User types

A user-defined type is a data type that is defined to the database using a CREATE TYPE statement.

Database Explorer allows you to perform operations on user types using the shortcut menu. Right-click a user type in Database Explorer to access commands for specific tasks, such as generating a script for objects.

Create a user type

You can create a user type in SQL Editor in one of these ways:

• Code completion to write a script.
• SQL snippets to insert predefined or custom code.

Duplicate a user type

1. In Database Explorer, right-click a required user type and select Duplicate Object.

2. In the Duplicate Object dialog, configure the object settings:

• In Destination connection, select the target server.
• In Destination database, select the target database.
• In Destination schema, select the target schema.
• In New object name, specify the object name.
• Select Drop destination object to drop the destination object if it already exists.
• Optional: Select Script Changes, then select To New SQL Window to open the generated script in a new SQL document, or To Clipboard to copy it to the clipboard.

3. Click OK.

Delete a user type

1. In Database Explorer, right-click the user type you want to delete and select Delete, or press Delete.

2. Click Yes to confirm the deletion.

Note

You cannot undo the drop operation, as this action permanently deletes its structure. It is recommended that you back up the database before deleting it.

Generate a script for a user type

1. In Database Explorer, right-click a required user type and select Generate Script As, then select the statement type.

2. Select the output option:

• To New SQL Window – Opens the script in a new SQL document.
• To File – Generates the script to a .sql file.
• To Clipboard – Copies the script to the clipboard.

For more information, see Generate the DDL and DML statements for database objects.

View properties of a user type

To view properties of a user type, in Database Explorer, right-click the user type or User Types node and select Show Details.

Object Viewer opens and provides detailed information about the user type.

Refresh user types

To update the user type to reflect the latest changes, in Database Explorer, right-click the user type or User Types node and select Refresh, or press F5.

Open the Properties window

To open the Properties window, in Database Explorer, right-click the user type and select Properties, or press F4.

Filter user types

1. In Database Explorer, right-click the Data Types, Table Types, CLR Types, or XML Schema Collections node and select Filter.

2. In the Filter Settings dialog, configure the filter parameters.

3. Click OK to apply the filter.

Note

When you open the Data Types, Table Types, CLR Types, or XML Schema Collections node, the number of objects it contains appears in parentheses next to the node name. This number changes based on your filter settings.

Shortcut menu options for a specific user type

The following table describes the shortcut menu options, which appear when you right-click a specific user type in Database Explorer.

Name	Description
Source Control > Source Control Manager	Opens Source Control Manager, where you can track and manage changes to database schema and static data. When Source Control Manager is already open, this option refreshes it.
Source Control > Commit	Opens Source Control Manager with all local changes (if any) selected and ready to commit. When Source Control Manager is already open, this option refreshes it and selects all local database changes.
Source Control > Get Latest	Opens Source Control Manager with all remote changes (if any) selected, ready to pull using Get Latest. When Source Control Manager is already open, this option refreshes it and selects all remote database changes.
Duplicate Object	Opens the Duplicate Object dialog to duplicate the user type. The option is unavailable for a CLR user type.
Generate Script As	Generates a script of the selected object using the CREATE, DROP, and DROP and CREATE statements. The script can be saved to a new SQL document or to a file, or copied to the clipboard.
Show Details	Opens Object Viewer to view object details.
Delete	Drops the selected user type from the database. Shortcut: Delete
Refresh	Updates the object to reflect the latest changes. Shortcut: F5
Properties	Opens the Properties pane to view the object information. Shortcut: F4

Shortcut menu options for the User Types node

The following table describes the shortcut menu options, which appear when you right-click the User Types node in Database Explorer.

Name	Description
Source Control > Source Control Manager	Opens Source Control Manager, where you can track and manage changes to database schema and static data. When Source Control Manager is already open, this option refreshes it.
Source Control > Commit	Opens Source Control Manager with all local changes (if any) selected and ready to commit. When Source Control Manager is already open, this option refreshes it and selects all local database changes.
Source Control > Get Latest	Opens Source Control Manager with all remote changes (if any) selected, ready to pull using Get Latest. When Source Control Manager is already open, this option refreshes it and selects all remote database changes.
Show Details	Opens Object Viewer to view object details.
Refresh	Updates the object to reflect the latest changes. Shortcut: F5

Note

The Source Control shortcut menu is available only after you link the corresponding database to a source-control system.