Katmai support?

DaveDustin

After installing the June CTP of SQL2008, I noticed that SQLPrompt wasn't appearing in my new SSMS.

I tried uninstalling SQLPrompt, and reinstalling in the hepe that it was something that was damaged during the uninstallation of the 2005 tools and installation of the 2008 tools, but no luck.

Any word on when we might be able to get a compatible version as the new SSMS is a massive improvement over 2005, but without intellisense, it's a step backwards...

Thanks

Brian Donahue

Hello,

I'm pretty certain it's not going to work. Every new edition of SQL Server (including service packs!) requires a new build of SQL Prompt to correctly interface with Management Studio's plugin architecture.

SQL Prompt will probably not work with the CTP -- we'll probably support it after SQL 2008 is officially released.

jselburg

Brian,

Although I understand supporting a "new" version of SQL is not a small task, I would think that Red-Gate would have this near the top of their list of priorities. You say you'll "...probably support it after 2008 is officially released..." Well, first of all I don't think "Probably" is going to cut it with most of your customers. Secondly, is there a doubt that 2008 will not be released?

My biggest grief with your reply (Red-Gates' policy) is that with the fact that you can not have 2008 and 2005 SSMS installed side by side (which means NO VERSION OF SQL Prompt can run PERIOD) which leaves those of use who don't have the luxury of two systems or VMware pretty much screwed after uninstalling 2005 and then installing 2008. I do understand that this isssue is just as much a result of Microsoft's product as with Red Gates', but that doesn't diminish the inconvenience it produces for us (your customers).

Again, I understand that supporting a new version of SQL isn't a simple task nor something you can do quickly. I guess I'm just annoyed and your post was the first I read while trying to find a solution, only to realized that I have to choose between the nice functionality that SQL Prompt provides or being able to learn a new technology before it's "officially" released.

Sincerely,
Jason L. Selburg

DaveDustin

Jason,

I think what Red Gate are worried about is that fact that MS are apparently putting Intelli-sense back into SSMS, probably with the next build.

So they probably need to wait until after that build comes out to see what it offers vs. SQLPrompt, and also whether the two implementations clash.

Kinda like JetBrains have to step carefully with the ReSharper and Orcas.


Dave

Bart Read

Hi there,


We don't support it at the moment, but we obviously will be supporting it at some point in the future. The vast majority of people are still using SQL Server 2000 and 2005 so the priority for us is to ensure that they're supported and that the new version is out as soon as possible. To add Katmai support at this point would significantly delay this release, which we're not willing to do. I find it baffling, although oddly at the same time not that hard to believe, that Microsoft would not allow users to have more than one version of SSMS installed. This seems like a very artificial restriction, and I can understand why you're upset about it. As I said, we will support Katmai at some point in the future, however for now I'd suggest (and I'll probably also do this myself) asking MS why they've chosen to do this.

I haven't tried this but I'm assuming SSMS 2005 will connect happily to Katmai (as Query Analyzer will to SQL Server 2005). You might want to see if SQL Prompt works that way, although admittedly it's a bit of a long shot. I can't see us being able to support Katmai without having to make at least some changes to our meta-data model.

I'm sorry I can't be more directly helpful at this point.


Kind regards,
Bart

Bart Read

OK I take that back: you can't log in to a Katmai server using SSMS 2005 so that suggestion won't work. You CAN do it with Query Analyzer though, however I've discovered that SQL Prompt won't work with Katmai for love nor money at the moment.

Bart Read

Well, I'm pleased to say I have some better news for you: you will be able to use the new version of SQL Prompt with Katmai however there are some qualifications on this:

- Katmai is not officially supported.
- It will support roughly the same functionality for Katmai as for SQL Server 2005, which is to say that we won't support anything new in Katmai, and it's possible that some things may not work as well as they do for 2005 although I'd expect these instances to be rare.
- Katmai related functionality has received the most minimal testing you can possibly imagine so I can't be more specific about what will/won't work: you'll need to suck it and see.
- Support for Katmai's Management Studio will not work out of the box after running the installer: you'll need to run a fairly simple command from the command prompt. We'll post details when the RC comes out.

Hope that helps.


Thanks,
Bart

paschott

For those of us who do have VMs into which we've installed Katmai, what are the licensing concerns for SQL Prompt? Can we install into the VM because it's still on our local box? Do we need a new copy? Just install an unregistered version? I'd like to play around with that some, but will not bother if I have to buy a version just to test with and I don't want to ding any sort of activation counts I may have on my account for a test instance either. Testing is nice, but I'll live without it if it affects my account.

Thanks.

-Pete

paschott

Also - quick note for those mentioning the VM thing. MS offers up Virtual Server (and I think Virtual PC) free of charge. VMWare has a free version of their server product. While neither are extremely full-featured, you can easily download and install them and set up a new OS. You can even do some basic snapshots/differences on your virtual hard drive for an easy restore to state (like before you installed Katmai so you can restore the snapshot and have a clean system without messing around with uninstalls that may or may not work )

-Pete

Bart Read

Hi Pete,


Thanks for posting. Our licensing model for SQL Prompt is per-user so you should be fine to install on a VM as long as only you are using it. We do it this way so that if people use a desktop at their office but have a laptop for travelling or whatever they can use SQL Prompt on both. This also applies to most of our other products. If you've any concerns or you encounter any problems with this please contact sales@red-gate.com and they'll be able to help you out.


Thanks,
Bart

Bart Read

I just wanted to let you know that the SQL Prompt 3.5 release candidate is now available.

http://www.red-gate.com/messageboard/vi ... php?t=5263

Instructions for making it work with the Katmai CTP can be found here:

http://www.red-gate.com/messageboard/vi ... php?t=5266


Thanks,
Bart