Bugs in TSS 7.4.0

Hi guys,

After almost 2 years of no updates, finally 7.4.0 was released. I've been using 7.2.0 for a while careful not to hit some pain points, such as the editor slowing considerably down when editing some case statements. I was very happy to see version 7.4.0 is out. For a short time :frowning:

After some light use:

  • The code formatting doesn't work. Before, in 7.2.0, I used to highlight a sql statement, hit Editor -> Format Code, and the code was happily formatted. Not anymore, it doesn't work. The sql code is valid, i.e. it executes. Side note: there is a UI bug in the formatter options dialog. When you expand a node the list is not refreshed. The bug has been there for eons. Can you please fix it?
  • I tried to create an index with include columns. I open the dialog, I add the column, I move to included columns, I add a column there as well, I hit the Sql Script button, and TSS displays Generating Sql Script and it just stays there. Needless to say, this used to work in 7.2.0.

Screen Shot 2022-03-28 at 10.31.21 AM

I installed 7.4.0 on the same VM I have 7.2.0. Could the behaviour above be caused by the fact that I have the previous version as well? I don't think I should have any problem, but asking.

Hi there, thanks for reporting the issues. I'm going to have the team check it out to confirm if the issues are really based on v7.4.

Thank you, I appreciate it!

Hi bog, wanted to get back to you on this. The two issues you've raised were confirmed reproducible in v7.4 and they're not based on your environment. The team has them set for fix in v7.5. A first report of its kind, so thanks for raising it to our attention.

Thank you! Any chance these fixes would make it to version 7.4.1, i.e. sooner?

Hi Bog,
Looks like the team is still analyzing both issues. The formatting issue was logged as #TSS-1782 and the SQL Script issue as #TSS-1783. If you'd like to know more about possible workarounds or time to release, I suggest to contact our Support team: https://support.quest.com/contact-support/

This there a scheduled release date for v7.5 because formatting does not work at all.

For me formatting sql is a crucial feature.

There are a bunch of alternatives.

  • You can switch to version 7.2 of TSS.

  • You can buy sql pretty printer (https://www.dpriver.com/index.php) but be aware that the product didn't have updates for a long time - I emailed them 2 or 3 years ago but they didn't respond.

  • If you already have a subscription, you could use DataGrip from JetBrains - they have a reasonably good sql formatter

  • Buy sql prompt from red gate (their products are very expensive but they offer a reasonably priced sql prompt yearly subscription), and they have a very good formatter that you can use inside SSMS. Editing sql with Sql Prompt + SSMS offered me the best experience among all the tools.

Of course, ideally, Quest should fix the bugs inside their product but I gave up having any expectations from this company, other than the realization that they want your money while doing minimum work (or none at all?) to fix bugs and deliver new versions.

I personally switched back to version 7.2 - it is stable and the formatter works. I am too scared to use the new version given that I execute code in production.

Thanks for the recommendations. I switched from version 7.2 because it was constantly frozen with the background task of refreshing VC (version control) objects hoping 7.4 would be better but its not.

Yes, version 7.2 has problems as well. I never used VC inside TSS. I use git to keep track of the sql code/scripts.

I confirm that version 7.4.1 fixed the issues I reported in this thread. Thank you!

Well, with one exception - Editor Formatter -> Custom. The tree with the options is not refreshed properly when the nodes are expanded. Like I said, this bug has been there for years. I would have been very surprised if they fixed it :smiley: