Mastering SQL Snippets

In database development, SQL snippets can speed up the coding process by allowing developers to quickly insert commonly used SQL code segments, saving time and reducing the need for repetitive typing. Snippets can also help developers focus on the logic of their queries rather than syntax details, improving overall coding efficiency.

In the article, we'll explore how to create and manage SQL snippets using popular SQL tools, such as dbForge SQL Complete and SQL Server Management Studio.

Understanding SQL snippets

A SQL snippet is a reusable piece of SQL code, such as a query, statement, function, or procedure, that developers can use to perform repetitive tasks or operations in a database. Snippets introduce code templates with the predefined structure of a Transact-SQL statement or block, which can be customized and used by anyone who has corresponding permissions and rights.

Snippets improve code readability, increase developer productivity, and help accomplish database-related tasks faster by reducing the time and effort required to write SQL code.

Creating and managing SQL snippets

Let us now examine how to create and edit snippets using SQL code.

How to create SQL snippets

Suppose we often use the SELECT query with a filtering condition in our daily operations and want to save this piece of code as a snippet for future use. To do this, open the text editor and enter the code:

SELECT ${column_names}
FROM ${table_name}
WHERE ${condition};

where the following are placeholders you'll need to replace:

• ${column_names} are columns you want to retrieve.
• ${table_name} is a table to select columns from.
• ${condition} is a filtering condition you set in the WHERE condition.

After that, save the code as a template file to the corresponding folder, for example, on the drive D:\SQL_snippets\.

Managing SQL snippets

Now, use the created snippet - open the file in your SQL development environment and replace the placeholders with the actual values for your specific use case. For example:

Sometimes, you may need to modify the existing snippet instead of creating a new one. To proceed, navigate to the folder that stores the file with the snippet you want to update and open it in the text editor or any SQL development environment. Then, make the changes to the SQL snippet and save the updated file. Note that updating the snippet will impact all queries that use this snippet.

Let us now explore how the snippet feature works in common SQL database development tools.

Using SQL snippets in popular SQL tools

In SQL, there are a lot of tools and text editors that support snippet creation and management, including dbForge SQL Complete, dbForge Studio for SQL Server, SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS), Visual Studio, and Visual Studio Code. Here, we provide examples of how to create and use snippets with SSMS and dbForge SQL Complete.

SQL snippets in SSMS

SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) comes with a set of predefined snippets, which you can access in the Code Snippets Manager. All the snippets are grouped in the folders. When you select a snippet, you can view its description, location, and the assigned shortcut. Here, you can also add a folder with snippets by clicking Add or remove them by clicking Remove.

In the Code Snippets Manager, you can add a custom snippet to the list. First, open the editor, write the snippet in the XML format, and save it with a .snippet extension. Note that the file must also follow the Code Snippets Schema requirements.

Before using the snippet in SQL Server Management Studio, you need to register it. To do this, click Import to import the snippet in the Code Snippets Manager. In the Code Snippets Directory that appears, select the file and click Open. The snippet will be added to the My Code Snippets folder, where custom user snippets are stored. To save the changes, click OK.

Let us go through the process of creating and using a snippet in SSMS. We have created a CreateTables.snippet snippet file that will create two tables - Departments and Employees - and populate the Departments table with sample data. To begin, add the snippet to SSMS and save the changes.

Now, insert the snippet in the query document using one of the following ways:

• On the ribbon, select Edit > IntelliSense > Insert Snippet or press Ctrl+K, Ctrl+X.
• Right-click the query document and select Insert Snippet.

This will open the code snippet window, where you can select the required snippet and press Tab or Enter.

After that, the snippet will be added to the query document, and you can edit it according to your needs.

If you need to enclose SQL statements in a BEGIN, IF, or WHILE block, you can use a surround-with snippet that can be inserted as follows:

• In the query document, select the code you want to wrap in the block.
• On the ribbon, select Edit > IntelliSense > Surround With or press CTRL+K, CTRL+S. Alternatively, right-click the selected block of code and then select Surround With.
• In the code snippet window that opens, select BEGIN, IF, or WHILE and press TAB or ENTER.

