@classmethod
def connect_mssql(cls, host='.', username='', password='', port=1433,
    database='', **kwargs):
    """
        Initializes a Microsoft SQL connection with the provided credentials.

        @param host -- the host to connect to (default localhost)
        @param username -- the username to login as (optional)
        @param password -- the password to login with (optional)
        @param port -- the port to connect to (default 1433)
        @param database -- the name of the database to connect to (optional)
        """
    try:
        import pymssql
    except ImportError:
        raise ImportError('Please install the pymssql package')
    connection = pymssql.connect(server=host, user=username, password=
        password, port=str(port), database=database, **kwargs)
    c = connection.cursor()
    return cls(connection, c)
