Cant edit schema or data from sql server management studio - sql

I have connected to my SQL azure server using SQL Server 2012 Management Studio and I cannot edit any of my table's schema or the data in it. When I right click on the table the options are missing. Am I doing something wrong?

Not that I am using SSMS 2012, but in 2008 R2 is generally the same. There is no GUI for neither table designer, nor "Edit top 200 records". You have to begin diving into the DDL and DML for SQL Server and give up GUIs. One way you could use GUI to some extend, especially for DDL is to use the portal provided Windows Azure SQL Database manager. You can find a link to it when you go to your database from either the new or the old portal (Manage). Other way is to use some third party tool, which I am not aware of.
Here is the link to that manager from the new portal:

Another option some people may find helpful, if you have and use Visual Studio then you can link to the server in ServerManager, connect to the database, and then design and edit data directly.

My 2008 R2 version of SSMS had the same problem. I downloaded 2016 CTP3 SSMS which has Azure support and everything is normal for the Azure Databases.
https://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/mt238290.aspx
I did lose my connection history information so beware.

Related

How come I have no option to Create Partition?

I have no option to Create Partition on my table.
I thought maybe I had to create a filegroup first, but I have no option for that either under the database properties.
What am I missing?
*This is an Azure database.
We can create partition on table with T-sql like comments mentioned.
As you know, SSMS UI: Create Partition works well with local SQL Server, no option for Azure SQL Database.
Actually, not only the Create Partition option, there many options not support for Azure SQL database. Most documents only say the feature is supported in Azure SQL database with no details.
You could reference this blog:No UI dialogs in MS Azure / SQL Server Management Studio.
The reason is that SSMS do not have the full SSMS Support for Azure SQL database.
A lot of people complained about this in the SQL database feedback:
How can we improve Azure SQL Database?Full Management Studio Support
Such as:
"Graham Plowman commented · January 23, 2019 17:01
The regular version of SSMS has a UI around all the security and user
management options (and many others), making them a breeze to use.
When SSMS is connected to a SQL Azure database, all this UI
functionality is gone, replaced by bombing out to screens where one
has to type in SQL commands!!
Whatever next ? This was how we used to manage SQL server way back in
the 1990's with version 4.3 before SSMS became a serious tool!!
Kindly add the UI so it is the same as regular SQL installations.
Bombing out to SQL is a highly backward step."
There is still no solution for now.
Hope this helps.

How can I restore a database backup file (.bak) from SQL Server 2012 into SQL Server 2008 Express?

A database that was originally from SQL Server 2008, was restored into SQL Server 2012. A backup from SQL Server 2012 was made and I am trying to restore it on my local SQL Server 2008 Express. However I get an error 'Specified cast is not valid' (SQLManagerUI).
I have generated an SQL Script from 2012 and set it so that it will generate with compatibility to SQL Server 2008. However it is a large sql file, around 700mb.
I recall before that I had tried to run a script of that size before on my local SQLExpress and also got an error.
Is there a way I can get a "large" database from SQL Server 2012 into SQL Server 2008 Express?
Thanks to Marc and Aaron for providing the answers.
The quick answer is no, it's not possible to restore a backup file from a higher version to a lower version of SQL Server.
A work around would be to generate the scripts to create the database.
You can target the script generation to a lower version.
Please see comments above for more information.
Links:
Why an SQL Server Database from a higher version cannot be restored onto a lower version of SQL Server?
Create Database in SQL Server 2012, Script and Use in 2008?
Couple things to add that might be helpful to folks
When scripting large databases using scripting wizard in SSMS it’s really important to check the execution order and be willing to re arrange it manually. Older versions of SSMS had this problem because they (probably) relied on sp_depends that has a bug.
What I’ve found really useful in such cases are tools like ApexSQL Diff that you can use to read database backups and generate scripts that are in correct execution order.
SQL Server database backup restore on lower version
One thing that none of the methods will catch is the thing Aaron mentioned about using functions specific to higher version.
A better option than using the SSMS scripting wizard is to use a similar tool available on Codeplex called SQL Database Migration Wizard - http://sqlazuremw.codeplex.com/releases/view/32334. You want the latest version v4.x to work with SQL Server 2012.
The tool is originally intended to be used for migrating databases between SQL Server and Azure. However the tool works just as well as between SQL Server and SQL Server. The trick is to set SQL Server rather than Azure as the target in the advanced options.
The reason this is a better option than the SSMS scripting wizard is that it uses BCP for the data transfer rather than TSQL and so is much more efficient.

