Toad for SQL Server 8.1 - Installation Guide

Complete SQL Statements Automatically

Code completion (autocompletion) assists you when entering SQL by automatically displaying a list of objects from which you can select in order to complete parts of your SQL statement. Code completion is available in the SQL Editor, as well as other editor windows, such as the Query tab in the Query Builder.

When the code completion window opens, Toad presents a list of tables, views, columns, or other objects. The location of your cursor in the SQL statement determines which objects are presented in the list.

To manually open the code completion list

• When entering SQL in the Editor, press CTRL+PERIOD to manually open the code completion list.

To automatically open the code completion list

• While entering SQL in the Editor, when you press the SPACE key at certain locations in the SQL (such as after keywords), Toad automatically displays the code completion list. The selection of objects presented in the list is determined by the location of your cursor within the SQL statement.

To use the code completion list

1. Use one of the previous methods to open the list.
2. Then select an object using one of the following methods:
   • Click the object name in the list.
   • Use the UP or DOWN arrow keys to select an object. Then press ENTER.
   • Filter the list by entering a partial text string. To select the first item in the filtered list, press ENTER. To select a different item, use the arrow keys and then press ENTER.

To populate Where clause with values from file

1. If using IN or NOT IN in a Where clause, you can load multiple values from a .txt, Excel, or .csv file. To load the file, select Get values from file in the code completion list.
2. Then browse to and select the file containing values. If using an Excel file, all values must be in the first column in the first worksheet. If using a .txt file, each value must be on a separate line.

To automatically create aliases

• You can instruct Toad to automatically create and insert alias names in your SQL when using code completion. To enable this feature, go to Tools | Options | Editor | Code Completion | Aliases. See Automatic Aliases for more information.

Note: If a comment is available for an item in the code completion list, the comment displays in a tooltip when you select the item from the list.

Tip: To specify code completion options, go to Tools | Options | Editor | Code Completion. You can specify case, use of quotes, delay time, and which objects to include in lists.

Related Topics

About Editing SQL 

Insert Code Snippets