SSMS 2008 Slow Tab Switching

I am evaluating SQL Assistant to decide if we should buy this product or another. One thing I have noticed is that after installing SQL Assistant it take about 3-5 seconds to switch tabs in SSMS (from one script to another). Is this a known issue? Is there a way I can speed this up?

How long does it typically take to establish a database connection to the server?

Are you switching between connected or disconnected tabs?

connections take 1-2 seconds, all tabs are connected to the same database. No disconnected tabs.

Number 1. Please do me a favor. Open several empty non-connected editor tabs and check how long it takes to switch between them using regular mouse clicks. Then repeat the same for connected tabs. This way we can figure out if the issue is connection related

Number 2. Please let me know if you have installed SQL Assistant add-on for SSMS or running SQL Assistant only from the system tray. To verify, close sys tray icon (right-click icon then use Exit menu) start fresh instance of SSMS, open editor tab and right-click in the editor. Does SQL Assistant menu branch appear in the right-click menu?

and Number 3. Do you have other thrid-party add-ons installed?

1. Connected/Disconnected doesn't seem to change anything. However if the tabbed windows are empty it seems to work fine. It slows when the windows has code. Also Ctrl-Tab is a lot slower than mouse clicks.
2. Context menu is there on a freshly opened SSMS with tray icon closed.
3. No other addons

I also noticed that SSMS is spiking my CPU (~50%) when I change tabs

So, just to restate, empty tabs are ok.

But when they are not empty, how much code do you have there?
How fast is your workstation?

The reasons for my asking, is that beside connection switching SQL Assistant might do code parsing, syntax checking and other things depending on how it is installed and configured, which could potentially contribute to the timing. On a relatively fast system, this is usually unnoticeable. If a slow system, you may need to reconfigure some features, and perhaps disable some. So I'm trying to pinpoint the exact cause of the additional timing so I can advise you on what to change in the config.

200-300 lines each, its a 2.2 ghz dual core laptop with 2GB of ram.

Nothing really special and the system should be fast enough. Parsing 200-300 lines is like nothing. I suspect the issue is caused by slow network/database connection. Let's try turning off real-time syntax checker. Here is how to do that. In any edit tab, right-click and navigate to SQL Assistant menu, SQL Assistant -> Check SQL Syntax -> Auto check -> Off.

Please let us know if this makes any difference.

Ok, it seems to come and go. Ill play with the settings to see if I can figure it out.

Next question, is there an option to not have a header added to a script when its formated (i.e. "Code formatted by SoftTree SQL Assistant") ?

Never mind, I figured it out, uncheck the (header) option :)

Ok, the slowest is really getting to me. Could it have something to do with my project file (has over 1000 scripts in it)?

Also its slow even if I suspend SQL Assistant (may be caused by something unrelated). If I were to uninstall SQL Assistant would it mess up my trial time? Also, would I lose my settings if I were to reinstall?

If you uninstall and then reinstall the trial version, it will continue as if it didn't happen. The only thing is that you would loose any custom settings you may have. Yet it might be a good idea to try it just to verify that the issue is not caused by SQL Assistant. SQL Assistant has nothing to do you with your project files, nor it reads any SSMS settings all the time.

The could be potentially some other software conflict, for example, while SQL Assistant attempts to add something to editors, SSMS takes a long time to redraw things on screen because of the project size, etc…

By the way, SQL Assistant is not specific to SSMS. You can try it with other tools, including Notepad (just enable that target and set it to SQL Server assistance type). You can then check if the slowness is present in these other tools. If yes, the issue is in your network or database connection which is used more often then when without SQL Assistant running (when not suspended). If no, it might be something specific to SSMS. or project settings.

How can I backup my custom settings so I don't have to redo them?

Make a copy of SQLAssist.sas and SQLAssist.sah files from C:\Documents and Settings\%USER%\Application Data\SQL Assistant\4.1 folder. Restore tham after new install.