Enhancement request - select database(s) by filtering

[dtucker_rw]

I'm running in an environment with 8 (soon to be 9) different servers running hundreds of small databases each. I need to be able to run scripts against a subset of databases on each server (databases come and go almost daily, so a list of databases meeting the criteria is a very moving target).

Basically, I'd like to be able to filter databases for selection - e.g. select all databases where database_name like '%-TX' or database_name not like '%Donor%'.

Even if I had to manually refresh the list of databases prior to each execution, that'd be infinitely preferable to spending 15min selecting/deselecting databases one at a time across each server.

Thanks (BTW, quite a slick tool this!)

[Linda Hawksworth]

Many thanks for your suggestion. I have logged it as a feature request in our tracking system with reference SE-650. It will be reviewed for a future release of SQL Multi Script although we have no timescales for this at present.

[dhtucker]

FYI: I found a work-around that will suffice for at least simple scripts. It relies on the "On Error:" behavior "Stop executing on database with error" option.

Using a two script approach, script 1 serves to "pre-qualify" the database. I created a simple pass/fail query: "select count(*) from ConfigDistrict" - that's a table guaranteed to exist in each of the databases I'm looking to reach, and equally guaranteed NOT to exist in any of the databases I don't want to reach.

If script 1 fails (i.e. table not found), then script 2 isn't run for that database, but MultiScript forges on to the next database. If script 1 succeeds, then script 2 is invoked for that database.

Suitable only for the simplest, single-script tasks, but it's a start. I do still have to build a Distribution List of "all databases on all servers" every time I've got a task to run (since that list is a moving target), but at least it's a fairly swift "select all, Add>" process.

It would still be nice if an upcoming release gave Distribution Lists some kind of selection criteria or filtering option!
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Doug Tucker
Software Engineer / DBA
RenWeb School Management Software