How do I add the description property to the table designer view in SSMS?
sql-server, sql-server-2008-r2
Solution
Here are the steps to add a property to the table designer in SQL Server Management Studio. The steps involve altering the values in registry settings.
`NOTE: Please be careful while altering registry keys.`
Type regedit in the Windows Start --> Run command to open the Registry Editor.
Navigate to `HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Shell\DataProject`
You might need to change the SQL Server version accordingly. I am using SQL Server 2008 R2 Express and hence the version 100. For SQL Server 2012, I found this setting under `HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\SQL Server Management Studio\11.0\DataProject`
Under the above mentioned registry path, look for the keys `SSVPropViewColumnsSQL70` and `SSVPropViewColumnsSQL80`.
By default, these registry keys will have the values `1,2,6;`. Section Property sequence mentioned below shows the number associated with each property. For my requirement to add Description column to the table designer, I had to change the registry key values to `1,2,6,17;`
Right-click on the key and select `Modify` option. Change the value from `1,2,6;` to `1,2,6,17;`. This has to be done on both the keys `SSVPropViewColumnsSQL70` and `SSVPropViewColumnsSQL80`
`NOTE: Remember to restart SSMS between each registry change.`
Property sequence:
- Column Name
- Data Type
- Length
- Precision
- Scale
- Allow Nulls
- Default Value
- Identity
- Identity Seed
- Identity Increment
- Row GUID
- Nullable
- Condensed Type
- Not for Replication
- Formula
- Collation
- Description
Hope this helps someone.
Problem
In the SSMS (currently running SQL Server 2008 R2), I would like to add the `Description` property next to the `Allow Nulls` property in the table designer window. I have looked at the registry change for setting the default value of the null property as shown in this SO answer How do I set the Allow Nulls property in table designer of SSMS to be always false? However, I cannot figure out how to add the new property into the new table designer view. I thought the the following registry entry would help. HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Shell\DataProject\ ``` SSVPropViewColumnsSQL70 SSVPropViewColumnsSQL80 ``` I changed the registry entries of above keys from `1,2,6;` to `1,2,6,9;` but nothing changed in the designer. Does anyone have any additional thoughts on this?