQL Server intends to execute the query, enable SHOWPLAN_ALL. SET SHOWPLAN_ALL ON; GO SELECT order_id, order_date, customer, amount, SUM(amount) OVER ( ORDER BY order_date, order_id ) AS running_total FROM orders ORDER BY customer, order_date, order_id; GO Instead of returning rows from the orders table, SQL Server returns an estimated execution plan describing the physical operations that would be performed. Although the exact operators depend on the optimizer and available indexes, the execution plan typically resembles the following sequence: Read the data from the orders table. Perform any required sorting for the window function. Compute the running total using the Window Aggregate operator. Apply the final ORDER BY. Return the results. This visibility into the optimizer's decision-making process is invaluable when diagnosing performance issues. A Common Pitfall One of the most common mistakes developers make is assuming that SHOWPLAN_ALL only affects the next query. It doesn't. SHOWPLAN_ALL is a session-level setting. Once enabled, every subsequent query in the same session returns an execution plan instead of executing. For example, after running: SET SHOWPLAN_ALL ON; GO Even a simple query such as: SELECT * FROM orders; returns the execution plan rather than the table data as seen below If you're unaware that SHOWPLAN_ALL is still enabled, it can be quite confusing because every query appears to "stop working." The Solution The fix is straightforward. Disable the session setting. SET SHOWPLAN_ALL OFF; GO After turning it off, SQL Server immediately resumes normal execution. Running the same query again returns the expected dataset. Why This Happens Many SQL Server settings persist for the duration of the current session. SHOWPLAN_ALL is one of them. Other commonly used session-level settings include: SHOWPLAN_XML STATISTICS IO STATISTICS TIME NOCOUNT Understanding session scope is important when troubleshooting unexpected SQL Server behavior, particularly during performance tuning. As data volumes continue to grow, query performance becomes increasingly important. Execution plans provide insights that cannot be obtained simply by reading the SQL statement. They help answer questions such as: Is SQL Server performing a Table Scan or an Index Seek? Is an unnecessary Sort operation occurring? Which operator consumes the highest estimated cost? Is the optimizer using a Window Aggregate efficiently? Can the query be rewritten to reduce resource consumption? These are exactly the questions that distinguish writing SQL from engineering performant SQL solutions. Key Takeaways If you regularly work with SQL Server or Microsoft Fabric SQL Database, keep the following in mind: SHOWPLAN_ALL returns the estimated execution plan without executing the query. It is a session-level setting, not a one-time command. Every query continues returning execution plans until the setting is explicitly disabled. Use SET SHOWPLAN_ALL OFF to restore normal query execution. Learning to interpret execution plans is an essential performance tuning skill for data engineers and database professionals. Final Thoughts Window functions, Common Table Expressions (CTEs), and complex analytical queries are becoming increasingly common in modern data platforms. While writing these queries correctly is important, understanding how the SQL Server Query Optimizer executes them is what enables us to build scalable and efficient data solutions. SHOWPLAN_ALL offers a simple yet powerful way to inspect the optimizer's strategy before a query is executed. Combined with graphical execution plans and tools such as STATISTICS IO and STATISTICS TIME, it forms an essential part of every data engineer's SQL performance tuning toolkit. The next time you're optimizing a query, don't just verify that it returns the correct result—take a few minutes to examine how SQL Server plans to execute it. The insights you gain can often reveal opportunities for significant performance improvements.Medallion to Magic — Manufacturing Intelligence Platform on Microsoft Fabric
Microsoft Fabric brings Data Engineers, Data Analysts, and Business Users onto a single platform. Data Engineers build the ingestion, Lakehouse, Warehouse, and dbt transformation layers that move raw factory data through the Bronze → Silver → Gold Medallion layers. Data Analysts design the DirectLake Semantic Model, author the DAX measure library, and build the Power BI reports that surface production readiness intelligence. Business Users (manufacturing operations, supply chain managers, and executives) consume those insights through Power BI, the Inventory Insights data agent, and M365 Copilot, asking questions in natural language without ever opening Fabric. Inspired by the Data Factory & Data Integration Community Challenge. I built and end-to-end analytical solution on Microsoft Fabric, integrating batch-exported operational data from four U.S. factories, transforming it through the Medallion pattern, and surfacing the results through Power BI and an AI data agent.Playing the Zork game in Fabric as a Fabric App
Whether you are a pro-coder or a software maker, the new Fabric Apps feature offers an easy and powerful way to vibe code custom software applications and host them within Fabric. Although Fabric is a very serious SaaS platform, I now have the tools to play the Zork game within Fabric! I just deployed the Fabric App Hello World template and asked GitHub Copilot to merge the Visual Zorker into the Fabric App. Then, I only had to deploy it again. All in five minutes tops. Let's check out how this is done.
From Days to Minutes:Revolutionising Fabric Data Agent Creation and fine tuning using VScode Plugins
A Big Boost in Productivity Data engineering is changing fast. Earlier, setting up a Fabric Data Agent meant spending 30 to 60 minutes clicking through portals and doing repetitive manual work. With AgentForge, this has changed completely. AgentForge brings Fabric Data Agent setup into VS Code, using natural language powered by the Model Context Protocol (MCP). What once took nearly an hour can now be done in just 2 minutes for most agents. Even complex agents that work with large repositories are ready in about 4 minutes. This is not just a small improvement—it’s a major shift from manual clicks to AI-driven workflows that save time and reduce mistakes.
