How to preview the exact SQL each database will receive

A script with variables is not the script that runs. Each database gets its own version, and a typo in a variable value is cheapest to find before you press run.

Preview with Ctrl+Shift+V

With your script open and a target group selected, press Ctrl+Shift+V. A dialog shows the SQL one target will receive, after substitution, and names that target at the top.

For example, this script:

USE {{target.database|ident}};
UPDATE dbo.Settings SET Region = {{region}} WHERE Id = {{settingId}};

previews as the real statement for that database, with the database name quoted as an identifier, the region as a string literal and the id validated as a number.

What to look for

• The database name matches the target named at the top.
• Quoting is right. text and identifier variables are escaped for you, and a number that is not a number fails before anything runs.
• Raw substitutions are flagged. If a variable is raw, its value becomes part of the SQL verbatim, and the preview warns you. Use |literal or |ident unless the value really is SQL.

Make it a habit before anything you cannot undo. It is the only way to see what a raw variable actually put into your statement.

Read more about the four variable types.