Does anyone know of a way of scripting the data changes made via SSMS, e.g. update a table row and it shows the update SQL for that change, likewise for inserts & deletes?
I'm aware of being able to script out the entire changes using publishing wizard or using redgate software & I know you can switch on scripting for schema changes. However, I'm looking for something along the lines of: I do something in SSMS and I get a instant SQL statement telling me what I've done. I remember SQLYog doing something like this for MYSQL.
I was just looking for the same thing on SO with no luck, so clicked a few buttons in SSMS and found this:
"Generate Change Script" can be clicked after you've made changes in the SSMS designer. Upon clicking this button, a dialog appears that lets you view the SQL required to be run on your database for those changes.
If you check "Automatically generate change script on every save", then the same dialog will appear each time you click the save button.
You'll note that sometimes SSMS generates some ridiculously long SQL statements for seemingly simple changes. Unfortunately, even simple things like reordering/renaming columns cannot be expressed in standard SQL DDL statement - all SSMS can do is drop and recreate the table.
Related
Our project is moving from MySQL to MS SQL and after a long time working with MySQL Workbench I really miss some features in SQL Server Management studio (2014).
Do you know whether they exist in SSMS or there is an alternative/replacement application for SSMS to work with database?
Functions are listed below:
Generate update data script to review and to be able to copy-paste it. Do not update data when I move to another row when the table is opened for editing.
Some changes are still made in database in our project, and sometimes it's easier to add some rows manually in 5 tables, get the script, test it and run the script at production environment. I don't want to write a script for each update and I don't want to make a mistake when copying data to production server using edit table option.
Review update table script BEFORE the changes were made, not after (I am talking about Tools - Options - Designer - Auto generate change scripts).
Upload a file using select file dialog into a binary field.
Again, I know about using OPENROWSET function, just interested how to do it as I used to.
Ability to view large text fields in a convenient way in SSMS. Now I have to copy data from a field and paste it into notepad. (For example, error message with a long trace log)
Save a few tabs with some useful scripts and open all of them when I open SSMS.
Is there any way to organize tabs to be able to work with 10+ tabs more effectively? Now only 6 of them can be shown on the screen (compate it to 15 tabs in MySQL WB).
Simple 'search field' (like Ctrl+F in Excel) to be able to search data in all fields displayed on the screen.
I would appreciate any ideas.
Thank you.
Let's imagine I added new column for some table in SQL Server Management Studio. Is there any way to get change script which is executed when I press save?
What I want to achieve is to apply the same change to other databases (we have a separate database for each developer for debuggin purposes).
I assume you are using table designer in MS SSMS.
Do the changes in the designer and just before hitting Save, go to the Table Designer menu and select Generate Change Script....
I've got an .rpt file that I did not write and can find no documentation about. I want to be able to review the SQL that is generated from this report so that I can figure out, well, what data it was pulling and what WHERE clause parameters were used.
I can open it up and see the report layout. But when I select Database|Show SQL Query... the report tries to connect to the data source. The problem is, the data source being used is unknown to me, probably an ODBC connection used by whoever wrote the query. All I can do at that stage is 'Cancel' and I'm back to looking at the report designer.
Am I missing something? Can I get to the SQL query without connecting to the datasource? It seems like viewing the selection criteria shouldn't be dependent on a data connection.
Thanks.
version: Crystal Reports 2008
I know that this is an old thread, but I encountered this same problem. Effectively we used to have a database/application that has since been aquired by an external agency.
Although they now have the database/application they don't have access to crystal reports, so we can't just send them the old report that we used to run. Likewise we can't run it as we don't even have the database set up anywhere.... So instead our plan was just to extract the SQL code generated by the report and forward that on.
We experienced the same problem, but the solution is actually pretty simple.
