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Editorial Team
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Asked: 2026-05-24T18:22:14+00:00

I’ve tried a few different google searches but can’t find any best practices or

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I’ve tried a few different google searches but can’t find any best practices or tutorials that address this.

This is the first time I’ve used a VS database project. I’ve imported an existing database (everything looks fine) and now I want to populate some of the tables post-deployment.

There is a Script.PostDeployment.sql file that includes the following header:

/*
Post-Deployment Script Template                         
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
 This file contains SQL statements that will be appended to the build script.       
 Use SQLCMD syntax to include a file in the post-deployment script.         
 Example:      :r .\myfile.sql                              
 Use SQLCMD syntax to reference a variable in the post-deployment script.       
  Example:      :setvar TableName MyTable                           
           SELECT * FROM [$(TableName)]                 
 --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
*/

I’m wondering if from the last three lines there is some expected way to write these scripts using variables instead of just pure T-SQL syntax?

Should I be writing

INSERT INTO [dbo].[BlackAdder] VALUES ('edmund')
INSERT INTO [dbo].[BlackAdder] VALUES ('baldrick')

or

setvar [dbo].[BlackAdder] BlackAdder
INSERT INTO [$(BlackAdder)] VALUES ('edmund')
INSERT INTO [$(BlackAdder)] VALUES ('baldrick')

Does the latter allow some sort of compile-time check so that if setvar cannot resolve [dbo].[BlackAdder] that the project will give me some error?

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1 Answer

  1. Editorial Team

    If you open the project Properties folder, and click on Database.sqlcmvars you will see 3 vars already defined $(DefaultDataPath), $(DtabaseName) and $(DefaultLogPath) and can define your own here.

    The setvar would be the other way around:

    :setvar BlackAdder [dbo].[BlackAdder]

    but ideally you define these in Database.sqlcmvars.

    The intended use is for deploying your database project into multiple environments by defining SQLCMD variables and including them in your pre-deployment and post-deployment scripts.

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