Forum Discussion
SSMS Dialog Box issue
Using SSMS 21.5.14, but I know this issue has existed in previous versions of SSMS.
When opening a View in Design mode in SSMS, if the View contains a UNION, SSMS pops up a dialog box like the one below. The dialog box immediately hides behind the active SSMS window and sometimes you are not even aware that it has appeared. If I do notice it immediately, I am not able to click the OK button to clear it.
This dialog box sits happily in the background and I can still move around the SSMS interface, however it does some odd things like ignoring certain keypresses when editing stored procedures or trying to make changes in a Query window.
The only option is to exit SSMS completely and start again. When I do exit SSMS, I get the following message:
Has anyone else experienced this and is there a way to prevent it happening?
TIA!
2 Replies
This is a known SSMS bug, especially in versions 18.x through 21.x, that occurs when opening Views containing UNION or UNION ALL in Design mode—the visual designer fails to render the query, triggering a hidden modal dialog that locks parts of the interface. The best solution is to avoid Design mode entirely: go to Tools → Options → Designers and uncheck “Open objects in Design view”, then open views using Script View as → ALTER To → New Query Editor Window to edit them directly in T-SQL. If SSMS is already stuck, try bringing the hidden dialog to focus with Alt+Tab, or close SSMS via Task Manager. Updating to the latest version (21.6 or later) may reduce occurrences, but professionals generally avoid the View Designer for complex queries and manage views strictly through SQL scripts.
It seems that there are several ways to reach such a situation. The problem is solved, but the fix is not available yet:
- https://developercommunity.visualstudio.com/t/SQL-Syntax-Errors-Encountered-Dialog-Box/10935148
