Searching for records in Microsoft SQL Server - sql-server

Question

Is it possible to search for records in Microsoft SQL Server manager?
I mean something like in VS pressing Ctrl-F and searching by word?

Answer 1

There is no way in searching for objects in SQL Server management studio. There are views and tables that can be used to search for objects like:
SELECT * FROM sys.tables WHERE name LIKE '%...%'
To search for tables.
If you mean, searching for data within a table, I need to learn T-SQL.

Answer 2

There are non-free 3rd party tools (ex. Redgate's SQL Search), but I use the proc below. You have to create the proc in every [master] database so it's available server-wide, but you can pass in a search term and an optional database name (otherwise it searches through object definitions in all databases):
USE [master]
GO
/****** Object: StoredProcedure [dbo].[sp_FindTextOnServer] Script Date: 10/6/2017 3:39:19 PM ******/
SET ANSI_NULLS ON
GO
SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER ON
GO
/*-----------------------------------------------------------
This procedure will search all or a specified database objects
for the supplied text and return a table with the values
Examples:
EXEC sp_FindTextOnServer 'Billing', 'fcsCore'
EXEC sp_FindTextOnServer 'vJurisdiction'
-----------------------------------------------------------*/
ALTER PROCEDURE [dbo].[sp_FindTextOnServer]
#text VARCHAR(40),
#searchDB VARCHAR(100) = NULL
AS
DECLARE #DisplayText VARCHAR(100),
#sSql VARCHAR(1000),
#line VARCHAR(300),
#char CHAR,
#lineNo INTEGER,
#counter INTEGER,
#AddedRecord BIT,
#dbObjectType VARCHAR(100),
#dbObject VARCHAR(100),
#ObjectBody VARCHAR(7000),
#dbName VARCHAR(100)
SET #DisplayText = #Text
SET #text = '%' + #text + '%'
SET #AddedRecord = 0
CREATE TABLE #SearchResults
(
DBName VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
ObjectType VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
ObjectName VARCHAR(100) NOT NULL,
Line INT NOT NULL,
Reference VARCHAR(7000) NOT NULL
)
CREATE TABLE #tempSysComments
(
DBName VARCHAR(100),
DBObjectType VARCHAR(100),
DBObject VARCHAR(100),
TextString text
)
--Populate a table with the search results from all databases on the server that include the searched text
SET #sSql = 'USE [?]
SELECT
''?'' AS DBName,
LOWER(REPLACE(o.type_desc, ''_'', '' '')) + '' ('' + RTRIM(type) + '')'' AS DBObjectType,
OBJECT_NAME(sm.object_id) AS DBObject,
CAST(sm.definition AS VARCHAR(7000)) AS TextString
FROM sys.sql_modules AS sm
JOIN sys.objects AS o
ON sm.object_id = o.object_id
WHERE CAST(sm.definition AS VARCHAR(7000)) LIKE ''' + #text + '''
ORDER BY o.type_desc, OBJECT_NAME(sm.object_id)'
IF (#searchDB IS NULL)
BEGIN
INSERT INTO #tempSysComments
EXEC sp_MSFOREachDB #sSql
END
ELSE
BEGIN
SET #sSql = REPLACE(#sSql, '?', #searchDB)
INSERT INTO #tempSysComments
EXEC (#sSql)
END
DECLARE codeCursor CURSOR
FOR
SELECT DBName, DBObjectType, DBObject, TextString
FROM #tempSysComments
WHERE DBName IS NOT NULL
OPEN codeCursor
FETCH NEXT FROM codeCursor INTO #dbName, #dbObjectType, #dbObject, #ObjectBody
IF ##FETCH_STATUS <> 0
BEGIN
PRINT 'Text ''' + #DisplayText + ''' was not found in objects on server ' + ##SERVERNAME
-- Close and release code cursor.
CLOSE codeCursor
DEALLOCATE codeCursor
RETURN
END
-- Search each object within code cursor.
WHILE ##FETCH_STATUS = 0
BEGIN
SET #lineNo = 0
SET #counter = 1
-- Process each line.
WHILE (#counter <> Len(#ObjectBody))
BEGIN
SET #char = SUBSTRING(#ObjectBody, #counter,1)
-- Check for line breaks.
IF (#char = CHAR(13))
BEGIN
SET #lineNo = #lineNo + 1
-- Check if we found the specified text.
IF (PATINDEX(#text, #line) <> 0)
BEGIN
SET #AddedRecord = 1
INSERT #SearchResults
SELECT #dbName, #dbObjectType, #dbObject, #lineNo, LEFT(RTRIM(LTRIM(#line)), 7000)
END
SET #line = ''
END
SET #line = #line + #char
SET #counter = #counter + 1
END
IF (#AddedRecord = 0)
INSERT #SearchResults
SELECT #dbName, #dbObjectType, #dbObject, 0, SUBSTRING(#ObjectBody, 1, 7000)
SET #AddedRecord = 0
FETCH NEXT FROM codeCursor INTO #dbName, #dbObjectType, #dbObject, #ObjectBody
END
-- Close and release cursor.
CLOSE codeCursor
DEALLOCATE codeCursor
-- Return the info.
SELECT DISTINCT DBName, ObjectType, ObjectName, Line, RTRIM(LTRIM(REPLACE(REPLACE(Reference, CHAR(9), ' '), CHAR(13)+CHAR(10), ' '))) AS Reference
FROM #SearchResults
ORDER BY DBName, ObjectType, ObjectName, Line
-- Cleanup.
DROP TABLE #SearchResults
DROP TABLE #tempSysComments
RETURN