Run Scripts Add-In for SQL Server 2005 Management Studio

• Download source files - 9.48 KB
• Download demo project - 3.46 KB

Introduction

The new SQL Server 2005 Management Studio is a great improvement over older SQL Server tools, and even allows one to create a SQL Script project type to organize your SQL scripts with. While this is handy, there is no way to execute all the scripts in your project without opening each one and hitting 'Execute'. I have some projects with quite a lot of scripts, so this can get quite tedious. I decided to write a little add-in for SSMS to do this for me. To write an SSMS add-in is quite easy; just write a console application that accepts string arguments from SSMS and then add it as a external tool on the Tools->External Tools menu.

How the code works

When the console application is invoked, the current project is sent as an argument using the $(ProjectFileName) global variable. The application then makes a backup of the file before opening it. The project file is an XML format file with the extension 'ssmssqlproj'. The application looks for the first Connection object in the file and uses this connection to execute the scripts. It then loops through all the <FileNode> tags to get the SQL scripts included in the project and executes each one. The output is written to the SQL output window using Console.WriteLine().

Installing the add-in

To install the add-in:

1. Click on the Tools->External Tools menu item
2. Add a new tool using the Add button
3. Give it a title such as 'Run Project Scripts'
4. From the 'Command' edit box, browse to the RunScriptsInProject.exe file and select it
5. In the 'Arguments' edit box, select $(ProjectFileName)
6. In the 'Initial Directory' edit box, select $(ProjectDir)
7. Check the 'Use Output Window' checkbox

For more information, look at this article where I got most of the idea from. It will also tell you how to add a toolbar button for your external tool.

Conclusion

This is a simple but useful add-in extension for SSMS that might make life a little easier for you. The source code can be modified to create your own add-ins for the IDE to maybe overcome some limitation. Any comments or suggestions are more than welcome.