December 11, 2007 at 9:59 am
I've been looking for a good SQL IDE. I've tried Toad for ms-sql, and sql server maestro and neither quite did what I need.
To give you a good idea of what I need, I'll tell you my problem.
I've been writing a large project all in tsql, it consists of dozens of stored procedures, functions, tables, views, etc etc. It's about 4000 lines of code total.
Since I've been in the initial phase of development, I haven't actually split any of the procedures or functions into separate files because it would take too long to run everything when I make changes for testing.
As you can imagine, this is a pain to work with because I'm constantly jumping all over the place looking at different procedures or functions, all the while having to search for them by name.
I could manually split all of these into separate files, which would take time, but it still lacks a few things (for instance, I would need to set up and maintain a separate script file that would execute all of these individual scripts). I also can't do things like go to the definition of a procedure like you find in visual studio (I'm not expecting a sql ide to have that, but if there is one I'll buy it right now 😉 ).
So with those problems/frustrations laid out, does anyone know of a good IDE that could help solve some of my issues? I'm downloading the trial for ApexSQL Edit right now, it does have code-folding like Maestro did which would at least help me in navigating my monolithic script files (but Maestro's was buggy).
Thanks in advance.
December 11, 2007 at 11:04 am
First off, get out of the monolithic file. That's going to create headaches no matter what tool you use.
After that, talking about this stuff is almost like talking about religion or Oracle, but I'll dive in a bit. Personally, I like SSMS, but only since I installed SQLPrompt and SQLRefactor both from RedGate. Having type ahead an intelligent formatting makes a huge difference.
On the other hand, most of my development (not testing or tuning) is done these days using Visual Studio Team Edition for Database Development (VSDB). As an IDE, it kind of stinks. As a code management tool, it's great. If you've got the budget (a really big one), it's a great tool and will solve that giant monolithic file problem for you. However, it won't help with the IDE thing.
Now I'll step out of the away and take the beating I'm about to receive like a man.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt
Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning
December 11, 2007 at 11:14 am
Well I most definetely want to get out of the monolithic file.
I did stumble on a tool that may just help me do what I want (sort of), http://www.upscene.com/products/dbw/demos/lite-general-editing.htm is a demo of the object editing. So it allows for some object management that actually means something (the sp or function is stored as a seperate file).
I do love SSMS, and it's what I use almost all day long. I do have Sql Assist installed at home, but we don't have a license at work.
So hopefully that little link I posted gives people an understanding of what I need, and if anyone knows any other tools that would do a similar job that would be great.
Thanks for the response.
December 11, 2007 at 12:33 pm
Well I wasn't too crazy about that database workbench product. It did allow me to save procedures and functions as separate files rather easily, but it only supports it's proprietary format which does me no good. That feature unfortunately doesn't warrant us buying licenses for everyone who just needs to work with my procedures and whatnot.
So I'm still open to any other suggestions anyone may have, I guess it just needs to expand upon the whole project/solution support that SSMS has, preferably with a nice way of managing objects or even just breaking scripts into folders...AFAIK SSMS doesn't allow me to add subfolders to the queries folder in the solution.
December 11, 2007 at 12:53 pm
Still sounds like you might want to try out VSDB.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt
Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning
December 11, 2007 at 1:07 pm
I'll see if we have an eval copy lying around, otherwise I'll try to get a hold of one. Thanks for the help.
December 12, 2007 at 6:23 am
Any version of Visual Studio 2005 should satisfy your basic development source control needs. Have a look under database projects within new projects, please note these aren't compatible with the database projects generated within full on VSDB. You should be able to do everything that you really think should be within SSMS, i.e. creating subfolders, generating automatic build scripts (professional only i think) etc. Also remember this splits you out of the monolithic file mindset and allows you to easily integrate with a source control system such as VSS.
ll
December 12, 2007 at 7:22 am
I ended up finding a spare license for vs2005 lying about the office. The database project has let me stop pulling my hair out, thanks for your help everyone.
The one thing that still bothers me here (and I've seen a few posts with people who share my pain) is that Microsoft seemed to really half-arse the sql development support in the visual studio tools. Redgate has intellisense, but MS can't seem to manage it. I also don't understand why they don't parse sql files with the object browser (eg: go to definition, list members, etc.).
Oh well, I haven't checked out all the changes in VS2008 (except for LINQ), maybe they've done something.
December 12, 2007 at 7:34 am
2008 does have intellisense. So far, I've found RedGate's to be better.
"The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
- Theodore Roosevelt
Author of:
SQL Server Execution Plans
SQL Server Query Performance Tuning
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