SSMSBoost Add-in for SQL Server Management Studio
Microsoft SQL Server comes with a powerful, stable and predictable working environment - SSMS. So why invent new editors and environments?
SSMSBoost enhances SQL Server Management Studio and adds features like export to Excel, search in results, session history, destructive DML guard, and more. The main goal of the project is to speed up your everyday tasks as a DBA, SQL developer or data miner , while additionally protecting you from occasional data or code loss.
Shortly after installation, you will see the plugin recording hundreds of mouse clicks and keystrokes every day!
Supported SQL Server Management Studio versions: 2008, 2008 / R2, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2017
SSMSBoost was launched publicly in 2012 and has since been adopted by over 40,000 registered users from over 15,000 companies worldwide. Just to name some of them:
Features added by SSMSBoost to SQL Server Management Studio
Preferred connections: "remember" favorite servers/databases
If you deal with several servers every day - this feature is for you.
Preferred connections allow you to remember your favorite servers/databases and pre-configure several options. Connections can be managed via SSMSBoost Settings->Preferred connections
You can define the following options:
- Connection alias: Sometimes server names are too long and hard to remember, e.g. "Customerserver823127.hosteddomainsample.com". In this case you can define a display name , e.g.
Customerserver823127.hosteddomainsample.com->DEVELOPMENT
customerserver823555.hosteddomainsample.com->PRODUCTION
- Additional connection parameters
can be defined and will be remembered forever. (This is a known issue with SSMS, connection parameters are not remembered)
- specify whether SSMSBoost should connect the object explorer on startup
- Define whether SSMSBoost should open an empty script window on startup
- Custom status bar color. This will help you quickly distinguish between development (= green) and production (= red) bases. If you define a color for a preferred connection where no database is specified, this color will be applied whenever a database from that server is active.
- SSMSBoost tracks connection changes and re-selects the correct color with each change.
"Important DB Notice" helps protect production environments: when you change the connection to a database that has this option enabled, a Tooltip warning will appear (text, color and position can be customized). You can use the following replacement patterns: {@Server}, {@Database}, {@User}, r, n, t.
Note that the tooltip location can be defined on the "Important DB Alerts" page in SSMSBoost Settings. Below you can see what the alert looks like:
- This feature can protect you from occasional data modifications in live environments and can actually save you time or even work! :)
- You can quickly add a database displayed in the Object Explorer to your preferred connections by right-clicking its node and selecting "Add to Preferred Connections"
Once you have defined your list of preferred connections, they will appear in the Quick Switch drop-down menu on the toolbar, allowing you to instantly switch between connections. Please note that in Free Community Edition the number of preferred connections is limited to 2.
Quick connect switch
The Quick Connect drop-down list Switch on the toolbar combines 3 useful features that were missing in SSMS:
- Allows you to switch between your preferred connections
- Tracks recent calls
- Shows all local databases or AVAILABLE
If SSMS starts with an empty environment, you can select any connection from the Quick Connection drop-down list to create a blank document with the appropriate connection.
You will find the settings to fine-tune the quick connection dropdown list in the SSMSBoost Settings->Preferred Connections section
Coloring the connection
The Native Sql Server Management Studio dialog allows you to select the color of the status bar when initiating a new database connection, however this color remains constant even after the connection changes. SSMSBoost solves this problem: when adding a preferred connection, you can specify the appropriate color for SERVER or SERVER/DATABASE. SSMSBoost then tracks connection changes and applies the most appropriate matching color to the status bar. The most common use might be a "red" status bar for the live system and "green" for the test database.
and many others.
X