How to: Open Tables

You can open a table in Table Designer to view or edit its structure. Note that Table Designer does not commit changes you make to the table until you save your changes.

Note

A new version of Table Designer appears for databases in the SQL Server 2012 format. This topic describes the old version of Table Designer, which you use with databases in earlier formats of SQL Server.

In the new version, you can change a table definition through a graphical interface or directly in a script pane. If you use the graphical interface, the table’s definition is automatically updated in the script pane. To apply the SQL code in the script pane, choose the Update button. For more information about the new version, see How to: Create Database Objects Using Table Designer.

Note

Your computer might show different names or locations for some of the Visual Studio user interface elements in the following instructions. The Visual Studio edition that you have and the settings that you use determine these elements. For more information, see Customizing Development Settings in Visual Studio.

To open a table in Table Designer

  1. From the View menu, click Server Explorer.

  2. In Server Explorer, select the database table you want to open.

  3. From the Data menu, click Open Table Definition.

The table opens in Table Designer.

See Also

Tasks

How to: Create Tables

How to: Save Your Work in Table Designer

Other Resources

Working with Tables in Table Designer