SQL snippets in dbForge SQL Complete

Let us now examine how easy it is to create and edit snippets using dbForge SQL Complete, a powerful add-in for SQL Server Management Studio and Visual Studio that provides a range of features to improve productivity, code quality, and efficiency in SQL coding daily tasks.

This tool includes predefined snippet templates that can be inserted into SQL scripts and queries. dbForge SQL Complete stores these snippets as XML files with the .snippet extension, which you can view in the Snippets Manager. To open it, on the ribbon, select SQL Complete > Snippets Manager.

In the left-side tree of the Snippets Manager, you can view all predefined snippets grouped into the Snippets folder. Selecting the snippet will show the title, shortcut, description, code fragment, and literals (placeholders).

You can perform the following operations in the Snippets Manager, including:

• Create custom SQL snippets
• Modify the predefined snippets
• Organize snippets in categories
• Delete the snippet or custom folder. Note that the default Snippets folder cannot be removed
• Sort snippets by shortcut or title (default option), in ascending or descending order
• Add, update, or delete user literals of the snippet

Let us now see how to add a column to the table using the AddColumn snippet in the query. When we look at this snippet in the Snippets Manager, the shortcut that can be used to insert it is AddColumn.

On the toolbar, click New Query to open a SQL query document and start typing the addcolumn shortcut. The tool will display the suggestion box with the snippets - select the required one and press Enter to place it in the code. Alternatively, press Ctrl+Space and scroll down the suggestion list until you see the snippets listed after keywords.

Next, replace the placeholders with the table name you want to alter and the column name you want to add and execute the query. With just a few steps, you've added the column without any errors.

In addition, dbForge SQL Complete allows you to share snippets with other users of the tool using the shared folder. For this, open the Snippets Manager and in the Location field, specify the path to the shared folder. For more information, see How to share SQL snippets.

You can also find a lot of useful guides about how to create, use, and manage snippets in the SQL Complete documentation.

Advanced features of SQL snippets

We have already discussed that dbForge SQL Complete includes ultimate support for SQL snippets, which increases productivity and ensures code consistency across teams. Let us now examine how the integration of the snippets feature with other functionalities of dbForge SQL Complete can enhance user experience.

In addition to the ability to create, modify and manage snippets, the tool supports dynamic elements within snippets, such as placeholders and parameters, which can be replaced with actual values when the snippet is inserted.

An example of the snippet with placeholders may be:

SELECT $ColumnName$ 
FROM $TableName$ 
WHERE $ColumnName$ = $Value$;

For better collaboration between teams, it is also possible to export and import snippets as XML files. Simply save a snippet to an XML file for later sharing or storing it in a version control system, or loading snippets from an XML file into your database development environment.

Snippets can easily integrate with the intelligent code completion feature of dbForge SQL Complete. As you type, context-sensitive snippets appear in the suggestion box, so you can select the required snippet and press Enter to insert it into your code. In addition, the tool automatically formats the code according to predefined style rules.

dbForge SQL Complete allows for shared snippet repositories and version control integration. This ensures that all team members can access the latest snippets and can contribute to the snippet library. As mentioned above, you can store snippets in a shared location accessible to all team members or use Git or other version control systems to manage snippet versions and track changes.

Conclusion

In summary, SQL snippets are a handy feature regardless of whether you are a newbie or a proficient developer. This feature helps you save your time, improve your productivity, and write errorless code. You can easily create your custom snippets or use predefined snippet templates, group, modify or remove snippets. In the integration with other ultimate dbForge SQL Complete features, the tool helps you accelerate SQL code writing, ensure consistent error handling patterns across your scripts, adhere inserted code to your team's coding standards, as well as facilitate sharing and collaboration among team members.