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SQL Server Management Studio Object Explorer Search Add-In

I always didn’t like Object Explorer in SQL Server Management Studio, primarily because it doesn’t have easy filtering for objects. It has a built-in filter, but it takes too many clicks to use it. This filter only lets you search across one database, and only for one kind of thing at a time (table, stored procedure, view etc). I was looking for similar functionality to Toad for SQL Server.

Even SQL Server Management Studio 2008 doesn’t have it. Finally, I found

The Black Art of Writing a SQL Server Management Studio 2005 Add-In article. Joseph Cooney wrote addin that does exactly what I want. Here the screenshot from his site.

Db Object QuickFind Screenshot

His addin has a few bugs, but it is still very useful.

One of the most significant bugs is that before first use you need to press New Query, otherwise Add-in won’t be able to initialize and you face:

“When ran search windows appears, but can not type anything. After that can not focus on search text box”.

However, I didn’t close my SQL Server Management Studio for weeks, so this is not a problem for me.

He also didn’t provide a version for SQL Server Management Studio Express and SQL Server Management Studio 2008.

So, I took his code, tweak it a little bit and here it is:

I recently found out that Stefan from iucon GmbH created codeplex project based on Joseph Cooney addin. He created two versions of it for SSMS 2005 and 2008. Also, he added some new features to the addin, such as search in selection. The project can be found at SSMS 2008 Addin - QuickFind CodePlex project

Posted on September 26, 2008 by

Comments

Posted on 11/23/2008 10:04:47 AM by Charles Rex

Hello,

Your code works great

I’ve tested the 2005 editions (express, developer edition and workgroup edition) and I’m impressed!

I look forward to see other searching options, like:

  • search only some databases, not all

  • search only some database objects, not all.

See this free tool for some great ideas:

http://www.xsqlsoftware.com/Product/Sql_Database_Object_Search.aspx

Posted on 1/29/2009 11:15:48 PM by Charles Rex

Hello,

This is such an interesting subject!

I wish an official documentation and support from Microsoft would exist.

I would be interested to manipulate:

  • the grid showing the table’s rows

  • the content of the ‘Show SQL pane’ window

  1. From the left, I select a table in Object Explorer

  2. I right-click its name and choose the ‘Open table’ menu option

  3. I see the table’s rows displayed in the grid (on the right side of the screen)

The question are :

  • How can the grid object showing the table’s rows be manipulated, I mean how to access its structure and its rows ?

  • How can I access the content of the ‘Show SQL Pane’ window ? I mean that window from the right side of the screen which is ‘behind’ the grid, which is displaying

SELECT  * FROM  tableName

Thank you.

Posted on 3/11/2010 07:00:39 AM by Mark

Hi,

Any idea why this line would fail:

_DTE2 = CType(application, DTE2)

With the error:

Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio

Error Message: No such interface supported

Error Number: 800004002

This is targeting SSMS 2008.

Thanks

Check your referece bindings. Make sure that it doesnt have broken.

Posted on 10/9/2010 04:53:25 PM by Graham

_DTE2 = CType(application, DTE2)

needs to be

public void OnConnection(object application, ext_ConnectMode connectMode, object addInInst, ref Array custom)
{

        _addInInstance = (AddIn)addInInst;

        _applicationObject = _addInInstance.DTE as DTE2;

        ...
}

Posted on 1/19/2011 05:38:55 AM by Bendo

Great tool! However i am using sql 2008 R2 and during loading the addin when starting sql, i get error message that this interface is not supported.

Any ideas?

Thanks

Bendo

Sorry, I don’t know what causing it.

Posted on 11/8/2011 08:32:42 PM by Devarajan

satisfied….

Posted on 6/12/2018 01:55:01 AM by Tony

Thank for the information, very interesting!

I’d like to share my humble opinion and add one more great tool to this list. It’s

dbForge Developer Bundle for SQL Server and it’s really must-have for me in my daily development routine. This set of tools gives me full control over database development and management and allows me to version-control databases, compare schemas and data, optimize database performance, write SQL queries on-the-fly and generate meaningful test data. Recommend it!

https://www.devart.com/dbforge/sql/developer-bundle/

Posted on 10/14/2018 05:06:52 AM by Nancy Wilson

The SQL Server is not installing in my system. What should I do to resolve this issue? I install Avast antivirus and also try on https://avastsupportnumber.co.uk/avast-customer-support/ for the help purpose but did not get any response.

Posted on 10/14/2018 09:40:55 PM by Nancy Wilson

SQL Server is one of the best database management system. But I am getting the issue to install SQL Server. What should I do to resolve this issue? I install Avast antivirus and also try on https://avastsupportnumber.co.uk/avast-customer-support/ for the help purpose but did not get any response.