This post outlines a list of feedback items for SSMS 21 that I believe should be addressed before SSMS 21 goes GA.
Note:
- the heading are links that will take you to the respective SSMS feedback items.
- this list does not contain bugs, only feedback items that would be considered enhancements/features.
If you see anything that you agree with, don’t hesitate to upvote it.
In no specific order:
Format T-SQL code directly in SSMS like VSCode does
At the moment, you either need additional 3rd party plugins (that generally require a license) or you need to paste your code in other editors that are able to format it.
Quick export query results in various formats
This is one thing that’s already available in other database management tools I’ve worked with (Oracle SQL Developer, Toad, the mssql extension for VSCode) even meme products such as DBeaver can do that.
Improve SSMS default settings
This feedback item has a bunch of SSMS defaults that people, myself included, tend to change as soon as they install SSMS.
Why are line numbers even off by default?
Zoom the results area independently
You can zoom in on the query editor and messages with Ctrl+scroll up, but there’s no quick way to zoom in on the results grid.
Currently, you can increase the font size for grid results, but that requires a restart of SSMS to take effect.
Fold-able regions
This would make SSMS behave similar to VSCode and ADS by allowing you to create fold-able regions via specific comments.
Search for database objects in “Generate scripts” wizard
On average, I use the “Generate scripts” wizard 3-4 times per year, but I’d almost always want a search option to be available.
Do not change focus/contents of Properties window on left click
Ok, this one’s mine. But this behavior has irked me from day one of looking through execution plans.
I won’t go through describing the scenario here, but the fact that the Properties window changes contents on a simple left click is a nuisance when doing performance tuning that involves jumping from the execution plan to the query text and back again.
Sean Bloch’s suggestion of pinning or popping up the contents of the properties would also work great as part of this feature.
Column expansion for ‘*’ when writing queries
This one’s self-explanatory, but just keep in mind that if it doesn’t get implemented you can still get something similar via drag and drop of the Columns folder from OE.
For similar tricks check out my SSMS tips & tricks post.
Wait, no debugger?
SQL Server already has two great debugging tools, and you can read more about them here and here.
There’s no need to bring back the old debugger that required sysadmin role membership to run and froze the entire instance when stepping through the code.
Conclusion
Don’t forget to upvote any feedback item for SSMS 21 that you think is worth it (regardless if it’s on this list or not).
Also feel free to leave comments with your own suggestions.
12 comments
Quick filter for objects in Object Explorer (I know it’s not going to happen even in SSMS 50.0).
More tools for index/statistics observability and maintenance (I know it’s not going to happen even in SSMS 50.0).
GUI tools for Broker (I know it’s not going to happen even in SSMS 50.0).
GUI tools resembling proper comprehensive activity observation like sp_WhoIsActive.
I’m tired of Microsoft, fortunately I do most of new projects in other databases.
I want it work on a Snapdragon X 12 processor. I purchased a new laptop from Microsoft, and then found out it won’t work with SQL Server!
I’ve been seeing more and more comments lately on this topic. Unfortunately, I don’t see MS focusing on ARM compatibility until more of their customers start pushing for it.
Later edit: there is a feedback item for this, so you can upvote it if you want.
I would love a text filter in Schema Compare. Just a textbox at the top you can filter the schema/object name to reduce the objects.
Sometimes you only care about a few things in the comparison.
Yeah, that would be really helpful.
You can do what in SSMS? Drag the column folder to the query window… Crying here. I’ve been living in SSMS for the past 20 years and I never knew that. Tell me that hasn’t been there since SSMS 2005…
Not sure about SSMS 2005, but I’ve been using this trick for the past ~10 years.
Change autocomplete to choose the shortest answer by default, especially if it the column or alias is in the query you are writing!
Dark mode.
Dark mode is already available in the Preview build, although there still are some minor bugs to iron out.
How about the ability to resort the result set or to re-arrange columns like you can in VSCode?
Yeah, sorting the result by column headers would be neat. You can already re-arrange the columns in the result set (in SSMS 18, 19, 20 and 21 Preview) by dragging the columns around.
I wrote about this and other tips here