Disable Table Designer in Visual Studio

Visual Studio

Visual Studio Problem Overview


I have recently upgraded my database projects to VS2012 and am now faced with the abomination of the table designer (I'm sure there are people that love it, but I am a Sql developer and find coding table definitions by hand much faster). Is there any way of turning the damned thing off? I have tried (well believe I have) all the options under Tools -> Options -> Database Tools with no effect.

Things attempted

  1. I've attempted to remove the Designer from the "C:\Program Files (x86)\Microsoft Visual Studio 11.0\Common7\IDE\Extensions\Microsoft\SQLDB\Designers" directory, but that just caused errors when attempting to open a table script.
  2. I've attempted to rename the registry key pointing to the designer (HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Microsoft\VisualStudio\11.0_Config\Packages{74bc53b2-d9b7-4579-abe5-43d11a7ecd03}) but the registry key magically renames itself and comes back.

Visual Studio Solutions


Solution 1 - Visual Studio

In the Solution Explorer:

  • right click on yourTable.sql table definition
  • click on Open with...
  • choose Microsoft SQL Server Data Tools, T-SQL Editor
  • click on Set as Default
  • click Ok

The steps above will insure that you always will open the table definitions with the T-SQL editor. You can revert back to the default setting by choosing the Microsoft SQL Server Data Tools, Editor Selector.

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Content TypeOriginal AuthorOriginal Content on Stackoverflow
QuestionJohn OView Question on Stackoverflow
Solution 1 - Visual StudioAlex FilipoviciView Answer on Stackoverflow