The Louis Davidson custom style for SQL Prompt

Louis Davidson sticks his neck out and offers his take on a sensible SQL code formatting style, based on twenty-plus years of writing SQL. Starting from SQL Prompt's Default style, he customizes it based on his own list of personal preferences for how SQL code should look. The result is the Louis Davidson custom SQL Prompt style that you can download, try out, and adapt as required. Read more

How to implement a SQL formatting standard using SQL Prompt v8

Louis Davidson explains why your team needs a standard style for formatting SQL and how SQL Prompt will help make this happen. Read more

Quick SQL Prompt tip – restore your tabs, even if you closed them by mistake

It’s sometimes too easy to close SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) without saving your work. It’s also easy to get rid of tabs and scripts that you later wish you had back. SQL Prompt can help with both these problems. Take a look at the Options for SQL Prompt and you’ll find a set of Read more

Quick SQL Prompt tip – picking the columns you need for speedy results

One of the poor practices that I see so many people doing in code is using SELECT *. This is poor practice because it takes more time to complete for clients, it’s an unnecessary use of resources on the client, server and network, and it can fill the buffer cache with rarely-used data. For example, Read more

Quick SQL Prompt tip – script objects as ALTER in two clicks

Working in a large database can be difficult at times. While many of us might learn the meanings and definitions of most objects, it’s easy to forget the exact ways in which some objects work, or what the behavior is in certain calls. This is one place where having tools that assist you like SQL Read more

Faster SQL Server troubleshooting using SQL Prompt snippets

A good DBA will automate repetitive tasks, but sometimes you need to troubleshoot a problem ‘live’, with people standing over you, and the pressure on. This is something that can’t be automated. SQL Prompt snippets have helped me out in this sort of situation numerous times. Built-in SSMS query shortcuts SSMS provides a few shortcuts Read more

Quick SQL Prompt tip – using the CDB snippet

SQL Prompt includes a number of snippets by default that can help you quickly write T-SQL code. These are templates of code that users use regularly. One of the more popular snippets is the ‘cdb’ snippet that helps with quickly creating a new database for development work. This can also be used to ensure production Read more

Cleaning up common T-SQL coding issues with SQL Prompt

Some SQL coding habits are just annoying. Commas in front of column names? No way! Others are actively harmful; they’ll make your code error prone, harder for others to read and understand, and even harder to edit without making mistakes. This article covers five harmful problems that I see regularly in T-SQL code, and shows Read more

Quick SQL Prompt tip – using the ii snippet

SQL Prompt includes a number of snippets by default that can help you quickly write T-SQL code. These are templates of code that users use regularly. One of the more popular snippets is the “ii” snippet that helps with inserting data into a table. If I type “ii” and hit tab, I quickly get the Read more

How to format a set of SQL scripts using SQL Prompt

Any database developer or DBA who spends much of their working week staring at SQL code quickly becomes set in their ways. They like to see the code laid out in a very particular way. They will struggle to look at, let alone digest and understand, code formatted in a ‘foreign’ style. It’s also rare Read more

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