13. Using SQL Workbench/J specific annotations in SQL comments

13.1. Naming result tabs
13.2. Adding macros to the result's context menu
13.3. Re-using an existing named result tab
13.4. Scrolling the result
13.5. Appending a results
13.6. Suppressing empty results
13.7. Automatic refresh of the result

By adding special comments to a SQL (select) statement, you can influence the way the result is displayed in SQL Workbench/J. This comments are called "annotations" and must be included in a comment preceding the statement that is executed. The comment can be a single line or multi-line SQL comment

13.1. Naming result tabs

You can change the name of the result tab associated with a statement. To give a result set a name, use the annotation @WbResult followed by the name that should appear as the result's name.

The following examples executes two statements. The result for the first will be labelled "List of contacts" and the second will be labelled "List of companies":

-- @WbResult List of contacts
SELECT * FROM person;

/*
 @WbResult List of companies
 this will retrieve all companies from the database
*/
SELECT * FROM company;

The result name that is used, will be everything after the annotation's keyword until the end of the line.

For the second select (with the multi-line comment), the name of the result tab will be List of companies, the comment on the second line will not be considered.

13.2. Adding macros to the result's context menu

The annotation @WbMacro can be used to add macros to the context menu of the result.

When such a macro is executed, the values of all columns of the currently selected row will be defined as variables that are usable in the macro. The result of the macro will always be appended to the current result regardless of the setting in the macro definition.

[Important]

Variables which are defined by invocation of a macro from this menu item will not be deleted after the macro has been executed.

Assume the following macro with the name "Person Address":

select *
from address
where person_id = $[id];

and the following SQL query:

-- @WbMacro name="Person Address"
select id, firstname, lastname
from person;

The context menu of the result will then contain a new submenu: MacrosPerson Address. The variables $[id], $[firstname] and $[lastname] will contain the values of the currently selected row when the macro is executed.

It is also possible to re-map the column names to different variable names.

-- @WbMacro name="Person Address" map="id:PersonID"
select id, firstname, lastname
from person;

In this case a variable named PersonID will be created with the value of the id column from the selected row.

The map parameter can be repeated several times to re-map multiple columns, e.g. map=p_id:PersonID map=o_id:OrderID

It is possible to specify more than one macro for the context menu:

-- @WbMacro name="Person Address" map="id:PersonID"
-- @WbMacro name="Customer Orders" map="id:PersonOrderID"
select id, firstname, lastname
from person;

A macro can only be executed from the menu when exactly one row is selected in the result.

You can assign a title to the result by using the @WbResult annotation based on a variable in the macro:

-- @WbResult Addresses for $[firstname] $[lastname]
select *
from address
where person_id = $[PersonID];

13.3. Re-using an existing named result tab

If the result of a query should be displayed in an existing result tab, the annotation @WbUseTab together with a tab name can be used. If this annotation is present and a result tab with that name already exists, the existing result will be replaced with the new result. If no result tab with that name exists, a new tab (with the supplied name) will be created.

[Note]
Re-using a result tab only works if SQLAppend new results is enabled. You can combine @WbUseTab with the @WbAppendResult annotation to force re-using an existing result even though the option is turned off.

If the following query is run for the second time, the existing data will be replaced with the newly retrieved data:

-- @WbUseTab List of contacts
SELECT * FROM person;

13.4. Scrolling the result

The annotation @WbScrollTo can be used to automatically scroll a result set after it has been retrieved to a specific row number. The row number has to be supplied using a # sign:

-- @WbScrollTo #100
SELECT *
FROM person;

In addition to a row number, the special values end or last (without a #) are also recognized. When they are supplied, the result is automatically scrolled to the last row. This is useful when displaying the contents of log tables.

-- @WbScrollTo end
SELECT *
FROM activity_log;

13.5. Appending a results

The annotation @WbAppendResult can be used to always append the result of the associated query regardless of the current setting of SQLAppend new results.

13.6. Suppressing empty results

To suppress an empty result, the annotation @WbRemoveEmpty can be used. If a query returns no rows and contains this annotation, no result tab will be created. No warning or message will be shown if this happens!

13.7. Automatic refresh of the result

To automatically refresh a result in a defined interval, the @WbRefresh annotation can be used. The interval is specified as a parameter to the annotation:

-- @WbRefresh 15s
SELECT *
FROM pg_stat_activity;

The automatic refresh can also be enabled through the context menu of the result tab.