Category: SQL Server Management Studio

Wayne Sheffield has another SSMS tip for us:

Do you ever find yourself working on a query and realize that you need just a bit more real estate in the SSMS window? Or perhaps you find that all the toolbars, menus, etc. are cluttering things up? To solve these issues, you can toggle the full screen mode in SSMS on. It will remove all that clutter and maximize the query window. Below, you can see a cluttered SSMS with two rows of buttons, and toolbars on both sides of it.

Click through to see how to enable full-screen mode.

Steve Jones gives SQL Server Management Studio 17.5 a spin and tries to classify some data:

There’s a getting started link, which takes me to the SQL Server Security Blog. I suspect that’s an incorrect link. I think it should go here: SQL Data Discovery and Classification.

Below this, I see a list of the recommendations. This has grabbed tables that appear to continue to contain some data that might be sensitive and require classification. One of the tenets of the GDPR  is that you know your data. You aren’t allowed to figure this out later, but rather you must proactively know what data you are collecting and processing.

It’s a good overview of the feature.  Like Steve mentions, I appreciate this data being stored as extended properties:  that way, third party and custom-built tools can make use of it.  You can also script them out for migration.

Alan Yu announces SQL Server Management Studio 17.5:

SSMS 17.5 provides support for almost all feature areas on SQL Server 2008 through the latest SQL Server 2017, which is now generally available.

In addition to enhancements and bug fixes, SSMS 17.5 comes with several exciting new features:

• Data Discovery and Classification is a new feature for discovering, classifying, labeling and reporting sensitive data in your databases.
• Query Editor now has support for a SkipsRows option for the Delimited Text External File Format for Azure SQL Data Warehouse.
• Showplan has enabled the display of estimated plan button for SQL Data Warehouse.

SSMS 17.5 also includes key bug fixes to Showplan, Query Editor, SMO, and Templates, which can be found in the Release Notes.

Aside from data discovery and classification, it’s probably not a major update for most people, but this does look like an interesting tool.

Wayne Sheffield wraps up his 31 SSMS tricks in 31 days series.  First, he shows off the presentation settings in SSMS.  Presenter mode isn’t nearly as full-featured as I’d like to see it be, but it’s an improvement over the old version, at least.

He then shows standard reports built into SSMS.

The last post in the series is all about the Activity Monitor:

The Activity Monitor can be useful for seeing a mile-high view of a SQL Server instance. However, leaving it running can be as big a drag on the instance as is the use of SQL Profiler. The Resource Waits section of Activity Monitor, which would have been one of the strongest features, has been dumbed down by the filtering of wait types, and that many others are grouped together into categories. Sure, using the Activity Monitor convenient – but spend the time to develop your own scripts or XE sessions to get this information in a more efficient, with less impact. Overall, refrain from using it… and especially don’t set up SSMS to open it automatically on startup.

Agreed.  For all of Wayne’s tips and tricks, check out his index page.

Bert Wagner points out a useful feature of SSMS:

While all of these error messages point me in the right direction, I’m too lazyto try and remember how each version of SSMS refers to the error location. This becomes particularly problematic when jumping around environments and not being able to use a consistent version of SSMS.

There is one feature that works consistently though that makes navigating to the specific error lines easily.

Click through for that answer.  It doesn’t work for dynamic SQL, but it can be quite helpful when it does work.

Wayne Sheffield has another batch of SSMS tips and tricks for us.  First, he provides some helpful hints with comments.  Then comes a useful addition to SSMS 2016, comparing query plans:

Notice that various options have a colored non-equals icon. Here you can quickly see the various values that are different between the two execution plans.

At the bottom of the execution plans is a Showplan Analysis window. This window has color-coded keys for various sections of the plan:

He also shows how to import and export your SSMS configuration settings.  This makes it easier to migrate to a different machine or keep your desktop and laptop looking the same.

Wayne Sheffield continues his SSMS tools and tips series.  Since our last look, he’s added a few more tips.  First, Wayne shows how to show and hide blocks of T-SQL using Outlining.  Then, he gets to something I find useful in SSMS:

There are many editing items in SSMS that makes formatting and navigating your code easier than ever. Most of these Quick Editing Tips that follow are available from the Advanced submenu on the Edit menu

In particular, I like showing whitespace characters, as I’m kind of a whitespace tyrant.  But there are several other helpful options in that menu.

From there, Wayne shows how to use bookmarks in SSMS, which is something I tend not to do.  Finally, you can see the SSMS web browser.

Wayne Sheffield’s been busy since our last visit.  Here are six more SSMS tips and tricks.

First, Wayne shows how to create keyboard shortcuts for common activities.  Then, he shows how to color-code SQL Server instances, which is very helpful when trying to avoid accidental deployments to prod.

Next up he shows off the template explorer:

To use any of the templates, just double-click them. This template will be opened up in a new query window, ready for you to change.

You can also change the templates themselves. Just right-click on the template, and select “Edit”. The template will be opened up, and changes that you make will be saved to the template definition itself.

Finally, you can create your own templates. Right-click the root folder (SQL Server Templates), and you can select to create a new folder or template.

Templates are quite helpful when you commonly run the same bits of code.  Speaking of the same bits of code, Wayne next shows how to use Snippets.

His latest two posts are about the Object Explorer.  The first post shows you how to filter objects in the Object Explorer, and the second shows which columns you can include in it.