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How to copy a large result set from SQL Server Management Studio to Excel

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So you’ve tried copying and pasting the results of a query into an excel file only to get the out of memory exception. Now the fun starts!

There are multiple options to achieve copying data from SQL Server Management Studio to excel however most of them are a pain.

You’ve tried the save as option but the csv and text files have jumbled up content. You could use the Management Studio export function, but this is intended for physical tables not results sets and you might not have the permissions to create tables in the environment. You could use the bcp Utility but you’ve probably read leaving this option turned on represents a security risk. You could create an SSIS package . . . yeah that’s an efficient and effective option when you just want the damn results of an ad hoc query!!!

I’d suggest splitting the result set into chunks. You can then copy and paste the chunks into the excel file without running out of memory. Sure it’s kinda manual but trust me it’ll take less time than the options above.

I’d wager you probably only need the result set split into two, so you’ve to copy and paste twice rather than once. Not that big a deal right? I’ve even provided some code below that will really move things along.

Start by writing your query results into a temporary tablet called #QueryResult, for example SELECT * INTO #QueryResult FROM TableName.

Then all you need to do is determine how many segments you need. NTILE(n) is a function that allocates your output into n segments, each of the same size (give or take rounding when the number of rows isn’t divisible by n).

So this produces an output like:

Id Name Ntile
1 Mickey 1
2 Leo 1
3 Raph 2
4 Donnie 2

Start by leaving n set to the default of 2. Once the data is written to the table #QueryResult run the code below in the same SSMS window the temp table was created in. Running the code should produce the same number of returned result sets as the n value you provided. Use a higher n number to create more segments if you still run out of memory when you try to copy and paste the first segment.

/*
Write your query results to a temp table here
i.e. SELECT * INTO #QueryResult FROM TableName
*/
DECLARE @n INT
DECLARE @i INT

/*
Set n to how many segments/results set returned you need
*/
SET @n = 2
SET @i = 1

SELECT *
	,NTILE(@n) OVER (
		ORDER BY RowNum
		) AS NtileGroup
INTO #Export
FROM (
	SELECT ROW_NUMBER() OVER (
			ORDER BY (
					SELECT NULL
					)
			) AS RowNum
		,*
	FROM #QueryResult
	) AS a

WHILE @i <= @n
BEGIN
	SELECT *
	FROM #Export
	WHERE NtileGroup = @i
	ORDER BY RowNum ASC

	SET @i = @i + 1
END

DROP TABLE #QueryResult

DROP TABLE #Export

 

So that’s it, you should now be able to copy and paste your results. Maybe someday in the future Microsoft will add the option of saving results directly to excel . . .

How to get MS SQL Server job history using a stored procedure

Database Administrator, dba, Development, Reporting, sql, SQL Server, SSRS, T-SQL, tsql, , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,

In a previous article (see article) I provided simple queries to return the server’s job history. It’s only natural that when you find yourself running the same script over and over again eventually you’ll get around to turning it into a stored procedure.

Well today was the day.

You can use the script below to create the Stored Procedure usp_GetJobHistory.

To deploy the SP to your instance you’ll need to replace the text PLACEHOLDER with the name of the database you’ll be deploying to. Ideally you should have a utility or administration database rather than deploying to Master.

The SP has 5 parameters.

Parameter Datatype Options Definition
@DaysToPull INT Any Number How many days of history you want
working back from today
@Status VARCHAR One of the following: All’, ‘Succeeded’, ‘Failed’,
‘Retried’, ‘Cancelled’, NULL		 Will limited the rows returned
based on the status of the entry
@SortOrder VARCHAR ASC or DESC The occurrence order i.e. oldest to newest
@JobName VARCHAR Any Text Used in a LIKE operator to find jobs containing that text
@ReturnSql BIT 0, 1 or NULL Returns the SQL you can modify or
run to return the history

Example command:

Create the SQL code to return the job history for jobs containing the work backup that failed in the past day sorted by newest to oldest.

EXEC dbo.GetJobHistory @DaysToPull = 1
,@SortOrder = ‘DESC’
,@Status = ‘Failed’
,@JobName = ‘Backup’
,@ReturnSql = 1

Tip: you could use this to create a SSRS report that could be published daily to notify stakeholders of any job failures.

