Shared connection doesn't work

I use SQL Server Management Studio 2008, and I switch around quite a lot between many different servers and databases.
On my old computer, SQL Assistant used to be able to follow the active connection of SSMS - but after I got a new one, it pops up and asks for server and database name. If I then supply that information and later switch to another database in SSMS, SQL Assistant stays on the old connection (resulting in chaos).

From the user guide I can see that the feature I am referring to is called "Shared connections". But I don't see anything about how I get it to work, or what to do if it's not working. I feel I have checked every possible setting, without finding anything that looks useful.

My boss said he didn't even know the feature existed, because it has never worked on any of his machines. But it worked fine on my old one, so I am not ready to accept defeat.

Any assistance is greatly appreciated. SQL Assistant is the most important tool in my everyday work (apart from maybe SSMS itself), and the shared connection feature is vital to me.

Nevermind, problem solved. Apparently the trick is to run both SQL Assistant and SSMS as an administrator.

Glad you were able to solve the mystery. Technically you only to need to run it once as Administrator and register the add-on. After that SSMS should be able to load the add-on.

Okay, thanks for the tip.

You might want to consider adding this information to a future version of your user guide. It can probably save some people a lot of frustration.

Or even better, a notification should pop up along with the form that asks the user to supply the connection information manually. That would be top notch user-friendliness right there.

Anyway, thanks for your reply and for making a great product.

It is already documented in CHAPTER 19 Installation. The User's Guide grows with every version and becomes more difficult to find the stuff.

Thank you very much for your kind words. We are looking forward to enhancing this product and making it easier and more intuitive.

I too experience this issue. I tried "Run as Admin.." option on SQLAssi exe and SQLServer mgt .studio exe but no use.
I am still getting connection build dialog. Pl fix this issue as soon as possible. It is really anoying! I am using WINXP+SP3+ SQL2005 Express.

Hi, Do you have SQL Assistant Add-on for SSMS registered? What is the current value in the Advanced options for the target, in "Register SQL Assistant Add-on" option?

the value for "Register SQL Assistant Add-on" is YES.
I am really fed-up using the latest ver, it is keep on asking me connection build dialog whenever I switch to diff DB within SQL SERVER / ORACLE. This was not happaning in previous ver of SQL Assistance. Bcoz of this issue, I am force to use previous ver which is working fine.

Are you saying that it was working ok in 4.6 and not working in 4.7? Which 4.6.x build did you use before installing 4.7?
Which versions and build number of SSMS Express are you using?
Do you know whether your version is using ADO.NET or ODBC connections?

Thanks.

In addition to the previous questions, please answer the following:

1. Which version of SQL Server Management Studio is used (please see help/about)?
2. What is the name of the executable file, SqlWb.exe, ssmsee.exe, ssms.exe, or something else?
3. How this issue can be reproduced? running some script, using database name drop-down, something else?

Well… without answers to the above questions I'm unable to help you.

I have posted general troubleshooting steps for everyone who is experiencing problems with shared connections in SSMS. Please see

http://www.softtreetech.com/support/phpBB2/viewtopic.php?t=22943

same problem here... it works with version 4.6, but no luck with 4.7.

We have downloaded the trial version of sql assistant 4.7.11, and shared connections do not work with SQL Server Management Studio 2005 (Enterprise Version) + Win Xp Sp3. Each time you start typing in SQL Server Management Studio, the connection dialog box pops up and sql assistant asks to connect to a server.

Note that all the users are Administrators and it seems that the SSMS addon has been registered correctly. Moreover, I would like to note that it works perfectly with SQL Analyzer 2000.

Following that, a colleague suggested to downgrade to version 4.6 and it worked as expected.Also, using version 4.6, it seems that it works even without the SSMS addon.

Since we are interested in buying a number of licenses for this product, we would like to know whether this issue has been resolved in version 4.8. Is it a known issue with v. 4.7.11?

thanks a lot.

Hi,

Yes, this is a known issue. It appears that on some systems common Microsoft DLL Extensibility.dll is not installed and without that DLL the add-on fails to load. Luckily, it is easy to copy this small DLL from a different computer. You can place it into data subfolder of SQL Assistant installation folder.

Please give it a try, and check if that works for you.

Also, if you like to try 4.8.x and ensure it is compatible with your systems, before this version is released, send an email to support and ask for a private build download link.

thanks for answering.

I will try this, but one more thing, how does version 4.6 work WITHOUT installing the SSMS addon? We installed sql assistant without the addon and it works as expected. I am just trying to understand whether this addon is really necessary.