Shortcut: Adding multi-level undo, redo to the SSMS toolbar

Years ago, I had the privilege of presenting “what’s new in SQL Server 2012” sessions at many locations around the world. When you present sessions, you can sometimes learn as much as you teach. What I learned while delivering those sessions is that the product group sees what’s important in a release very differently to what the attendees do.

Each time there’s a new version of SQL Server, there will normally be three or four marketing pillars (groups of functionality), and each will have about eight to ten bullet points.

So, when SQL Server 2012 was released, what got the biggest reaction from the audiences? Was it the new availability groups? Was it the new tabular data model in SSAS? Was it the new project model in SSIS?

It might (or might not) surprise you to hear that the biggest reaction world-wide to the release came when I showed the audience that the undo/redo options in the SSIS designer now actually worked.

Even better, they were multi-level undo and redo.

SQL Server Management Studio can also use the same option. By default, it only has a single-level undo and redo. It can go back quite a distance in undo but it does so one step at a time. Adding a multi-level undo and redo can really improve your editing experience. I have no idea why it’s not there on the toolbar by default. So let’s fix that !

First let’s see the toolbar as it started.

Right-click a blank area in the tool bar then choose Customize.

Then choose the Commands tab, the SQL Editor for the Toolbar, and click Add Command:

From the Categories, choose Edit. When the commands appear, scroll down to the MultiLevel Redo and click OK.

Do the same to add MultiLevel Undo, then move them down to where you want them using the Move Down button. I like to have them just after the comment / uncomment buttons.

Once they are in place, note that unlike the normal undo (or Control Z), you can click the button, see a list of your previous actions, and choose how many to apply.

 

Once you undo some, the same applies to Redo.

2018-05-10