Creating new users in SQL Azure

I have been assigned the task of converting an SQL Server Database to an SQL Azure Database. During the process I encountered these problems:
Cannot use the Object Browser in Management Studio 2008 v10. Is there a fix to this?
I cannot create new Users under the Security Section since I cant use the Object Browser.
Basically I want to create an Admin user and NonAdmin user each with their own privileges to UPDATE, DELETE, INSERT commands on different tables in the database.
Basically my web application has a sign up form how can I associate new registered user to the SQL Azure Roles during the sign up process to limit them from perfroming ertain commands on the database tables?
Just answer your questions.
1, No SSMS 2008 doesn't support Azure. You MUST use SSMS 08 R2.
2, If you are using SSMS 08 R2 the object explorer will be appeared. But the features when connecting to SQL Azure will be very limited. The designer and dialog are disabled which means all tasks should be done by using the SQL script.
3, Not pretty sure what you mean, but you can try what you are doing on SQL Server since SQL Azure is very very similar with SQL Server.
Data-tier Application and SQL Azure MW are good tool for migrating your existing database to SQL Azure. But you can still use the build-in feature in SSMS 08 R2 to migrate the database schema as well. Just use the Generate Script menu item from your local database, and make sure you selected SQL Azure in the "Script for the database engine type".
Check out the official page on how to move data etc..'Migrating Databases to SQL Azure'
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/windowsazure/ee730904.aspx
Also check out the 'SQL Azure Migration Wizard v3.8.3'
http://sqlazuremw.codeplex.com/
Migrating Databases to SQL Azure by Using Data-tier Application Export and Import is probably your best option, the migration wizard is a great tool, I have used both.
re: 1 you need service packs, I'm not sure 2008 V10 is supported, get the latest version or upgrade to 2008R2 Mgmt Studio (latest)
2: use the tools above
3: not sure here what you are trying to do to correctly answer.
hope that helps...

SQL to SQL CE: How to read an SQL or Access database and write it out as SQL CE database?

I have just one simple table in my MS SQL database (or Microsoft Access). How do I read in this table and write it out as an SQL CE database? I have both Visual Studio and WebMatrix installed so I can use either of these tools if required. Thanks.
Is it possible to copy and paste one table to another? This would be the simplest if it works.
Try my Visual Studio add-in, allows you to migrate from SQL Server to SQL Server Compact: http://sqlcetoolbox.codeplex.com - command line walkthrough here: http://erikej.blogspot.com/2010/02/how-to-use-exportsqlce-to-migrate-from.html
You can download a free copy SQL Express Management Studio (SSMS).
SSMS has the ability to connect to both full blown SQL, SQL Express, and SQL CE databases.
Within SSMS you can right click on the table and use the wizard to move data back and forth. Or create scripts that will generate the raw table structures that exist in MS SQL, SQL Express and allow you to move them to SQL CE.
The primary wizard you'll probably use in SSMS to move data from an Access table to a SQL, or SQL CE table is called SQL Server Import/Export Wizard.
The learning curve on these wizards is pretty minimal. As your needs grow more advanced and the things you want to do get a little more fancy you'll find that scripting and the tsql language is where you'll want to dedicate some time to learning. But this should get you started with the question at hand.

Restore SQL Server 2008 DB *to* SQL Server 2005

Got myself in a bit of a pickle here ... working on a CMS project, under the assumption that sql server 2008 was greenlighted as the db of choice. Well it wasn't, we now have to backport all of our content out SQL Server 2008 and into SQL Server 2005.
A simple backup/restore procedure yields: "RESTORE HEADERONLY is terminating abnormally. (Microsoft SQL Server, Error: 3241)".
Unfortunately, exporting the data to an excel spreadsheet yields multiple OLE errors which I believe is actually a problem in the db of the cms.
Does anyone out there have other approaches they would like to recommend for this task? Thanks in advance
Use RedGate:
tool for comparing and deploying SQL Server database contents.
You can work with live databases, backups, or SQL scripts in source control. Damaged or missing data can be restored to a single row, without the need for a full database recovery.
SQL Data Compare helps you compare and deploy changes quickly, simply, and with zero errors...
There is no way to do this by default. You can generate scripts for 2008 database on 2008 server and then execute these scripts on 2005 version. Note that you’ll have to manually review scripts and remove all parts that are unique to 2008 version.
Another way is to use third party tools such as Red Gate or ApexSQL Diff (move schema) and ApexSQL Data Diff (move data).
Use the Generate SCripts to create the database and schema and ensure you target SQL Server 2005 and script data.
Rather than do a backup and restore you might try using SQL 2005's Import/Export Data wizard.
http://support.microsoft.com/default.aspx?scid=kb;en-us;314546
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms140052(SQL.90).aspx
I've just hit the same problem and here is how I worked around it.
The problem was to copy a database from an operational SQL Server 2008 database to a new SQL Server 2005 database.
I scripted the database using Management Studio on the 2008 server. I only scripted the database design, not the data. I should add also that the DB only has tables and indexes, so I haven't tried this with any cleverer objects although I can't think why they wouldn't work.
On the 2005 server I created a new database by hand and then ran the script to set up all the tables and indexes.
The in Management Studio back on the 2008 server I used the Export Data wizard to export the data from the 2008 server to the 2005 server. It's currently running and seems quite happy moving the data.
Once all the data is across I'll have a couple of small things left to do - create the users and set-up the security in the 2005 DB, but all-in-all it doesn't look like a bad way of doing it. It's not quite point-and-click but it's not too strenuous.
So it seems that the Copy Database wizard won't work (I think because the package ultimately runs on the 2005 server and 2005 Management Studio can't talk to 2008) but the Export Data wizard is quite happy moving data ... as long as the DB already exists on the target server.
Hope that's useful.
It's not possible to restore to previous versions in SQL Server
Is there no SQL 2005 backup around? Otherwise you really are limited to export the entire database in 2008, and re-import back into 2005, or the Import/Export wizard in 2008
Or rely on 3rd party tools. e.g. Red Gate Data Compare is able to sync. the DATA between 2 servers/databases
I only use mysql but can you export your data into sql statments, and then import then into sql2005? Just a thought..
I faced a similar problem (sql 2005 to sql 2000), and found that I happened to have a blank database at the older version. I used bcp.exe to copy all the data.
check this link click here
You can create the database script in sql server 2008 and you can use it sql server 2005 and lower version....