How to format SQLCMD output

Question

I am using below command line to run a SQL query using SQLCMD

sqlcmd -S Server -Q "select top 100 * From people" -d people -t 10 

The table has 20 columns and when i look at output command line window wraps the text and makes it difficult to read.

I want my results to be displayed the same way it displays in SQL Server Management Studio (properly formatted). I am not looking for any grids, but i need all my columns to be displayed in row 1 and the results properly beneath.

Thanks in advance.

Answer 1

Answer

We can set the width of each column.

C:/> sqlcmd -S my_server

> :setvar SQLCMDMAXVARTYPEWIDTH 30
> :setvar SQLCMDMAXFIXEDTYPEWIDTH 30
> SELECT * from my_table
> go

We can also set it like this: sqlcmd -S my_server -y 30 -Y 30.

Details

SQLCMDMAXVARTYPEWIDTH (-y)

It limits the number of characters that are returned for the large variable length data type

SQLCMDMAXFIXEDTYPEWIDTH (-Y)

Limits the number of characters that are returned for the following data types

Note: setting -y has serious performance implications.

See https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/tools/sqlcmd-utility

Answer 2

Formatting issues usually pop up due to your console window. One solution is to output to the file and use notepad/your favorite editor:

sqlcmd -S myServer -d myDB -E -Q "select top 100 * From people" 
     -o "output.txt"