I enjoy themes, and when I ran across the SQL Prompt Treasure Island, I had to take a few minutes and go through it. I’ve written about a few of the other items on the map:
Tabs, Tabs, Tabs
If you’re like me, you have a lot of tabs open in SSMS all the time. In fact, sometimes I think I have far too many open at one time. Likely that’s a sign of some distraction and too little focus, but it’s a habit that goes back through decades of SQL work for me.
I used to love isql/w, as a very stable editor for my work. When Enterprise Manager came, I still often used isqlw. SSMS came along, I wasn’t thrilled at all, as it was a big, heavyweight tool. I’ve grown to like it and I feel comfortable, but I still have crashes at times.
That’s where tab management comes in. SQL Prompt reopens my tabs, which I greatly appreciate, especially as I don’t always remember to save some random code I’m testing. Usually lots of development stuff is in a database, but having the tabs open automatically is a life saver.
I don’t often use the Tab History item, but it is handy. I ought to use it more, because it is a good way to look back through work I’ve been doing and sometimes find a piece of code that I’m searching for.
The coloring is great, especially as I work on a lot of different databases. Many times the color fades into the background, so it doesn’t necessarily help me with not working on the right instance/database, but when I wonder if I’m on a dev or test system, coloring is really helpful. Plus it looks great in demos and keeps the audience focused.
SQL Prompt has lots of great features, many of which I’ve written about. After formatting and intellisense, this is the thing that I use most often.
Give SQL Prompt a try. You’ll love the way it helps you write code.