If you don't have access to the original data source, just create a new 'blank' datasource (such as an ODBC connection). As long as the connection to the datasource works (i.e. it is some kind of valid datasource this it works fine). When running the 'Show SQL' option point the report to this datasource. As long as you don't try to actually run the report (and only show the SQL) the operation wont fail. This worked for our situation anyway. (Crystal Reports 2008)
(I can give more details if it helps in any way.)
It should be possible to find out some details about the existing datasource, by selecting Database > Set Datasource Location... .
As well as enabling you to change the datasource location, this should show you some information about the current datasource, such as which type of datasource is being used, and possibly (dependant on the type of driver) the name of the database. It is likely to be less helpful if (as you surmise) the datasource is ODBC, but if it uses a native driver there may be something useful.
Without the password, I'm not sure how much you can do. It seems "Show SQL Query" requires to report to run first, then generate the SQL plan.
It's not ideal, but you could go to Database > Visual Linking Expert to at least see the tables and how they are joined, and the go to the Record Selection Formula Editor and see what the custom WHERE statements are.
Viewing the SQL of a Command in a Crystal Report File
There are times you have just the report file, but not the associated database structure that the report uses.
This is common when dealing with example reports of functionality you wish to mimic.
This is a workaround ONLY to allow you to see the SQL of a Command that a Crystal Report is based on, when you don't have the underlying database connection that the report is based on.
In essence, the dialog box has to be satisfied before it will show the SQL, so we fool it with a legitimate Data Source, just not one that would work with the SQL that is actually in the SQL Command.
Why does a report use a command? Doesn't Crystal Reports have the ability to link tables?
When a Crystal Report is based on a record set that is too complex for the table linking functionality within Crystal Reports, the report can instead be based on a SQL Query, usually developed/tested in another editor tool and pasted into the command. This allows advanced SQL functions to be utilized.
If you don't already have a Data Source on your computer set up that you can connect to, you will need to build one first.
A simple Microsoft Access .mdb file saved in a simple location will suffice.
I placed mine with the path C:\A_test\test.mdb to make it easy to find.
If you don't have one, google for a sample mdb file and download it, saving it with a name and location you can remember. (You won't ever actually open this file, but just connect to it.)
Once you have the file saved, open the ODBC Administrator and create a New Data Source.
(you can get to the ODBC Administrator quickly from Start > type ODBC in the Search)
On the User DSN tab, click the Add button.
Scroll down the driver list to Microsoft Access Driver (*.mdb), select it and click the Finish button.
In the Data Source Name box, type a name (I used MyTest).
Click the Select Button and select the mdb file you saved from a previous step, click OK.
Click OK again. You will see your new Data Source listed by the name you gave it. Click OK.
You now have the data source you will need for the next steps.
Open the Crystal Report you want to see the SQL command for, and click on Database Expert button or Database>Database Expert Menu.
Under Selected Tables, right click on the Command and choose View Command
The Data Source Selection Box appears. Select the Data Source you created (or one you already use) and click the Finish button. The View Command box should open with the SQL in the left pane. Copy the SQL into your favorite text editor.
Whats happening is that the crystal reports needs a database to connect to regardless if its the original source DB or not.
Create a local database or use a database stored on a server, added it to your ODBC Datasources and use it when connecting. After a successful connection you should be able to view the SQL query without an error.
This question already has answers here:
What is the best way to auto-generate INSERT statements for a SQL Server table?
(24 answers)
Closed 6 years ago.
I'm looking for a way to do something analogous to the MySQL dump from SQL Server. I need to be able to pick the tables and export the schema and the data (or I can export the schema via SQL Server Management Studio and export the data separately somehow).
I need this data to be able to turn around and go back into SQL Server so it needs to maintain GUIDs/uniqueidentifiers and other column types.
Does anyone know of a good tool for this?
From the SQL Server Management Studio you can right click on your database and select:
Tasks -> Generate Scripts
Then simply proceed through the wizard. Make sure to set 'Script Data' to TRUE when prompted to choose the script options.
