Coming from an Oracle background, Oracle's SQLPlus would let you indicate a variable. If the variable wasn't set, you'd be prompted to provide a value.
I'm using SQLCMD, using the $([var_name]) syntax. In SSMS SQLCMD mode, I get:
A fatal scripting error occurred.
Variable tbl_name is not defined.
...for trying to run:
SELECT COUNT(*) FROM $(tbl_name)
Does SQLCMD provide the same functionality as SQLPlus? If so, what am I doing wrong?
SQLCMD does not support prompting for missing variable names. However, you can use SSMS in SQLCMD mode. Dunno how you're error was caused, but this works for me:
:setvar table "sys.tables"
SELECT * FROM $(table);
There is a free tool "SQLS*Plus" which is an SQL*Plus for SQL Server. Works with SQL Server 2000/2005 and 2008
Very flexible with data formatting (set lines size, pagesize, etc), variables (&, &&), spool, etc - light years better than isql, osql or sqlcmd
I downloaded SQLS*Plus from http://www.memfix.com
来源：https://stackoverflow.com/questions/3302225/sqlcmd-prompt-for-variable