Microsoft® SQL Server™ 2008 All-In-One Desk Reference For Dummies®

I.5.3. Template Explorer

If you'd like to benefit from Microsoft's philosophy of making database administration easier, be sure to check out the Template Explorer. It contains dozens of examples of common database maintenance and interaction scripts. To display the Template Explorer, choose it from the View menu within SQL Server Management Studio.

Figure 5-2 shows a small sampling of available templates (located on the right side of the screen), as well as a specific example of the template for creating a new table.

Figure I.5-2. The Template Explorer and sample in the SQL Server Management Studio.

To choose a template, simply double-click it. After the template is displayed, all you need to do is provide each placeholder a value. A quick way to provide each placeholder a value is to click the Specify Values for Template Parameters icon, which you find along the top row of icons. This opens a handy dialog box, as shown in Figure 5-3.

As if this collection wasn't helpful enough, you're also free to modify the existing templates and create your own. To modify a template, simply right-click the template and choose the Edit option. Remember to save your work when you finish changing the template. To create a template, just right-click anywhere in the Template Explorer and choose the New option. This opens a blank dialog box where you're free to enter your own SQL.

When creating ...