The MSSQL Extension is not Azure Data Studio

[LarnuUK]

Following the recent annoucement of Azure Data Studio being deprecated in favour of this extension, I thought i'd try it out, again.

The extension is not a replacement for Azure Data Studio.

Immediately I was met with the extension not working, and the only way to fix it was to delete the extension from the file system and reinstall it; that is not a great start.

The experience is nothing like ADS, or SSMS, and I can only say that i hope that this changes in the next 12 months. Why is there no support for Central Management Servers? Why does selecting a database and pressing Ctrl+N not open a connection in the database I had highlighted? Where is SQL Server Agent Support? HOw do I manage my Azure server(s) from it?

The experience in my first 30 seconds was this tool is incomplete for someone coming from ADS; shockingly so.

What plans do Microsoft have to ensure parity of functionality of the MSSQL extension to Azure Data Studio before the deprecation comes in? ADS (actually SQL operation Studio back then) was "badged" as the SSMS for non-Windows users; if I'm left with MSSQL as it is at the moment then my option is stop using SQL Server; it's as simple as that.

[KDunn5517]

I agree with everything above. Additional issues found below

1. Can't import connections from ADS to VS Code. Have to manually reconfigure them. Additionally, have to enable a preview mode to get a friendly interface to do so, otherwise you have to basically do it via command line. 5 servers is irritating, 100 servers is absurd.
2. Key binding changed for execute query from F5 to Ctrl-Shift-E.

I do not have time to waste learning an entire new set of keystrokes to get my daily work done. If you're going to retire ADS, then make all ADS features available in VS Code, or just tell everyone to move to SSMS 21 Preview edition because it has a code repo. Please do not waste our time.

[LarnuUK]

2. Key binding changed for execute query from F5 to Ctrl-Shift-E.

That's easily fixed at least in the keybindings. In the Keyboard Shortcuts (Ctrl+K, Ctrl+S) search "Run Query", and alter the mssql.runQuery keybinding to F5. If you prefer, the JSON is:

    {
        "key": "f5",
        "command": "mssql.runQuery",
        "when": "editorTextFocus && editorLangId == 'sql'"
    }

[KDunn5517]

Thank you very much for that information.

I am of the opinion that if they are going to force us to move from ADS to VSCode, they should have ported all features and functionality. This did not happen. Therefore, I am not a fan. I am not looking forward to all of the other features they did not migrate, or that we have to work around.

Fun fact: SSMS 21 Preview doesn't natively support .sqlproj. What fun.

This is a highly irritating morning, and I do not think I will have much constructive criticism this morning. I will bow out of this conversation before I become unprofessional.

[LarnuUK]

Yeah, I do have significant concerns, @KDunn5517 . As a non-Windows user at home if VSCode ends up not supporting basic features then it's just a non-starter that I remain with SQL Server and I instead switch RDBMS. I noticed that only late last year that an issue asking for Central Management Servers was closed and isn't even planned! If something as fundamental as that feature isn't planned, I dread to think what else isn't that is just as significantly important.

I assume I'll get told that i need to make feature requests for everything... I hope not though, as one would hope Microsoft knows what their own deprecated tool does, and what the "recommended" replacement for it doesn't.

[Clifra-Jones]

Agree with everything here. The current state makes this a very much "Not ready for prime time" solution. My current primary complaint is that the context menu breaks. Right click on an object make a selection and it throws an error. Close and reopen 'may' fix it, may not, then your only recourse is to remove and re-add the connection. This really starts happening if you try to open a second instance of VS-Code, which I do all the time while writing scripts. (I know dual monitor support is problematic in Electron, but it sure would be nice), even opening the current workspace in a new window causes this.
Also, the lack of additional extension that were available in ADS is a real weakness, no additional scripting options, No support for SQL Agent (Yeah the ADS extension was buggy but at least it's was there)

Actually, I would really like this solution to work as I do a lot in PowerShell and Python that interacts with SQL, it would be great to have it all in one place but right now it's not functional enough.

Unfortunately this is not surprising for MS. Their track record for tools and features is not good. So many things have been brought out and then abandoned! If they are serious about cross platform, if they are serious about competing with cross platform RDBMS (PostgreSQL is becoming a serious competitor, You can't rely on your Enterprise software customers forever MS, eventually they are going to realize they don;t need to require their clients to pay the high price of SQL Server licensing and convert to PostgreSQL) They need to make the effort to make these things functional.

[Koziah-Sylvester]

Honestly, it’s pretty awful that Microsoft decided to go this route. The MSSQL Extension desperately needs features like SQL Agent, SQL Profiling, and Database Administration.

Microsoft’s suggested replacement?

And yes, I am aware of this. But SSMS only works on Windows. Besides, SSMS loads as quickly as turning a cruise ship. We really need those features in the mssql-vscode extension before making any move, at the very least.

Suggesting SSMS over ADS is like telling us to use MS Visual Studio instead of VSCode. It’s just a step backward.
These features should be at least in preview before asking us to make the move.

[Clifra-Jones]

Well, they do have a year to get it ready! Whether we have confidence in MS to get it done on time is another matter.
I can manage multiple databases in Azure Data Studio, MSSQL/MySQL(MariaDB)/PostgreSQL which makes this a very useful tool not only for people on Mac/Linux PCs but for Windows PCs as well.

The Admin pack that allows management of SQL Server Agent in RDS is a buggy mess. This needs to be fix before this year is out and ported to VS Code.

[swaschitz]

Well, they do have a year to get it ready! Whether we have confidence in MS to get it done on time is another matter. I can manage multiple databases in Azure Data Studio, MSSQL/MySQL(MariaDB)/PostgreSQL which makes this a very useful tool not only for people on Mac/Linux PCs but for Windows PCs as well.

The Admin pack that allows management of SQL Server Agent in RDS is a buggy mess. This needs to be fix before this year is out and ported to VS Code.

Yes, they have a year, and we can only hope they will respond publicly and quickly. Unfortunately, unnecessary panic was caused by announcing this before the replacement tool was robust enough to be a suitable replacement.

[uahnbu]

The notebook feature of ADS is a necessity to me and it isn't natively supported in VSCode. Polyglot Notebooks extension was suggested as an alternative in #18673 but it requires installing .NET 9 which doesn't seem to support per-user installation.

[GrzegorzLyp]

One of the most productive missing feature is Query Shortcuts. The feature known from SSMS for years that enhance productivity is a must in mssql extension.