Error List Window (Management Studio)
The SQL Server Management Studio Error List displays the syntax and semantic errors that are generated from the IntelliSense code in the Database Engine Query Editor.
Features of the Error List
The Error List provides the following functionality:
As you edit scripts, the Error List displays the errors and warnings produced by IntelliSense in the Database Engine Query Editor.
You can double-click any error message entry to focus on the tab for the script file that generated the error, and move to the error location.
You can filter which entries you want to display, and which columns of information you want appear for each entry.
After you fix an error, the error entry is removed from the Error List.
When you close the tab for a Transact-SQL script file, the errors for that file are removed from the Error List.
Working with the Error List
To display the Error List, do one of the following:
On the View menu, click Error List.
Enter the keyboard shortcut CTRL+\, CTRL+E.
After you open the Error List, you can customize your view by performing the following actions:
To sort the list, click any column header. To sort again by an additional column, press and hold the SHIFT key, and then click another column header.
To select which columns are displayed and which are hidden, select Show Columns from the shortcut menu.
To change the order in which columns are displayed, drag any column header to the left or right.
The Error List does not link to additional information about specific errors.
Transact-SQL Errors in Management Studio
SQL Server Management Studio displays errors for Transact-SQL scripts in the following locations:
The Error List contains all syntax and semantic errors found by IntelliSense in the Database Engine Editor. This list of errors is dynamically updated as you edit Transact-SQL scripts. The list includes all errors that the editor has found in each Transact-SQL script. The editor does not stop parsing a file after encountering errors in a script. In SQL Server 2008, IntelliSense in the Database Engine Editor does not support all Transact-SQL syntax elements. The Error List contains only errors from the Transact-SQL syntax that is supported by IntelliSense.
The Messages tab at the bottom of the Database Engine Query Editor window displays all errors and messages that are returned by the SQL Server Database Engine when a Transact-SQL script is executed. This list does not change until you execute the script again. The Database Engine stops parsing a batch after it finds one or two compile errors; therefore, the Messages tab might not list all errors in a script.
Sometimes errors are listed in both locations. For example, a script file might have a syntax error that is listed in the Error List. If you execute the script before you correct the error, the Database Engine parser can detect the same condition and return another copy of the error message in the Messages tab.
Note
The Error List only displays errors from the Database Engine Query Editor; it does not display errors from the MDX, DMX, or XML/A Editors. All MDX, DMX, and XML/A errors are displayed in the Messages tab in those editors.
When the Error List is open, the information is displayed in the following columns:
Default Order
Displays an integer that indicates the order in which an entry was generated.Description
Displays the text of the error entry. Lengthy descriptions wrap onto additional lines.File
Displays the name of the script file that generated the error.Line
Displays an integer that indicates which line of the code includes the error.Column
Displays an integer that indicates the position of the error in the line of code.Project
Displays the name of the project that includes the script file.