[6.5.278] $COLUMNS()$ macro anomaly

[6.5.278] $COLUMNS()$ macro anomaly

According to CHAPTER 7 - Using Macro-variables with Text Prefixes and Text Suffixes I'd expect the following snippet

	Code:
	u.$COLUMNS(vertical,sort)$

to have the following results for a table containing columns 'a', 'b' and 'c'

	Quote:
	u.a u.b, u.c,

but I get

	Code:
	u.a, b, c

Removing '.' correctly yields ua, ub, uc (vertically, of course). It seems that '.' does not obey when asked to be part of a prefix.

Please change the snippet code to "u."$COLUMNS(vertical,sort)$

If the prefix or suffix contains any spaces or non-alphanumeric characters, it needs to be taken in double quotes.

Thanks, that worked. I tried to make an advanced version using

	Code:
	"$CURRENT(param1)$."$COLUMNS(vertical,sort)$

but it failed to comply. For "a snippettrigger" and selecting the table created earlier I get

	Code:
	"a."a "b "c

For the time being I replaced the snippet with this:

	Code:
	$$DECLARE @columns VARCHAR(MAX) SET @columns = REPLACE( ' @$COLUMNS(vertical)$ ' , '@', '$CURRENT(param1)$.' ) SELECT @columns$$

but it ruins the formatting. It would be really nice to have the more simple one-line version working.

I'm afraid the dynamic suffix version won't work, the suffix is unknown when $COLUMNS$ macro is evaluated. $COLUMNS$ is executed before $CURRENT$, then results of $CURRENT$ is added to the text.

As far as I understand, macros aren't executed sequentially. They are analyzed for inter-dependencies and then database dependent macros are executed first. For example, if you create a snippet with many macros having $OBJECT$ or $COLUMNS$ references , you still get a single prompt to select the target table name. As you see, the order in which macros appear in the snippet text is not important.

Ohh, I see. Thanks for the explanation. Never mind, the replacement script works, I'll leave it that way.