Use the SQL Prompt Command Palette to find and execute 'hidden' SQL Prompt functionality, plus any of the common SSMS commands, as well as search for database objects. Read more
How to get the most out of SQL Search, a free database search tool for SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) and Visual Studio that will locate database objects based on their names, columns, or text. Read more
Before you alter a database object, you need to understand what other objects will be affected. This article shows how to generate a simple dependency diagram that reveals both those objects that reference the target object, and those referenced by it, and includes foreign key references, column references and all the other details you need. Read more
Every time you need to reuse the query results from SSMS, for example to populate another table, or to search for matching rows in another table, it will inevitably mean a lot of manual tweaking to the get the results into the right format. Louis Davidson uncovers three SQL Prompt gems that can remove all this pain. Read more
If you avoid illegal characters and reserved words in your identifiers, you'll rarely need delimiters. Sadly, SSMS applies square bracket delimiters indiscriminately, as a precaution, when generating build scripts. Phil Factor provides a handy function that adds quoted delimiters only where they are really needed and then sits back and lets SQL Prompt strip out any extraneous square brackets, in a flash. Read more
Phil Factor explores the role of table aliases, explaining when they are required, and their general purpose otherwise, the need for sensible naming of aliases, and how SQL Prompt handles them. Read more
Phil Factor shares a handy keyboard shortcut diagram that reveals some of the most useful of Prompt's keyboard shortcuts, and a wallchart showing every piece of Prompt functionality, what it does, where to find it in the various menus, and of course its keyboard shortcut. Read more
Louis Davidson demonstrates how SQL Prompt can significantly lessen the pain involved in occasional, 'heavyweight' database refactoring processes, such as renaming modules, tables and columns (Smart Rename), or splitting tables (Split Table). Read more
Louis Davidson reveals some useful Prompt features for refactoring individual code blocks or modules during development, which will improve code quality, reduce tedium, make testing simpler, or sometimes all three. Read more
How to qualify object names, standardize the use of aliases, and make other instant changes that improve the quality and performance of your SQL code. Read more
A strategic view of how a development team can use SQL Prompt to establish and share coding standards, through code analysis rules, formatting styles and code snippets. Read more
Phil Factor shows how to create a table of input values versus expected results, and then use it to unit test your SQL stored procedures and functions and verify that they always produce the correct results. He uses SQL Prompt to make this task much simpler. Read more
While everyone knows SQL Prompt for its code completion and IntelliSense features, a lot of its extra value comes from features that allow the development team to standardize coding practices and drive up code quality. Read more
Write, refine, format and test a reporting query before lunch then refactor a database, and retest the new design, afterwards. All in a day's work for a developer armed with SQL Prompt. Read more
You have SQL Prompt, but are you aware of all the things it can do and how to get it to do it? Phil Factor provides a handy table to make it obvious. Read more
You may not have heard about it yet, but three helpful features were recently added to SQL Prompt that are activated when you right-click on the Results Grid in SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS). 1. Copy as IN clause This feature is available when you have values from a single column selected. You can select Read more
Working in a large database can be difficult at times. While many of us might learn the meanings and definitions of most objects, it’s easy to forget the exact ways in which some objects work, or what the behavior is in certain calls. This is one place where having tools that assist you like SQL Read more
Some SQL coding habits are just annoying. Commas in front of column names? No way! Others are actively harmful; they’ll make your code error prone, harder for others to read and understand, and even harder to edit without making mistakes. This article covers five harmful problems that I see regularly in T-SQL code, and shows Read more