New and redesigned formatting profiles in SQL Complete 6.3

At our users’ request, Devart introduces span-new formatting profiles that let you tune your SQL code like never before. Now you can not only format your code exactly as you want but also switch quickly to an alternative style or apply formatting specifically to certain parts of your SQL script if required.

What is a formatting profile?

It is all about taking your code and making it readable and comprehensible. Choosing a formatting profile doesn’t affect the code itself, it impacts only the SQL document layout.

Let’s take a look at how the new formatting profiles work.

Introducing the new formatting options in SQL Complete 6.3

In the new version, formatting styles have been notably extended. There are now many more profiles for formatting, including:

Default

This is the default active profile.

Collapsed

This formatting option enables you to collapse blocks of code in one line so that you could clearly see the sequence of statements in a document.

Commas before

Under this formatting profile commas will be added before column names in SQL statements, helping avoid errors and eliminating the need to search through the whole document to find a missing comma.

Indented

Indenting makes SQL code easier to follow, as it makes it visually structured.

Right aligned

Under this formatting style, query keywords are right-aligned which beautifies your code and makes it easier to navigate through.

Compact

In this formatting style, all indentations are set to be zero spaces and all empty lines are removed from the query. Your SQL code will look denser under this profile.

Extended

This formatting profile is opposite to the previous one. Under the Extended formatting profile, SQL script is expanded with additional empty lines (before and after every statement and comment).

MSDN SQL

This formatting profile represents formatting rules used in the MSDN resource site.

Conclusion

SQL Complete 6.3 strives to help teams adopt SQL standards and current best practices. Having a range of formatting styles at hand can assist in enforcing consistent coding styles at your company. It might be useful to utilize different formatting profiles for different purposes, such as reviewing code versus committing code to source control. The opportunity to easily switch between profiles in one click is also beneficial. You can work in a profile you prefer, then switch to the profile your team works in for effective co-working and finally shift to your company or customer style when you are ready to deliver.

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formatting, sql complete