-- REPLACE PLACEHOLDER
USE [PLACEHOLDER];
GO

IF OBJECT_ID('[usp_GetJobHistory]') IS NULL
	EXEC ('CREATE PROCEDURE dbo.[usp_GetJobHistory] AS SELECT 1')
GO

ALTER PROCEDURE [dbo].[usp_GetJobHistory] @DaysToPull INT
	,@Status VARCHAR(9) = NULL
	,@SortOrder VARCHAR(4) = NULL
	,@JobName VARCHAR(256) = NULL
	,@ReturnSql BIT = NULL
AS
BEGIN
	-- =============================================
	-- Author:      Bloggins
	-- Create date: 20170420
	-- Description: <Query to retrieve job history bypassing SSMS inbuilt viewer>
	-- Website: https://techtidbytes.wordpress.com/
	-- =============================================
	SET NOCOUNT ON

	BEGIN TRY
		-- Variable Declarations 
		DECLARE @PreviousDate DATETIME
		DECLARE @Year VARCHAR(4)
		DECLARE @Month VARCHAR(2)
		DECLARE @MonthPre VARCHAR(2)
		DECLARE @Day VARCHAR(2)
		DECLARE @DayPre VARCHAR(2)
		DECLARE @FinalDate INT
		DECLARE @StatusClause AS VARCHAR(255)
		DECLARE @Sql AS VARCHAR(MAX)

		IF @SortOrder IS NULL
			OR (
				@SortOrder <> 'ASC'
				AND @SortOrder <> 'DESC'
				)
		BEGIN
			SET @SortOrder = 'ASC'
		END

		IF @Status = 'All'
			OR @Status IS NULL
			OR (
				@Status <> 'All'
				AND @Status <> 'Failed'
				AND @Status <> 'Succeeded'
				AND @Status <> 'Retried'
				AND @Status <> 'Cancelled'
				)
		BEGIN
			SET @StatusClause = '0, 1, 2, 3'
		END
		ELSE IF @Status = 'Failed'
		BEGIN
			SET @StatusClause = '0'
		END
		ELSE IF @Status = 'Succeeded'
		BEGIN
			SET @StatusClause = '1'
		END
		ELSE IF @Status = 'Retried'
		BEGIN
			SET @StatusClause = '2'
		END
		ELSE IF @Status = 'Cancelled'
		BEGIN
			SET @StatusClause = '3'
		END

		SET @PreviousDate = DATEADD(dd, - @DaysToPull, GETDATE())
		SET @Year = DATEPART(yyyy, @PreviousDate)

		SELECT @MonthPre = CONVERT(VARCHAR(2), DATEPART(mm, @PreviousDate))

		SELECT @Month = RIGHT(CONVERT(VARCHAR, (@MonthPre + 1000000000)), 2)

		SELECT @DayPre = CONVERT(VARCHAR(2), DATEPART(dd, @PreviousDate))

		SELECT @Day = RIGHT(CONVERT(VARCHAR, (@DayPre + 1000000000)), 2)

		SET @FinalDate = CAST(@Year + @Month + @Day AS INT)
		/*RunDuration FORMAT (DD:HH:MM:SS)*/
		SET @Sql = '
SELECT ROW_NUMBER() OVER(ORDER BY h.instance_id ' + @SortOrder + ' ) AS Row
	,h.Server AS ServerName
	,s.database_name AS DbName
	,j.name AS JobName
	,s.step_name AS StepName
	,h.step_id AS StepId
	,CASE 
		WHEN h.run_status = 0
			THEN ''Failed''
		WHEN h.run_status = 1
			THEN ''Succeeded''
		WHEN h.run_status = 2
			THEN ''Retried''
		WHEN h.run_status = 3
			THEN ''Cancelled''
		END AS RunStatus
	,MSDB.DBO.AGENT_DATETIME(h.run_date, h.run_time) AS RunTime
	,STUFF(STUFF(STUFF(RIGHT(REPLICATE(''0'', 8) + CAST(h.run_duration AS VARCHAR(8)), 8), 3, 0, '':''), 6, 0, '':''), 9, 0, '':'') AS RunDuration
	,h.sql_severity AS SqlSeverity
	,h.message AS MessageReturned
FROM msdb.dbo.sysjobhistory h
INNER JOIN msdb.dbo.sysjobs j ON h.job_id = j.job_id
INNER JOIN msdb.dbo.sysjobsteps s ON j.job_id = s.job_id
	AND h.step_id = s.step_id
WHERE h.run_status IN (' + @StatusClause + ')
	AND h.run_date > ' + CONVERT(VARCHAR(255), @FinalDate)

		IF @JobName IS NOT NULL
		BEGIN
			SET @Sql = @Sql + '
AND j.name LIKE ' + '''' + '%' + @JobName + '%' + '''' + ''
		END

		SET @Sql = @Sql + '
ORDER BY h.instance_id ' + @SortOrder

		IF @ReturnSql = 1
		BEGIN
			PRINT (@Sql)
		END
		ELSE
		BEGIN
			EXEC (@Sql)
		END
	END TRY

	BEGIN CATCH
		PRINT 'error!'

		DECLARE @error_number AS INTEGER
		DECLARE @error_message AS VARCHAR(400)

		SET @error_number = error_number()
		SET @error_message = left(error_message(), 400)

		PRINT 'error_message: ' + @error_message
	END CATCH
END