SQL Server 2008 R2
Further reading:
Robert Burke: SQL Server 2005 - Scripting your Database
SQL Server Management Studio
This is your best tool for performing this task. You can generate a script that will build whichever tables you wish from a database as well as insert the data in those tables (as far as I know you have to export all of the data in the selected tables however).
To do this follow these steps:
Right-click on your database and select Tasks > Generate Scripts
In the Generate and Publish Scripts wizard, select the "Select specific database objects" option
Expand the "Tables" tree and select all of the tables you wish to export the scheme and data for, then click Next
In the next screen choose how you wish to save the script (the Output Type must remain set as "Save scripts to a specific location"), then click the Advanced button in the top right corner
In the newly opened window, under the General section is a setting called "Types of data to script", set this to "Scheme and data" and click OK
Click Next, review the export summary and click Next again. This will generate the script to your selected destination.
To restore your database, simply create a new database and change the first line of your generated script to USE [Your.New.Database.Name], then execute. Your new database will now have all of the tables and data you selected from the original database.
I had a hell of a time finding this option in SQL Management Studio 2012, but I finally found it. The option is hiding in the Advanced button in the screen below.
I always assumed this contained just assumed advanced options for File generation, since that's what it's next to, but it turns out someone at MS is just really bad at UI design in this case. HTH somebody who comes to this thread like I did.
If you want to script all table rows then
Go with Generate Scripts as described by Daniel Vassallo. You can’t go wrong here
Else
Use third party tools such as ApexSQL Script or SSMS Toolpack for more advanced scripting that includes some preprocessing, selective scripting and more.
Check out SSMS Tool Pack. It works in Management Studio 2005 and 2008. There is an option to generate insert statements which I've found helpful moving small amounts of data from one system to another.
With this option you will have to script out the DDL separately.
SqlPubWiz.exe (for me, it's in C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Tools\Publishing\1.2>)
Run it with no arguments for a wizard. Give it arguments to run on commandline.
SqlPubWiz.exe script -C "<ConnectionString>" <OutputFile>
BCP can dump your data to a file and in SQL Server Management Studio, right click on the table, and select "script table as" then "create to", then "file..." and it will produce a complete table script.
BCP info
https://web.archive.org/web/1/http://blogs.techrepublic%2ecom%2ecom/datacenter/?p=319
http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/aa174646%28SQL.80%29.aspx
I know this has been answered already, but I am here to offer a word of warning.
We recently received a database from a client that has a cyclical foreign key reference. The SQL Server script generator refuses to generate the data for databases with cyclical references.
I wonder how management studio generates the change table scripts each time i change a table, especially when i change the datatype from 'text' to 'varchar(max)'.
Peace,
Ice
Update: Concerning the already given Answers i want to precise my question, after say thank you for your posts.
Now, it is like already said, ssms generates the scripts on demand but i want to write a script to identify all the tables in a given database with datatype [text] and change them to [varchar(max)]. So the easy part is to scan the dictionary to find the tables and columns, the harder part is to generate the mentioned scripts which copies all the rows into the new structur.
--> Yes i can work manually thru the list of tables and click in ssms to get the scripts, but there are almost 200 tables... better a computer do that work, isn't it?
If what you're asking is "Given a table, is there an easy way to get the DML used to create that table?" then I don't believe you can just run a system SP and get it. You'd need write something that selected from the system tables to get columns and datatypes, indexes, and everything else.
I wish there was an easy way to generate the same scripts SSMS does (like right-click -> "Modify" on a stored procedure), but it doesn't seem to be that easy.
When you change a table using the Management Studio table designer, the script is already prepared in the background, and you can simply click on the "Generate change script" icon to view it (and copy it if you like).
In SQL 2008, the "Generate change script" option is in the "Table Designer" menu.
If you're asking what it does, it's quite simple: SQL will create a new table with the new structure, copy all the data from the old table, drop the old one and rename the new one. If you open the script as described above, you'd see that.