Add or remove quotes for identifiers

The Add or remove quotes for identifiers feature enables you to add or remove quotes for identifiers within the current SQL document or a selected code block, without changing their case. This feature doesn’t affect text in strings (' '), quotes (" "), or comments (--, /* */). It also doesn’t change the original identifier case.

Add quotes to identifiers

You can add quotes to all identifiers in one of these ways:

• In the top menu, select Edit > Advanced > Add Quotes to All Identifiers.
• Right-click anywhere in a SQL document and select Refactoring > Add Quotes to All Identifiers.
• Press Ctrl+K, Ctrl+[.

Tip

To undo the change, press Ctrl+Z. The script returns to its previous state, and the cursor position remains unchanged.

Remove quotes from identifiers

You can remove unnecessary quotes from all identifiers in one of these ways:

• In the top menu, select Edit > Advanced > Remove Unnecessary Quotes.
• Right-click anywhere in a SQL document and select Refactoring > Remove Unnecessary Quotes.
• Press Ctrl+K, Ctrl+].

Note

Remove Unnecessary Quotes doesn’t affect identifiers that:

• Contain spaces.
• Contain special symbols, for example, @, $, or %.
• Match the keywords, for example, SELECT or FROM.
• Contain uppercase characters.

Example

The following script shows identifiers before quotes are added:

SELECT first_name, "last_name" FROM customer;
 
SELECT 'SELECT first_name, "last_name" FROM customer' AS query_string;
 
DO $plpgsql$
DECLARE
"v_first_name" VARCHAR(50);
v_last_name VARCHAR(50);
BEGIN
FOR v_first_name, v_last_name IN
SELECT c.first_name AS f_name, c.last_name AS l_name
FROM customer AS c
LOOP
RAISE NOTICE 'Customer: %, %', v_first_name, v_last_name;
END LOOP;
END;
$plpgsql$;
 
SELECT s."ORDER", s."test" FROM "SELECT" s

After you use Add Quotes to All Identifiers, all applicable identifiers are enclosed in quotes automatically.

SELECT "first_name", "last_name" FROM "customer";
 
SELECT 'SELECT first_name, "last_name" FROM customer' AS "query_string";
 
DO $plpgsql$
DECLARE
"v_first_name" VARCHAR(50);
"v_last_name" VARCHAR(50);
BEGIN
FOR "v_first_name", "v_last_name" IN
SELECT "c"."first_name" AS "f_name", "c"."last_name" AS "l_name"
FROM "customer" AS "c"
LOOP
RAISE NOTICE 'Customer: %, %', "v_first_name", "v_last_name";
END LOOP;
END;
$plpgsql$;
 
SELECT "s"."ORDER", "s"."test" FROM "SELECT" "s"