Execute Package Task

The Execute Package task executes another child package from a parent package. While this task did exist in SQL Server 2000 DTS, several improvements have simplified the task. In the Package page of the task editor (shown in Figure 3-16), you can see the new ExecuteOutofProcess property, which if set to true will execute the package in its own process and memory space. The default behavior of this property is to be set to true, which will require more memory but will improve performance. Another key difference between this version and the SQL Server 2000 version of the task is that this task no longer pushes parameters to the child package. Instead, the child package will reach into the parent package and pull the configuration values.

Figure 3-16

Again, the bulk of the configuration is done in the Package page in the Execute Package Task Editor. You first point to where the package is going to be. Your options here are File System and SQL Server. A File System task is a .dtsx file, and a SQL Server package is stored in the msdb database of a SQL Server instance. If you select File System, you must first create a new Connection Manager connection to the package by selecting New Connection from the Connection drop-down box. If you select SQL Server, you'll simply point it to the OLE DB Connection Manager to the SQL Server that holds your package.