Use Visual Studio Code to create and run Transact-SQL scripts

10/28/2019

6 minutes to read





In this article

Applies to: SQL Server (all supported versions) - Linux

This article shows how to use the mssql extension for Visual Studio Code to develop SQL Server databases. Because Visual Studio Code is cross-platform, you can use mssql extension on Linux, macOS, and Windows.

Install and start Visual Studio Code

Visual Studio Code is a cross-platform, graphical code editor that supports extensions.

Download and install Visual Studio Code on your machine. Start Visual Studio Code. Note If Visual Studio Code does not start when you are connected through an xrdp remote desktop session, see VS Code not working on Ubuntu when connected using XRDP.

Install the mssql extension

The mssql extension for Visual Studio Code lets you connect to a SQL Server, query with Transact-SQL (T-SQL), and view the results.

In Visual Studio Code, select View > Command Palette, or press Ctrl+Shift+P, or press F1 to open the Command Palette. In the Command Palette, select Extensions: Install Extensions from the dropdown. In the Extensions pane, type mssql. Select the SQL Server (mssql) extension, and then select Install. After the installation completes, select Reload to enable the extension.

Create or open a SQL file

The mssql extension enables mssql commands and T-SQL IntelliSense in the code editor when the language mode is set to SQL.

Select File > New File or press Ctrl+N. Visual Studio Code opens a new Plain Text file by default. Select Plain Text on the lower status bar, or press Ctrl+K > M, and select SQL from the languages dropdown. Note If this is the first time you have used the extension, the extension installs supporting SQL Server tools.

If you open an existing file that has a .sql file extension, the language mode is automatically set to SQL.

Connect to SQL Server

Follow these steps to create a connection profile and connect to a SQL Server.

Press Ctrl+Shift+P or F1 to open the Command Palette. Type sql to display the mssql commands, or type sqlcon, and then select MS SQL: Connect from the dropdown. Note A SQL file, such as the empty SQL file you created, must have focus in the code editor before you can execute the mssql commands. Select the MS SQL: Manage Connection Profiles command. Then select Create to create a new connection profile for your SQL Server. Follow the prompts to specify the properties for the new connection profile. After specifying each value, press Enter to continue. Connection property Description Server name or ADO connection string Specify the SQL Server instance name. Use localhost to connect to a SQL Server instance on your local machine. To connect to a remote SQL Server, enter the name of the target SQL Server, or its IP address. To connect to a SQL Server container, specify the IP address of the container's host machine. If you need to specify a port, use a comma to separate it from the name. For example, for a server listening on port 1401, enter <servername or IP>,1401 .



As an alternative, you can enter the ADO connection string for your database here. Database name (optional) The database that you want to use. To connect to the default database, don't specify a database name here. Authentication Type Choose either Integrated or SQL Login. User name If you selected SQL Login, enter the name of a user with access to a database on the server. Password Enter the password for the specified user. Save Password Press Enter to select Yes and save the password. Select No to be prompted for the password each time the connection profile is used. Profile Name (optional) Type a name for the connection profile, such as localhost profile. After you enter all values and select Enter, Visual Studio Code creates the connection profile and connects to the SQL Server. Tip If the connection fails, try to diagnose the problem from the error message in the Output panel in Visual Studio Code. To open the Output panel, select View > Output. Also review the connection troubleshooting recommendations. Verify your connection in the lower status bar.

As an alternative to the previous steps, you can also create and edit connection profiles in the User Settings file (settings.json). To open the settings file, select File > Preferences > Settings. For more information, see Manage connection profiles.

Create a SQL database

In the new SQL file that you started earlier, type sql to display a list of editable code snippets. Select sqlCreateDatabase. In the snippet, type TutorialDB to replace 'DatabaseName': -- Create a new database called 'TutorialDB' -- Connect to the 'master' database to run this snippet USE master GO IF NOT EXISTS ( SELECT name FROM sys.databases WHERE name = N'TutorialDB' ) CREATE DATABASE [TutorialDB] GO Press Ctrl+Shift+E to execute the Transact-SQL commands. View the results in the query window. Tip You can customize the shortcut keys for the mssql commands. See Customize shortcuts.

Create a table

Delete the contents of the code editor window. Press Ctrl+Shift+P or F1 to open the Command Palette. Type sql to display the mssql commands, or type sqluse, and then select the MS SQL: Use Database command. Select the new TutorialDB database. In the code editor, type sql to display the snippets, select sqlCreateTable, and then press Enter. In the snippet, type Employees for the table name. Press Tab to get to the next field, and then type dbo for the schema name. Replace the column definitions with the following columns: EmployeesId INT NOT NULL PRIMARY KEY, Name [NVARCHAR](50) NOT NULL, Location [NVARCHAR](50) NOT NULL Press Ctrl+Shift+E to create the table.

Insert and query

Add the following statements to insert four rows into the Employees table. -- Insert rows into table 'Employees' INSERT INTO Employees ([EmployeesId],[Name],[Location]) VALUES ( 1, N'Jared', N'Australia'), ( 2, N'Nikita', N'India'), ( 3, N'Tom', N'Germany'), ( 4, N'Jake', N'United States') GO -- Query the total count of employees SELECT COUNT(*) as EmployeeCount FROM dbo.Employees; -- Query all employee information SELECT e.EmployeesId, e.Name, e.Location FROM dbo.Employees as e GO While you type, T-SQL IntelliSense helps you to complete the statements: Tip The mssql extension also has commands to help create INSERT and SELECT statements. These were not used in the previous example. Press Ctrl+Shift+E to execute the commands. The two result sets display in the Results window.

View and save the result

Select View > Editor Layout > Flip Layout to switch to a vertical or horizontal split layout. Select the Results and Messages panel headers to collapse and expand the panels. Tip You can customize the default behavior of the mssql extension. See Customize extension options. Select the maximize grid icon on the second result grid to zoom in to those results. Note The maximize icon displays when your T-SQL script produces two or more result grids. Open the grid context menu by right-clicking on the grid. Select Select All. Open the grid context menu again and select Save as JSON to save the result to a .json file. Specify a file name for the JSON file. Verify that the JSON file saves and opens in Visual Studio Code.

If you need to save and run SQL scripts later, for administration or a larger development project, save the scripts with a .sql extension.

Next steps

If you're new to T-SQL, see Tutorial: Write Transact-SQL statements and the Transact-SQL Reference (Database Engine).

For more information on using or contributing to the mssql extension, see the mssql extension project wiki.

For more information on using Visual Studio Code, see the Visual Studio Code documentation.