Manage Projects with SQL Server Management Studio
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In this conclusion to a four-part series on SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), you'll learn how to use the Query Designer, manage projects, and more. It is excerpted from chapter three of the book
Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Unleashed, written by Ray Rankins, Paul Bertucci, Chris Gallelli, Alex T. Silverstein, Tudor Trufinescu and John Kane (Sams Publishing; ISBN: 0672328240).
Using the Query Designer in the Query Editor
A graphical query design tool is now accessible from the Query Editor window where you write your queries. This is a great option that was missing in prior versions of SQL Server. With SQL Server 2000, you could access a graphical query designer by opening a table in Enterprise Manager and selecting Query, but this option was disconnected from the Query Analyzer environment, where the queries were authored.
With SQL Server 2005, you can right-click in the Query Editor window and choose Design Query in Editor. A dialog box appears, allowing you to add tables to the graphical query designer surface. The tables that are selected are shown in a window that allows you to select the columns you want to retrieve. Columns that are selected appear in a SELECT statement that is displayed at the bottom of the Query Designer window. Figure 3.16 shows an example of the Query Designer window that contains two tables from the AdventureWorks database. The two tables selected in this figure are related, as indicated by the line between them.
The T-SQL statements are generated automatically as you select various options on the Query Designer screen. If you select Sort Type, an ORDER BY clause is added. If you choose an alias for a column, it is reflected in the T-SQL. If tables are related, the appropriate joins are generated.
Figure 3.16. Designing queries in the Query Editor.
When you click OK on the Query Designer window, the related T-SQL is automatically placed in the Query Editor window. You can edit the T-SQL as needed or use it as is. You can imagine the time savings you can achieve by using this tool.
TIP
The Query Designer has a very impressive feature that allows you to view a T-SQL query visually. If you copy a valid T-SQL statement, open the Query Designer, and paste the T-SQL into the SQL pane at the bottom of the Query Designer, it tries to resolve the T-SQL into a graphical display. The tables in the FROM clause are shown in the designer panel, and information related to the selected columns is listed as well. The Query Designer cannot resolve all T-SQL statements and may fail to generate a visual display for some complex
T-SQL.
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