New updates are now available for SQL Server Data Tools (SSDT). The latest update is called SQL Server Data Tools – September 2012. You can get the update from here:
SSDT for Visual Studio 2012: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/jj650015
SSDT for Visual Studio 2010: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/jj650014
As posted on the following blog post, here is a recap of what’s new:
“What’s New?
Visual Studio 2012
In keeping with our goal of supporting the most recent version of Visual Studio, this release of SSDT supports the Visual Studio 2012 shell. SSDT – September 2012 contains several bug fixes to the SSDT version that shipped in Visual Studio 2012 and this release can be applied as an update on top of Visual Studio 2012 Professional, Premium, and Ultimate Editions. If one of these SKUs is not present on the box, running the SSDT installer for Visual Studio 2012 will lay down a standalone version of SSDT for the Visual Studio 2012 Integrated Shell.
Keep in mind that the underlying engine and functionality for SSDT – September 2012 is the same for both Visual Studio 2010 and Visual Studio 2012, so you don’t need to upgrade to Visual Studio 2012 to use the latest version of SSDT. If you wish to have both shells of SSDT in your environment, they can exist side by side and SSDT projects will successfully round-trip between both shells.
LocalDB Configuration Improvements
We received feedback that SSDT’s policy of creating a new localdb instance for each SSDT solution was too verbose, so we created a single localdb instance called Projects to host all the project debug databases. We’ve also enhanced SQL Server Object Explorer by surfacing the default localdb instance and enabling the deletion of localdb instances.
Support for ANSI_NULLS and QUOTED_IDENIFIER Properties
In previous releases, SSDT didn’t support database objects with non-standard ANSI_NULLS or QUOTED_IDENTIFIER properties. SSDT – September 2012 has enabled this scenario by adding support for ANSI_NULLS and QUOTED_IDENTIFIER properties on project and script files.
Updated Data-Tier Application Framework
SSDT – September 2012 includes the latest redist of SQL Server Data-Tier Application Framework (DACFx), which contains several feature enhancements and bug fixes. Most notably, the updated DACFx version enables packaging and deploying data using SqlPackage.exe. You can learn more about the new DACFx release here.
Updated SSDT Power Tools
The September 2012 update is compatible with updated Power Tools that include new features and support for both Visual Studio 2012 and Visual Studio 2010 shells.
Bug fixes to customer-reported issues
This release includes many bug fixes for issues reported by customers using SSDT RTW or Visual Studio 2012 RTM. Here are some of the most impactful bugs that this release addresses:
· Unable to override Publish Profile properties when using the msbuild command line
· Slow performance on "Add New Item" from SSDT project
· Absence of debugger functionality due to errors in assembly registration
· Publish fails with no message when "extended verification" is disabled
· SSDT overwrites Visual Studio shortcut on Windows8
· Steps to edit and save a Publish Profile editor aren’t intuitive”
The Flying Maverick 