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Getting Started With SQL Server Tools
Learn when to use graphical or command-line tools to manage SQL Server.
by Buck Woody

August 17, 2004

I love woodworking. There's something satisfying about working in solitude on an artistic expression with a craft that is tangible and useful. I've found many IT professionals pursue hobbies that contrast with flipping bits and bytes in a group setting, where what we did today we do again tomorrow.

A master carpenter taught me that before I could use power tools properly I needed experience with a variety of hand tools. As I read more about woodworking, I learned that as far back as the Jomon (Neolithic) culture in Japan, the steel tools they used differed from European tools in some striking ways. European tools work on the push stroke, that is, away from the body. This allows for rapid, rough work but requires heavy tools to handle the stress. Japanese tools, on the other hand, often work on the pull stroke, or toward the body. This allows for much finer detail on the cuts, but it also means the fragile tools require careful handling.

When I start a project, this understanding of hand tools from various cultures gives me a wide range of options to produce a particular result.

For the technical professional, it's essential to understand the tools we have at hand. In the past few articles, we've learned how databases work and in particular how SQL Server implements those concepts. This article explains how to work with SQL Server using various tools. We'll start with an overview of what's available, and then discuss how to use each of the tools to administer SQL Server.

Know Both Types of SQL Server Tools
There are two classes of SQL Server tools: graphical and command-driven. In a way, the graphical tools are like power tools in woodworking, and the command-driven tools are like hand tools. Understanding when to use each is the mark of an accomplished professional.

One of SQL Server's major strengths is that everything that you can do graphically you can do with a set of commands, and vice-versa. It's certainly easier for most people to use graphical tools, but they can't be automated like commands can. Because automation is the key to managing an enterprise, it's important to learn the command tool as well.

We'll focus on the tools included with SQL Server. In editions other than the Microsoft Database Engine (MSDE), you get a standard set of tools.

We'll also tell you about several after-market tools that I use to help manage and program SQL Server.

Books Online contains SQL Server's manual, help files, programming examples, and more. It is the first place you should stop on your tour of SQL Server because SQL Server doesn't come with other documentation. You can order the documentation in printed form, but it totals several thousand pages.

There are several tabs in Books Online where the content is arranged in topical, searching, and reference order. There's also a "Favorites" tab where you can store references to things you want to remember. No other software tool I've used has documentation this well thought out.

You can find Books Online in the SQL Server Start Menu item. You can also invoke Books Online by pressing F1 in Enterprise Manager. You can even get context-sensitive help in Query Analyzer using Books Online by highlighting a command and pressing Shift-F1.