Can SSMS be made to display a column wider?

Question

Can SSMS be made to display a column wider?

Tobar

SSCarpal Tunnel

Points: 4876
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July 18, 2013 at 7:30 am

#275426

When I select a column that has several 100 characters in it I need to "grab" the edge and drag it over so I can see all the string. Is there a way to make SSMS display all of the string, or at least more of it?
It would be nice is SSMS would/could redisplay data with whatever formatting it is currently on the screen instead of having to "grab the edge and draaaaag it over ..." 😀
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Tobar SSCarpal Tunnel Points: 4876 More actions · Answer 1

The functionality I would like is to be able to "right click" in the display panel and say "Lock display". When the session is closed, not just the display panel being hidden, the "lock" would clear. Anybody know how to communicate this $1M idea to MS?

<><
Livin' down on the cube farm. Left, left, then a right.

Sean Lange SSC Guru Points: 286573 More actions · Answer 2

There is probably an add-on somewhere that you can find for this...if not...you could write your own and reap the $1M rewards for yourself instead of MS. 😀

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Erland Sommarskog SSC-Insane Points: 24038 More actions · Answer 3

SSMS will size the columns of the width for the data that is displayed on the first page in the grid. To expand the size for the rows you are currently looking at, you can double-click on the split between the column and the next column in the column headers, just like you do in Excel.

[font="Times New Roman"]Erland Sommarskog, SQL Server MVP, www.sommarskog.se[/font]

Tobar SSCarpal Tunnel Points: 4876 More actions · Answer 4

Sean Lange (7/18/2013)
There is probably an add-on somewhere that you can find for this...if not...you could write your own and reap the $1M rewards for yourself instead of MS. 😀

I don't think I have ever seen any add-ons for SSMS, but maybe I was just not looking. Thanks for the insight, though obvious, obviously not to me. 😉

<><
Livin' down on the cube farm. Left, left, then a right.

Erland Sommarskog SSC-Insane Points: 24038 More actions · Answer 5

Tobar (7/19/2013)

I don't think I have ever seen any add-ons for SSMS, but maybe I was just not looking.

A lot of people I know swears by http://www.ssmstoolspack.com/[/url] by SQL Server MVP Mladen Prajdic. Whether it is actually has the feature you ask for, I don't know, but there is a lot in it.

[font="Times New Roman"]Erland Sommarskog, SQL Server MVP, www.sommarskog.se[/font]

mister.magoo SSC-Forever Points: 47068 More actions · Answer 6

Tobar (7/18/2013)
The functionality I would like is to be able to "right click" in the display panel and say "Lock display". When the session is closed, not just the display panel being hidden, the "lock" would clear. Anybody know how to communicate this $1M idea to MS?

The problem with this is that the results grid can change from one run to the next, so every time you run a query, you get a new grid and while you could theoretically save and restore the column widths between executions, it would be difficult and unreliable without some way to uniquely identify a result set.

You can get the grid to autosize a column (in an addin), ~~but it will only take visible cells into consideration so I think your dream may be a long way off yet...~~

Edit: It turns out there is another private method that will resize taking all rows into account. That $1M may not be far away 😀

MM

select geometry::STGeomFromWKB(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

mister.magoo SSC-Forever Points: 47068 More actions · Answer 7

Hi Tobar,

If you would like to try out an addin for 2012, send me a PM with your email address.

MM

select geometry::STGeomFromWKB(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