Automatically generate scripts for mouse clicks in SSMS? - sql-server

Question

We can create (update, populate) tables etc by either SQL commands or by simply clicking the options/command with a mouse/keyboard in SQL Server Management Studio (Express) 2008.
Is there a way I can record all the commands that occur when I do it with a mouse?
Are there macro recording features within SSMS?
Are there 3rd party addones to support macro recording in SSMS?

Answer 1

No, there is nothing built into SSMS to record keystrokes / mouse clicks. There are plenty of 3rd party programs available, though.
What you should do is write the commands you want to run using T-SQL or DDL. Those are very easy to save to a file, store in source control, review, run again later, etc.
In newer versions of SSMS, almost all tasks you perform through dialogs has the ability to script out the change you are about to perform (or just generate a script instead of clicking OK):
EDIT for the use case you presented in a comment, where you create a table, add constraints, add some dummy data. Here is what you can do to generate a script that you can use later:
Open Object Explorer
Right-click your database and choose Tasks > Generate Scripts
Click Next, Click Next
On the "Choose Script Options" page, scroll down and set "Script Data" to True
Click Next
Check Tables and click Next
Check the table you want and click next
Choose whether to script to a file, to the clipboard, or a new query editor window.
You'll end up with something like this:
USE [your_database]
GO
/**** set options, object name, script date, etc ****/
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[foo](
bar INT,
blat INT,
CONSTRAINT PK_foo PRIMARY KEY CLUSTERED(bar ASC)
) -- with/on etc.
GO
INSERT [dbo].[foo]([bar],[blat]) VALUES(1,2);
INSERT [dbo].[foo]([bar],[blat]) VALUES(3,4);
GO
ALTER TABLE [dbo].[foo] WITH NOCHECK ADD CONSTRAINT [chk_blat]
CHECK ((blat > bar))
GO
ALTER TABLE [dbo].[foo] CHECK CONSTRAINT [chk_blat]
GO
I know this is more steps than you want, but Management Studio's job is not to save every single command you execute and store it somewhere so you can retrieve it later.

Answer 2

Here are two options that might help.
The SSMS Tools Pack has a query history:
http://www.ssmstoolspack.com/Images/Features/QEH1.png
I think this will work as you expect because your interaction with the GUI will translate into T-SQL commands, which should be recorded by this tool.
You can download this here:
http://www.ssmstoolspack.com/Features
If you start getting familiar with the actual commands you can use SQL Tab Magic, which auto-saves your SSMS query windows for future retrieval:
http://www.red-gate.com/products/sql-development/sql-prompt/entrypage/sqltabmagic