So, I've finally decided to draw a line in the sand.  I've been doing some writing lately.  The radio silence will soon be broken in a big and "healthy" way.  In the meanwhile, I've got caught up in naming antics, and what we should really be calling them. There may be some technical confusion (not the first for Microsoft) as to what most SQL Server followers, DBAs and database professionals already know and commonly refer to as DMVs, or SQL DMVs, as shorthand.  Yes, DMV and DMF, accepted acronyms for Dynamic Management Views and Functions, respectively. 

However, someone, somewhere, at some point, and not sure of the origin, deided to call them DMOs, or Dynamic Management Objects.  DMO's is basically the combined reference for the collection of DMVs and DMFs.  This all came to pass, of course with the revolutionary release of SQL Server 2005, back in the day, when a new paradigm of database management systems came to fore.  Yet, someone forgot to check the SQL Server dictionary for already exisitng acronymns.  Yes, DMO, or SQL-DMO, shorthand for Distributed Management Objects, (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms131540(v=sql.90).aspx) was a completely different meaning and term. Now I'm confused, because we also called in Database Management Objects. It referred to SQL Server Database Management Objects (SQL-DMO) (http://technet.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms131540(v=sql.105).aspx), where SQL-DMO is a collection of COM objects that are designed for programming all aspects of managing Microsoft SQL Server. 

As of SQL Server 2008, woah the confusion, it has been deprecated and marked for removal, and hopefully gone in 2012.  Enter what most of us affectionately call Dynamic management views and functions  that return server state information

that can be used to monitor the health of a server instance, diagnose

problems, and tune performance.  Yes, performance metadata - data about our data!  Even a simple GOOGLE search confirms that SQL-DMO is out, and refers to the legacy components, and SQL DMV is in! The very first hit is the MSDN article, aptly entitled, "Dynamic Management Views and Functions" - sounds good to me!  http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms188754.aspx

Now, maybe technically, DMO is still that collection of DMVs and DMFs, and I was waivering back and forth on this, with consternation, and perhaps indignation, trying to keep true to the true name and reference.  So, how did this SQL Schizophrenia come about?  Well, not to mention any names, but a retired SQL MVP (hey, there are many), whom was well-known in the SQL Community (still no revelations), and one I still respect to this day, was critiquing a piece I wrote about a subject containing DMVs.  I was basically told that the "correct" term and way to refer to them is "DMOs" and not DMVs and DMFs.  Well, deferring to this person's vast technical knowledge, I acquiesced, and used it as warranted.  And so, I carried this conscious habit of anytime I refer to Dynamic Mangement Views and Functions in my writing as DMOs. Well, guess what, NO MORE!  From this day forward, I will call them what is known to the whole SQL Server technical community as DMVs and DMFs, accordingly.  I am not trying to be an academic smart-ass by saying, "you know the proper term for those objects are...."  I'm with the common SQL man, the layman, the everyday Joe, and SQL DBA!  So, are you with me? HELL NO, DMO!

Well, recently, my current editor, basically said the opposite!  In other words, they should be called DMVs, and DMFs.  And, my gut instinct was this is correct, and the right way, and I'll tell you why.  If a pharmaceutical company comes up with a chemically combined drug and refers to it by its generic name or molecule, and us commoners call it WACK, then well, everyone knows what you're talking about.  Let's look at the World News today!  No one is talking about the Group V Filoviridae, order Mononegavirales Zaire EBOV!  Maybe in scientific circles, but the whole country is watching the developments on the EBOLA virus.

I digress, so even though it may technically correct, as well as technically confusing, I'm going to stick with DMVs and DMFs.  I may make passing reference to DMOs, but I like the former terms much better.  And seems that everyone else does too.  I learned the most about them, the same way that many of us did, from SQL MVP Glenn Berry, aka Dr. DMV, (and not Dr. DMO!), who introduced many of us to these system views and functions through his enormous collection of Diagnostic Informatuon Queries, using DMVs and DMFs.  (For which I am a proud contributor of Query # 17 😉  And not once, did I see him change them to DMOs. 

So, today, I vow 'find and replace' in my future writings - Dynamic Management Views and Functions  - DMVs and DMFs it shall be!

Thanks for reading! 

Contact me at RSP05@PEARLKNOWS.COM or PEARLKNOWS@YAHOO.COM  if your SQL Server Performance is SLOOOW, and we will conduct our 15-pt Health Check to identify bottlenecks and areas for improvement, and will generate a detailed report on the State of your SQL Server's Health!  We will ensure that your SQL Servers are up-to-date with its latest optimizations.  And yes, I use several DMV and DMF scripts as well!