SQL Server 2012 Management Studio
If you have been working with SQL Server for a long time, you can remember the SQL Enterprise Manager that came with SQL Server 6.5. with SSMS, MS has moved back to the paradigm that existed then. Like the SQL Server 6.5 Enterprise Manager, SSMS offers an integrated environment where developers and DBAs alike can execute the DB tasks they need. Say goodbye to Query Analyzer, Analysis Manager, and a number of other separate tools used in SQL Server 2000 and say hello to SSMS, which offers "one-stop shopping" for most of your DB needs.
The environment and windows displayed are completely customizable, with the exception of the document window area. The Object Explorer Details page is the default, but other pages, such as a query editor window, can take the focus in this tab-oriented section of the SSMS display.
The dialogs that form the rest of the SSMS display are referred to as modules and comprise the Registered Servers and Object Explorer windows, as well as a number of other modules that can be displayed via the View menu found at the top of the SSMS display. You can configure each of the component windows in a number of ways; as an example, you can have them float, or you can hide, dock, autohide, or display them as tabbed documents in the document window area. The config that you choose for your SSMS display depends on the type of work you do with SQL Server as well as the type of person you are. The Auto Hide feature causes the component window to shrink to a tab along the left or right side of the display. When you mouse throughout the tab, the window automatically expands and stays expanded as long as the mouse cursor remains in the component window area. Auto Hide helps maximize the working real estate available in the document window for query development and the like. Docking many windows can clutter the screen, but this feature allows you to view many different types of info all at once. This is a matter of personal preference, and SSMS has made it very easy to change.
The SSMS window environment comprise nonmodal windows that are sizable. The nonmodal windows allows you to execute multiple tasks at one time without needing to open another instance of the SSMS app. In SQL Server 2000, the Enterprise Manager users were forced to open another instance of the app during many administrative tasks to be able to continue with other work. With SSMS, you can open a backup with the Back Up DB dialog and then continue working with the Object Explorer or other modules in SSMS while the backup is running. This ability is a great timesaver and helps improve overall productivity. Your ability to size the dialog boxes is another user-friendly feature that can seem minor but is quite handy on certain windows. As an example, the SQL Server 2000 Enterprise Manager Restore dialog had a fixed size. Viewing the backup set info in this relatively small (nonsizable) dialog box was a challenge. The Restore dialog in SQL Server 2012's SSMS can contain a slew of info related to the backup sets available for restore. The ability to size the windows allows for much more info to be displayed.
The tabbed document window area offers some usability improvements as well. This area, as described earlier, is fixed and is always displayed in SSMS. Component windows can be displayed in this area, along with windows for the Query Editor, diagrams, and other design windows. If desired, you can change the environment from a tabbed display to multiple-document interface (MDI) mode. In this mode, each document is opened in its own window within the document window. The MDI mode manages windows like the SQL Server 2000 Query Analyzer and can be more user-friendly for some people. You can change to MDI mode by selecting Tools, Options and then selecting MDI Environment from the General page.
One particularly useful window that can be displayed in the document window is the Object Explorer Details page. This new window displays info relative to the node selected in the Object Explorer and includes options to produce in depth reports and graphs. The Object Explorer Details page is displayed in the document window by default when SSMS is launched, but you can also display it by pressing F7 or choosing Object Explorer Details from the View menu. The Object Explorer Details page has been vastly improved in SQL Server 2012. If you're familiar with the previous version, there is much more info displayed in SQL Server 2012 than there was in 2008. The nice part is that you can customize the info that is displayed and save those changes so that they are used the then time you open SSMS. As an example, when you RightClick on a column heading (such as Name), you see all the columns available for display. Only handfuls are displayed by default, but more than 30 available columns relate to DBs. The columns that are available depend on the type of object selected in the Object Explorer window.
Another significant change in the Object Explorer Details page is the Object Search box. The Object Search box, located at the top of the Object Explorer Details page (then to the Search label), allows you to search for objects by name. You can use wildcards (as an example, Product%), or you can type a specific name you are looking for. The results are displayed in the Object Explorer Details page. Keep in mind that the objects that are searched depend on what is selected in the Object Explorer window. As an example, if you highlight the DBs node, you search all the DBs on your SQL Server. If you choose a specific DB, only that DB is searched.