Louis Davidson, Author at Redgate Software

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Louis Davidson

Louis is a senior data architect for the Christian Broadcasting Network in Virginia Beach. A highly experienced Microsoft SQL Server MVP, he speaks at most PASS conferences and a large number of SQL Saturday events.

He regularly contributes articles to both his own blog and Simple Talk, and has written a book on database design for each of the last five major releases of Microsoft SQL Server.

How to Apply Non-Standard SQL Formatting Using SQL Prompt

I use SQL Prompt to format my code; I’ve defined my standard style that lays out the code just the way I like it, for most cases. I also have a couple of alternative styles for specific tasks, such as comparing two versions of the same code. Occasionally, however, the standard formatting just won’t... Read more

SQL Prompt Hidden Gems: The SSMS Results Pane

Within SSMS, when executing a query, we can view the query results in a grid, or tabular, format (Ctrl-D), as plain text (Ctrl-T), or we can write them to a plain-text reporting (.rpt) file using Ctrl-Shift-F. However, over my 20 plus years as a SQL programmer, I’ve often needed to take these results and... Read more

Beyond Formatting: Improving SQL Code using SQL Prompt Actions

In this article, I’ll discuss how I use the SQL Prompt actions that you can apply as part of the Format SQL command. These actions are designed to help improve the overall quality of your SQL code, in various subtle but meaningful ways, such as qualifying object names, standardizing the use of aliases, adding... Read more

SQL Prompt Hidden Gem: Auto-fill the GROUP BY clause

“Have you seen this new feature that auto-fills the GROUP BY with non-aggregated columns!” exclaimed my co-worker, soon after she had installed a new version of SSMS. I hadn’t, but I was intrigued. I must have written thousands of aggregate queries in my career, so it sounded like it could save me some time.... Read more

Using multiple custom SQL formatting styles in SQL Prompt

Usually, when coding SQL, you will want to go along with the coding style of the team you are working with. In my previous articles on SQL Prompt, I explained why a team of programmers might want to adopt a T-SQL coding standard, how SQL Prompt could make this easier, and then how to... Read more

The Louis Davidson custom style for SQL Prompt

My previous article in this series explained why it’s important for a development team to adopt a common standard for formatting SQL code. It also gave a broad overview of the styles and actions within SQL Prompt that can help define and implement that standard. Unfortunately, many teams avoid the topic of a standard... Read more

How to implement a SQL formatting standard using SQL Prompt v8

With ten programmers working on the same project, how do you agree on a standard style for formatting SQL code, and then implement it consistently? One way is through draconian rules, meeting after meeting, and the occasional sacrifice of a programmer to put the fear in those who remain. If that doesn’t sound like... Read more

How to implement a T-SQL code formatting standard using SQL Prompt

To what extent should a team attempt to impose a uniform SQL coding format? It can sometimes seem like a futile task. All programmers have a preferred formatting style, to which they profess an unwavering attachment. Check the code of ten programmers, though, and you will likely discover at least 15 different formats, since... Read more

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Louis Davidson