Even the most casual user of SSMS knows that you can drag any database, table or column from the object explorer to the editor.

The object name that is dragged into the editor will get inserted into your script. A simple and handy timesaver!

But did you know the same applies to the columns folder under each table? Drag and drop the columns folder into the editor and all the column names, from the relevant table, will be inserted into your script.

I dread to think of the time I’ve wasted dragging each column individually! Now there’s another reason not to use SELECT * in your scripts! Do you know of any more SSMS timesaving gems?

Post from: youdidwhatwithtsql.com

Why didn’t I know this SSMS Shortcut?

SQLCMD is a command line application that comes with Microsoft SQL Server, and exposes the management features of SQL Server. It allows SQL queries to be written and executed from the command prompt. It can also act as a scripting language to create and run a set of SQL statements as a script. Such scripts are stored as a .sql file, and are used either for management of databases or to create the database schema during the deployment of a database. source

Even better SQLCMD Mode allows us to mix T-SQL with these handy commands. You can activate the feature by clicking Query > SQLCMD Mode.

I remember reading on a blog somewhere that people starting out with T-SQL often try to do stuff like;

DECLARE @table VARCHAR(20);
SET @table = 'Customer';
 
SELECT *
FROM @table;

This doesn’t work but look what we can do in SQLCMD mode.

:setvar table Customer
 
SELECT *
FROM $(table);

Bang, we have a resultset. Now I was excited! There’s a few things in TSQL that will not accept a variable as input. Off the top of my head I can think of references to Linked Servers and OPENQUERY. Perhaps SQLCMD Mode was the answer to some of these, admittedly very rare, problems.

:setvar linkedservername MyLinkedServer
 
SELECT * 
FROM $(linkedservername).db.dbo.table;

Another resultset. So far, so good. Now lets try something a little different.

DECLARE @linkedserver CHAR(1);
SET @linkedserver = '1';
 
IF (@linkedserver = '1')
BEGIN
                PRINT '1';
                :setvar linkedservername MyFirstLinkedServer
END
ELSE
BEGIN
                PRINT '2';
                :setvar linkedservername MySecondLinkedServer
END
 
SELECT * 
FROM $(linkedservername).db.dbo.Customer;

This appears to work, when you reference genuine linked server, but if you change the names to ones that don’t exist you’ll get the following error.

Msg 7202, Level 11, State 2, Line 13
Could not find server 'MySecondLinkedServer' in sys.servers. Verify that the correct server name was specified. If necessary, execute the stored procedure sp_addlinkedserver to add the server to sys.servers.

Yep, it seems all the SQLCMD lines are executed regardless of the TSQL conditions around them. OK, so perhaps if I do all the assignment in TSQL and then feed a variable to the SQLCMD?

DECLARE @linkedservername VARCHAR(20);
SET @linkedservername = 'MyLinkedServer';
 
:setvar linkedservername @linkedservername;
 
SELECT * 
FROM $(linkedservername).db.dbo.Customer;

No joy with this either. So no flow control or TSQL variable assignments with SQLCMD mode? This is a big disappointment.  Not very many SQLCMD keywords are supported and no real flow control commands.

The Database Engine Query Editor supports the following SQLCMD script keywords:

[!!:]GO[count]

!!

:exit(statement)

:Quit

:r

:setvar

:connect server[\instance] [-l login_timeout] [-U user [-P password]]

n error [ignore|exit]

:error |stderr|stdout

ut |stderr|stdout source

This happens because all the processing of SQLCMD happens client-side before the TSQL hits the database engine.The reason makes sense but I don’t like the result! Surely it wouldn’t have been that hard to add a few conditional commands to the product?

Don’t get me wrong, you can do some cool things with sqlcmd mode, but without conditional processing and variable handling it misses being something awesome by quite a long shot.

Post from: youdidwhatwithtsql.com

SSMS SQLCMD Mode: a half done job?

Enhances and extends the functionality of BIDS. I’ve mainly used this with SSIS but there are many tools for SSAS and SSRS included in the package. Two of my favourites include the variable editor (useful when you add them in the wrong scope) and the deployment wizard. These two things alone have probably saved me hours of time. The Performance Visualisation feature is great for identifying where you should focus your optimisation efforts.

Features include;

• Create Fixed Width Columns
• Deploy SSIS Packages
• dtsConfig File Formatter
• Expression and Configuration Highlighter
• Expression List
• Fix Relative Paths
• Non-Default Properties Report
• Pipeline Component Performance Breakdown
• Reset GUIDs
• Smart Diff
• Sort Project Files
• Sortable Package Properties Report
• SSIS Performance Visualization
• Variables Window Extensions
• Dataset Usage Reports
• Delete Dataset Cache Files

SSMS Tools Pack

SSMS Tools PACK is an Add-In (Add-On) for Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio and Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio Express. Like BIDSHelper SSMS Tools Pack adds some really handy functionality to the host application. Its features include;

Redgate SQL Compare

This tool makes it so easy to compare and synchronise SQL Server databases. SQL Compare solved a lot of issues we had with deployment at a software house I worked at a few years ago. This was so valuable to me that I joked I’d resign if they took it away from me! All good things said I have noticed the tendency of some people to sync all developer junk objects between databases without any checking. I guess that’s a criticism of people rather than the tool itself. To see the product in action check out these demos. There are some good whitepapers on Redgate’s site explaining the use of the product.

SQLYog

A GUI Tool for MySQL similar in look to Query Analyser from SQL Server 2000. Whenever anybody asks about GUI tools for MySQL, this is the one I recommend. Free and paid for version are available for download. I’ve been using the free Community edition for a few years now and have always appreciated its lightweight GUI and nice editor. Worth checking out over and above the pitiful MySQL Query Browser.

SQL Server Migration Assistant for Access

Now there are no more excuses for keeping those horrible Access databases! The tool isn’t perfect but provides a good start to any conversion project. For more complex projects it might not perform well so it’s worth considering commercial tools.

SQLInform

SQL Formatter for SQL Server, MySQL, Oracle, PostgreSQL and others. Online and desktop versions available.

MySQL Connector / ODBC Driver

Need to connect to MySQL from SQL Server? Use this with Linked Servers and make that integration happen fast!

Post from: youdidwhatwithtsql.com

My Favourite SQL Tools