SQL Prompt Labs
Published 02 May 2013
SQL Prompt 5.2 and later includes "Labs", a set of experimental features you can enable from the SQL Prompt options:
Partial Match Suggestions
Partial Match Suggestions are a full feature of SQL Prompt 5.3.
Partial Match Suggestions adds two new types of suggestion to SQL Prompt's code suggestions:
CamelCase, or compound word suggestions
For example, if you type mt, the object MyTable is suggested:
(This also works on names with underscores, such as my_table)
Mid-string suggestions
For example, if you type vent, AdventureWorks is suggested:
This is particularly useful if you can only remember part of an object name.
These new types of suggestion will appear below the standard suggestions you are used to in the suggestions list - the order is as follows:
- Standard (prefix)
- CamelCase
- Mid-string
Tabs Instead of Spaces
Tabs Instead of Spaces changes the behavior of the Format SQL command so that it uses tab characters rather than spaces to indent text.
Query Tab Coloring (only in SSMS 2012)
Query Tab Coloring allows you to color query tabs by server connection in SQL Server Management Studio 2012.
Once you've enabled Query Tab Coloring, you can set a color category for a server by right-clicking it in the Object Explorer:
The default color categories are:
Production: Red
Development: Green
Testing: Orange
Staging: Blue
Once you set a color category for a server, each query tab connected to the server will be colored automatically:
Data Explorer
Data Explorer provides an overview of the data in your database. Once you've enabled Data Explorer, it appears as a new SQL Prompt menu item:
Data Explorer displays rows of data in the tables and views of a database:
You can use Data Explorer to:
- filter and sort the data using the upper pane controls
- view the creation script for an object, as well as a summary of its columns by clicking the blue information icon
- create a SELECT * FROM query for a table or view by clicking ssf
SQL Tab Magic
SQL Tab Magic is an add-in for SSMS. Once installed, you'll get some new buttons on your SSMS toolbar:
Recently Closed Tabs
This feature shows you a list of tabs you've recently closed:
You can also click a tab in the list to re-open it. This is very useful if you accidentally close an unsaved query.
Open Tabs
This feature shows you a list of all your open tabs, with a useful preview of their contents. This makes it much easier to quickly scan and find the query you're looking for:
Find Open Tab
This feature allows you to search your open tabs. The search looks both at a tab's title and its contents:
You can use the keyboard shortcut Ctrl+T to quickly open the search box.
Re-open tabs on startup
This feature allows you to restore all the tabs that were open when you last closed SQL Server Management Studio. You can enable/disable this feature from the SQL Tab Magic toolbar: