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  3. Wow, it only took me way to many years to learn this...

Wow, it only took me way to many years to learn this...

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  • Sander RosselS Offline
    Sander RosselS Offline
    Sander Rossel
    wrote on last edited by
    #1

    Apparently, in SQL Server Management Studio, you can delete servers from the drop down list in the "Connect to Server" popup. I still had servers from my last employer, servers that no longer existed, test servers... Basically everything I've ever connected to on this laptop. In the past I've downloaded a small application that was specifically build to clean up that list (so apparently other people have the same problem). It turns out you can just open the list, hover over a server name and press delete on your keyboard and it'll be gone (without warning). My life would've looked a lot different had I learned about this some nine years ago :wtf: I'm not sure in what version of SSMS this was introduced, but it seems it's been available for at least five years.

    Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

    D Richard Andrew x64R K J N 5 Replies Last reply
    0
    • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

      Apparently, in SQL Server Management Studio, you can delete servers from the drop down list in the "Connect to Server" popup. I still had servers from my last employer, servers that no longer existed, test servers... Basically everything I've ever connected to on this laptop. In the past I've downloaded a small application that was specifically build to clean up that list (so apparently other people have the same problem). It turns out you can just open the list, hover over a server name and press delete on your keyboard and it'll be gone (without warning). My life would've looked a lot different had I learned about this some nine years ago :wtf: I'm not sure in what version of SSMS this was introduced, but it seems it's been available for at least five years.

      Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

      D Offline
      D Offline
      dandy72
      wrote on last edited by
      #2

      This is the sort of thing that, in hindsight, should be so obvious - every application should allow you to do this sort of thing.

      Sander RosselS R 2 Replies Last reply
      0
      • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

        Apparently, in SQL Server Management Studio, you can delete servers from the drop down list in the "Connect to Server" popup. I still had servers from my last employer, servers that no longer existed, test servers... Basically everything I've ever connected to on this laptop. In the past I've downloaded a small application that was specifically build to clean up that list (so apparently other people have the same problem). It turns out you can just open the list, hover over a server name and press delete on your keyboard and it'll be gone (without warning). My life would've looked a lot different had I learned about this some nine years ago :wtf: I'm not sure in what version of SSMS this was introduced, but it seems it's been available for at least five years.

        Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

        Richard Andrew x64R Offline
        Richard Andrew x64R Offline
        Richard Andrew x64
        wrote on last edited by
        #3

        I wouldn't feel bad about not knowing it sooner, it's hardly intuitive. In what other circumstance can you delete something by hovering over it?

        The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.

        Sander RosselS D M 3 Replies Last reply
        0
        • Richard Andrew x64R Richard Andrew x64

          I wouldn't feel bad about not knowing it sooner, it's hardly intuitive. In what other circumstance can you delete something by hovering over it?

          The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.

          Sander RosselS Offline
          Sander RosselS Offline
          Sander Rossel
          wrote on last edited by
          #4

          Actually, the SSMS team should feel bad because I (and many others) didn't know this! It's a huge design fail. How about a button [Organize] or [Manage] that opens a separate popup which let's you add (for later use) or delete servers. Should be about a day of work X|

          Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

          P OriginalGriffO 2 Replies Last reply
          0
          • D dandy72

            This is the sort of thing that, in hindsight, should be so obvious - every application should allow you to do this sort of thing.

            Sander RosselS Offline
            Sander RosselS Offline
            Sander Rossel
            wrote on last edited by
            #5

            Yeah it should be obvious, but I know it wasn't possible in 2005, probably not in 2008 either. And now that it is possible they've implemented it in a way that's not obvious at all X|

            Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

            1 Reply Last reply
            0
            • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

              Actually, the SSMS team should feel bad because I (and many others) didn't know this! It's a huge design fail. How about a button [Organize] or [Manage] that opens a separate popup which let's you add (for later use) or delete servers. Should be about a day of work X|

              Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

              P Offline
              P Offline
              PIEBALDconsult
              wrote on last edited by
              #6

              And re-order?

              1 Reply Last reply
              0
              • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

                Actually, the SSMS team should feel bad because I (and many others) didn't know this! It's a huge design fail. How about a button [Organize] or [Manage] that opens a separate popup which let's you add (for later use) or delete servers. Should be about a day of work X|

                Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

                OriginalGriffO Offline
                OriginalGriffO Offline
                OriginalGriff
                wrote on last edited by
                #7

                Or better, a right click on the selection line ... I wish Chrome would do that with it's search / address bar: I type "News" and it lists the items I've been to most often with "news" in them - which is fine - but I had reason to go to a very local news site every hour for a day or so, and now it's pushed the BBC and NYTimes down a row.

                Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640 Never throw anything away, Griff Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

                "I have no idea what I did, but I'm taking full credit for it." - ThisOldTony
                "Common sense is so rare these days, it should be classified as a super power" - Random T-shirt

                Sander RosselS 1 Reply Last reply
                0
                • Richard Andrew x64R Richard Andrew x64

                  I wouldn't feel bad about not knowing it sooner, it's hardly intuitive. In what other circumstance can you delete something by hovering over it?

                  The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.

                  D Offline
                  D Offline
                  dandy72
                  wrote on last edited by
                  #8

                  Richard Andrew x64 wrote:

                  it's hardly intuitive. In what other circumstance can you delete something by hovering over it?

                  You mean, hover and hit Delete while an item is highlighted. I've seen combo boxes that keep a typing history do that, browser Favorites (I think IE might've done that at one point if it's not still there)...it's not entirely new. But you're right, it's not very "discoverable"...but when you see in action, you kinda start expecting it to be supported everywhere else. I try to make a point in my own apps to add this where it's appropriate.

                  Z D 2 Replies Last reply
                  0
                  • OriginalGriffO OriginalGriff

                    Or better, a right click on the selection line ... I wish Chrome would do that with it's search / address bar: I type "News" and it lists the items I've been to most often with "news" in them - which is fine - but I had reason to go to a very local news site every hour for a day or so, and now it's pushed the BBC and NYTimes down a row.

                    Sent from my Amstrad PC 1640 Never throw anything away, Griff Bad command or file name. Bad, bad command! Sit! Stay! Staaaay... AntiTwitter: @DalekDave is now a follower!

                    Sander RosselS Offline
                    Sander RosselS Offline
                    Sander Rossel
                    wrote on last edited by
                    #9

                    In Chrome you can always remove those news items from your history.

                    Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

                    1 Reply Last reply
                    0
                    • D dandy72

                      Richard Andrew x64 wrote:

                      it's hardly intuitive. In what other circumstance can you delete something by hovering over it?

                      You mean, hover and hit Delete while an item is highlighted. I've seen combo boxes that keep a typing history do that, browser Favorites (I think IE might've done that at one point if it's not still there)...it's not entirely new. But you're right, it's not very "discoverable"...but when you see in action, you kinda start expecting it to be supported everywhere else. I try to make a point in my own apps to add this where it's appropriate.

                      Z Offline
                      Z Offline
                      ZurdoDev
                      wrote on last edited by
                      #10

                      Exactly! :thumbsup:

                      Social Media - A platform that makes it easier for the crazies to find each other. Everyone is born right handed. Only the strongest overcome it. Fight for left-handed rights and hand equality.

                      1 Reply Last reply
                      0
                      • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

                        Apparently, in SQL Server Management Studio, you can delete servers from the drop down list in the "Connect to Server" popup. I still had servers from my last employer, servers that no longer existed, test servers... Basically everything I've ever connected to on this laptop. In the past I've downloaded a small application that was specifically build to clean up that list (so apparently other people have the same problem). It turns out you can just open the list, hover over a server name and press delete on your keyboard and it'll be gone (without warning). My life would've looked a lot different had I learned about this some nine years ago :wtf: I'm not sure in what version of SSMS this was introduced, but it seems it's been available for at least five years.

                        Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

                        K Offline
                        K Offline
                        kalberts
                        wrote on last edited by
                        #11

                        I had a similary discovery, that if you open the Alt-Tab panel of running programs, and keep the Alt key down, you can with your mouse close all those windows that you no longer need by mouse clicking their upper right hand X. It may have been around for many years, but I discovered it a few months ago.

                        Sander RosselS 1 Reply Last reply
                        0
                        • K kalberts

                          I had a similary discovery, that if you open the Alt-Tab panel of running programs, and keep the Alt key down, you can with your mouse close all those windows that you no longer need by mouse clicking their upper right hand X. It may have been around for many years, but I discovered it a few months ago.

                          Sander RosselS Offline
                          Sander RosselS Offline
                          Sander Rossel
                          wrote on last edited by
                          #12

                          I discovered that many years ago, by accident :laugh:

                          Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

                          1 Reply Last reply
                          0
                          • Richard Andrew x64R Richard Andrew x64

                            I wouldn't feel bad about not knowing it sooner, it's hardly intuitive. In what other circumstance can you delete something by hovering over it?

                            The difficult we do right away... ...the impossible takes slightly longer.

                            M Offline
                            M Offline
                            Mike Winiberg
                            wrote on last edited by
                            #13

                            In Outlook - you can delete the remembered email addresses that pop up when you start typing in the To box. Far to easy to delete the wrong one though...

                            1 Reply Last reply
                            0
                            • Sander RosselS Sander Rossel

                              Apparently, in SQL Server Management Studio, you can delete servers from the drop down list in the "Connect to Server" popup. I still had servers from my last employer, servers that no longer existed, test servers... Basically everything I've ever connected to on this laptop. In the past I've downloaded a small application that was specifically build to clean up that list (so apparently other people have the same problem). It turns out you can just open the list, hover over a server name and press delete on your keyboard and it'll be gone (without warning). My life would've looked a lot different had I learned about this some nine years ago :wtf: I'm not sure in what version of SSMS this was introduced, but it seems it's been available for at least five years.

                              Best, Sander sanderrossel.com Continuous Integration, Delivery, and Deployment arrgh.js - Bringing LINQ to JavaScript Object-Oriented Programming in C# Succinctly

                              J Offline
                              J Offline
                              John Bevan
                              wrote on last edited by
                              #14

                              If it helps, you can find this info on the `SqlStudio.bin` file (under `%AppData%`). Here's some PowerShell to help make sense of the file's content: Get List of Servers from SSMS (i.e. historically used connections list from the New Connection dialogue) ยท GitHub[^]

                              Add-Type -Path (Get-Command 'Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.UserSettings.dll').Source
                              [bool]$loaded = $false
                              Get-Item -Path 'C:\Windows\assembly\GAC_MSIL\Microsoft.SqlServer.ConnectionInfo\*\Microsoft.SqlServer.ConnectionInfo.dll' | Select-Object -ExpandProperty FullName | Sort-Object -Descending | ForEach-Object {if (!$loaded ){try {Add-Type -Path $_;Write-Verbose "Successfully loaded $_";$loaded=$true}catch{Write-Warning "Failed to load $_"}}}

                              [string]$settingsFilePath = (Resolve-Path (Join-Path -Path $env:APPDATA -ChildPath 'Microsoft/SQL Server Management Studio/*/SqlStudio.bin')).Path | Sort-Object -Descending | Select-Object -First 1
                              if ($settingsFilePath) {
                              try {
                              [System.IO.MemoryStream]$ms = [System.IO.File]::ReadAllBytes($settingsFilePath)
                              [System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary.BinaryFormatter]$formatter = New-Object -TypeName 'System.Runtime.Serialization.Formatters.Binary.BinaryFormatter'
                              [Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.UserSettings.SqlStudio]$sqlStudio = $formatter.Deserialize($ms) #[Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.UserSettings.SettingsDictionary[[System.Guid],[Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.UserSettings.ServerTypeItem]]]
                              foreach ($serverTypeItem in $sqlStudio.SSMS.ConnectionOptions.ServerTypes.Values) { #[Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.UserSettings.ServerTypeItem]
                              foreach ($server in $serverTypeItem.Servers) { # [Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.UserSettings.ServerConnectionItem]
                              ([PSCustomObject][Ordered]@{
                              Instance = $server.Instance
                              AuthMeth = ([Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Common.SqlConnectionInfo+AuthenticationMethod]$server.AuthenticationMethod)
                              Connections = $server.Connections
                              })

                                      }
                                  }
                              } finally {
                                  $ms.Dispose()
                              }
                              

                              } else {
                              throw 'Could not find SqlStudio.bin. Older versions used MRU.dat... but I''ve not coded a solution for that, sorry!'
                              }

                              The connection settings are held in a di

                              1 Reply Last reply
                              0
                              • D dandy72

                                Richard Andrew x64 wrote:

                                it's hardly intuitive. In what other circumstance can you delete something by hovering over it?

                                You mean, hover and hit Delete while an item is highlighted. I've seen combo boxes that keep a typing history do that, browser Favorites (I think IE might've done that at one point if it's not still there)...it's not entirely new. But you're right, it's not very "discoverable"...but when you see in action, you kinda start expecting it to be supported everywhere else. I try to make a point in my own apps to add this where it's appropriate.

                                D Offline
                                D Offline
                                DerekT P
                                wrote on last edited by
                                #15

                                Sounds horrendously dangerous to me - especially without any confirmation dialog. So I'm typing some SQL into a query window - move the mouse "out of the way" so I don't have the pointer over the query text, and hit "delete" because I want to change what I'm typing... wham! Server connection gone. That might be a client's server I'm responsible for administering, but haven't separately saved (written down) the password; now I'm stuffed, especially if it's 11pm on a Saturday night and I need to do maintenance on that server... :-( If the hover/delete combo is obscure, just how obscure will the documentation be that allows me to disable this "feature"...? :wtf: :doh: When building a UI, I never provide the ability to delete anything non-trivial without confirmation.

                                D 1 Reply Last reply
                                0
                                • D dandy72

                                  This is the sort of thing that, in hindsight, should be so obvious - every application should allow you to do this sort of thing.

                                  R Offline
                                  R Offline
                                  RustyF
                                  wrote on last edited by
                                  #16

                                  Works in outlook too when you are typing the to: address, allows you to delete old recipients

                                  1 Reply Last reply
                                  0
                                  • D DerekT P

                                    Sounds horrendously dangerous to me - especially without any confirmation dialog. So I'm typing some SQL into a query window - move the mouse "out of the way" so I don't have the pointer over the query text, and hit "delete" because I want to change what I'm typing... wham! Server connection gone. That might be a client's server I'm responsible for administering, but haven't separately saved (written down) the password; now I'm stuffed, especially if it's 11pm on a Saturday night and I need to do maintenance on that server... :-( If the hover/delete combo is obscure, just how obscure will the documentation be that allows me to disable this "feature"...? :wtf: :doh: When building a UI, I never provide the ability to delete anything non-trivial without confirmation.

                                    D Offline
                                    D Offline
                                    dandy72
                                    wrote on last edited by
                                    #17

                                    Where have I mentioned there was no confirmation dialog? Besides...in all use-cases I've implemented this, the removable items only appear as a result of an action like a right-click, which makes the removable item(s) appear; "moving the mouse out of the way" is never enough to make said removable items appear on their own, so what you're describing is rather unlikely to happen. You want to talk about dangerous - how about you're in the middle of typing a long paragraph of text, then some random Windows message pops up, defaulting with the focus on OK, and you happen to hit Space or Enter as you continue typing (before you might not even have realized something came up and stole focus away). The dialog box thinks you've confirmed the action it was asking of you, but it was on the screen for such a short amount of time you have no idea what it said or where it even came from. True story, and I can confirm it's happened to me repeatedly.

                                    J D 2 Replies Last reply
                                    0
                                    • D dandy72

                                      Where have I mentioned there was no confirmation dialog? Besides...in all use-cases I've implemented this, the removable items only appear as a result of an action like a right-click, which makes the removable item(s) appear; "moving the mouse out of the way" is never enough to make said removable items appear on their own, so what you're describing is rather unlikely to happen. You want to talk about dangerous - how about you're in the middle of typing a long paragraph of text, then some random Windows message pops up, defaulting with the focus on OK, and you happen to hit Space or Enter as you continue typing (before you might not even have realized something came up and stole focus away). The dialog box thinks you've confirmed the action it was asking of you, but it was on the screen for such a short amount of time you have no idea what it said or where it even came from. True story, and I can confirm it's happened to me repeatedly.

                                      J Offline
                                      J Offline
                                      jackbrownii
                                      wrote on last edited by
                                      #18

                                      > dandy72 wrote: > Where have I mentioned there was no confirmation dialog? SSMS does not give a confirmation dialog using the technique the OP mentioned.

                                      D 1 Reply Last reply
                                      0
                                      • J jackbrownii

                                        > dandy72 wrote: > Where have I mentioned there was no confirmation dialog? SSMS does not give a confirmation dialog using the technique the OP mentioned.

                                        D Offline
                                        D Offline
                                        dandy72
                                        wrote on last edited by
                                        #19

                                        I was elaborating on a direct response to the message where I said I try to implement the same. If SSMS doesn't prompt for confirmation when deleting something important, then that's its problem, not mine. :-)

                                        1 Reply Last reply
                                        0
                                        • D dandy72

                                          Where have I mentioned there was no confirmation dialog? Besides...in all use-cases I've implemented this, the removable items only appear as a result of an action like a right-click, which makes the removable item(s) appear; "moving the mouse out of the way" is never enough to make said removable items appear on their own, so what you're describing is rather unlikely to happen. You want to talk about dangerous - how about you're in the middle of typing a long paragraph of text, then some random Windows message pops up, defaulting with the focus on OK, and you happen to hit Space or Enter as you continue typing (before you might not even have realized something came up and stole focus away). The dialog box thinks you've confirmed the action it was asking of you, but it was on the screen for such a short amount of time you have no idea what it said or where it even came from. True story, and I can confirm it's happened to me repeatedly.

                                          D Offline
                                          D Offline
                                          DerekT P
                                          wrote on last edited by
                                          #20

                                          Sander said:

                                          Quote:

                                          It turns out you can just open the list, hover over a server name and press delete on your keyboard and it'll be gone (without warning).

                                          I interpreted the "without warning" bit as meaning there's no confirmation prompt...? You mentioned you were adding the same functionality in your own apps... but clearly you're implementing an improvement over Microsoft's attempt! :)

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