Wishlist for Visual Studio SQL Editor
First, let me say that I love the Visual Studio SQL Editor. I love being able to browse, edit, and execute SQL Server objects straight from the IDE. There are only a few things that keep the VS IDE from being my primary SQL tool.
- Lack of a results “grid.“ Sometimes the query results never show up in the command window. Besides, the grid view is easier for me to deal with in most cases. I like being able to resize columns (it would be nice to be able to toggle their visibility on and off too). The SQL Editor tab should break down into 3 tabs just like Query analyzer does--SQL, Messages, and Results.
- Reformatting of my views. I'd love to have the option of right-clicking the views in the Server Explorer, and see the script for them, instead of have them automatically pushed into the Query Designer. The Query Designer reformats my SQL, which I hate. Of course, if the Query Designer could be made use a syntax-highlighted, custom formatted version of SQL in its SQL pane, then I wouldn't mind so much.
- No intellisense for SQL objects. Some tools such as SQLBuddy are trying to implement this feature, but to my knowledge, none have really succeeded.
- The ability to execute a stored procedure without actually committing them to the database. Perhaps we could have two options instead of Save: 1) Save as script file, Commit to database. If Save as Script file is chosen, then the IDE should add the script file to the current project. Scripting it out is a pain, especially if you have many parameters. Perhaps if the stored procedure hasn't been committed to the database yet, the IDE could perform the scripting out behind the scenes. Let the IDE DECLARE and set variable values, and execute the SQL, but hide that process from the developer. Here's an example of what I mean:
ALTER PROCEDURE dbo.dummy
(
@Parameter int ---passed in a 5
)
AS
SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE index = @Parameter
The IDE could run the above as:
DECLARE @Parameter int
SET @Parameter = 5 --whatever value was passed in
SELECT * FROM MyTable WHERE index = @Parameter
Don't let this list of annoyances imply that I'm not pleased with Visual Studio to date--I am. I'm just pointing out where I think it could be stronger. I'm trying to focus on the time-consuming tasks that I do repeatedly.
Thanks for listening.