SQL Server Management Studio

I was required to add a new integer type column with an identity property to an existing table through SSMS designer. The operation failed and generated a timeout message. The table was large and I expected it would take some time for this task, but I did

As a best practice in the industry, a DBA often has two logins that are used to access SQL Server; one is their normal Windows login and the other is an admin level login account which has sysAdmin rights on the SQL Server boxes. In addition most of the t

IntelliSense can be a very powerful ally for the T-SQL developer. It can significantly reduce keystrokes, prevent you from guessing at object names, make sure you spell them correctly (and use the right case), and can help you understand the interface to

Many development teams find it challenging to maintain consistent naming and coding conventions. In this tip we look at how to use SQL Server Code Snippets and storing them in a centralized location for all developers.

While looking through the new features and improvements in SQL Server 2008 R2, we found a potentially interesting addition within the Generate Scripts Wizard in SQL Server Management Studio. Using the Generate and Publish Scripts wizard you can script out

When you try to launch the database mirroring GUI or some other database property window in SSMS you get this error: Cannot show requested dialog.(SqlMgmt) Property Owner is not available for Database'[XXXX]'. This property may not exist for this object,

While looking through the new features and improvements in SQL Server Denali, we found a potentially interesting feature namely the Task List. This is a very useful feature which can be utilized by Developers and DBAs to quickly list all the tasks which h

In this article we look at how to use the Clipboard Ring in SQL Server Management Studio to cycle through copied code and paste the correct code.

A new feature in SQL Server Denali is code snippets. In this tip I talk about what it is, how to use it and how to customize/add code snippets as needed.

I recall in SQL Server 2005 Management Studio (SSMS) that I could quickly go into SQLCMD mode using a button on the SQL Editor toolbar. What happened to it in SSMS after SQL Server 2005, I can't find it? In this tip we walk through how to re-enable this

A new feature in SSMS for SQL Server Denali is the ability to zoom in and out for both query window text and the results pane text. In this tip we take a quick look at this new feature.

The SQL Server Management Studio Query Editor allows editing and running SQLCMD scripts. Although this feature is not very popular, it comes handy when you need to run and/or schedule scripts against multiple servers or databases, or when you need to test

There may be times when IntelliSense in SQL Server Management Studio 2008 is not working or does not display the latest schema changes. In this tip we look at a how to check the status and how to update the IntelliSense data.

I am always conscious to keep a record of all operations performed on my database servers. Operations through T-SQL in an SSMS query pane can easily be saved in query files. For table modifications through SSMS designer I have predefined setting to genera

As a best practice in the industry, a DBA often has two logins that are used to access SQL Server; one is their normal Windows login and the other is an admin level login account which has sysAdmin rights on the SQL Server boxes. In addition, most of the

Often times we use the SQL Server Management Studio GUI to perform simple tasks such as altering a column in a table. However, you should always check your scripts before blindly performing the actions recommended by SSMS, because they may not always be,

While looking through the new features and improvements in SQL Server 2008 Management Studio (SSMS) we found a potentially interesting one called Object Explorer Details. In this tip I will cover how to use these features in SSMS.

Every now and then, I see someone doing repetitive tasks in SQL Server Management Studio such as dropping a stored procedure one by one when they need to remove ten or scripting out a single object at a time because they can't select multiple objects from

Almost every DBA has to manage more than one instance of SQL Server. Chances increase to run a script on the wrong instance. In this tip, I will show an option in SSMS 2008 to easily identify each instance.

Learn how to maximize the space for queries and results in SQL Server Management Studio with these settings and keyboard shortcuts.

Saving changes is not permitted. The changes you have made require the following tables to be dropped and re-created. You have either made changes to

As a part of my best practices, I always save the T-SQL scripts used for creation and modification of objects in SQL Server. When creating and modifying tables using SQL Server Management Studio designer it is easy to right click in the designer and selec

Recently I had to restore a copy of a production database to a test server in order for some, well, testing. I had warned the Application Analyst Team for months that we were going to be in a space crunch because while the production database had been gr

I am trying to leverage the new SQL Server 2005 DMVs for performance analysis. While they are very useful, it would be nice to be able to see graphical representations of the data collected by the DMVs. Is there a graphical utility within SQL Server I can