Return value of SQLCMD

Question

I need to check the exit status (success/failure) of a query run through SQLCMD utility. For example, the server I am connecting doesn't have a database name EastWind. Then, the command below fails with the message ...

> "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\SQLCMD.EXE"       -S ZEPHIR -E -Q "USE WestWind" Changed database context to 'WestWind'. > echo %errorlevel% 0 > "C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\100\Tools\Binn\SQLCMD.EXE"       -S ZEPHIR -E -Q "USE EastWind" Database 'EastWind' does not exist. Make sure that the name is entered correctly > echo %errorlevel% 0 

I see that the return value is the same in both the cases. How can I check if a command has failed in SQLCMD?

Answer 1

You need to use the -V option

Note: That's a capital -V, not a lowercase -v.

Example:

> SQLCMD.EXE -S whatever -E -V16 -Q "USE does_not_exist"   Msg 911, Level 16, State 1, ...   Could not locate entry ... > echo %ERRORLEVEL%   16 

Update: Alternatively, you can use the -b option, which has different semantics to the execution (the whole batch stops on the first error). YMMV.

Example:

> SQLCMD.EXE -S whatever -E -b -Q "USE does_not_exist"   Msg 911, Level 16, State 1, ...   Could not locate entry ... > echo %ERRORLEVEL%   1 

You can also combine -b and -V.