SA0042B : Avoid using special characters in object names

The topic describes the SA0042B analysis rule.

Message

Avoid using special characters in object names

Description

The rule checks the T-SQL code for creation of database objects with special characters in the name.

Naming a database object by using any special character (space, tab, newline, left square bracket, right square bracket, single quotation mark and double quotation mark) will make it more difficult not only to reference that object, but also to read code that contains the name of that object.

How to fix

Rename the reported database object and remove the special characters from its name.

Scope

The rule has a Batch scope and is applied only on the SQL script.

Parameters

Rule has no parameters.

Remarks

The rule does not need Analysis Context or SQL Connection.

Effort To Fix
3 minutes per issue.
Categories

Naming Rules, Code Smells

Additional Information

There is no additional info for this rule.

Example Test SQL
SQL
Copy
 1CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Table1]
 2( 
 3        [ID] INT NOT NULL IDENTITY(0, 1), 
 4        [Small'String] VARCHAR(10), -- contains special characters ( ' )
 5        [Small"String] VARCHAR(10), -- contains special characters ( " )
 6        [Small String] VARCHAR(10), -- contains special characters ( space )
 7        [Small        String] VARCHAR(10), -- contains special characters ( tab )
 8        [Small[String] VARCHAR(10), -- contains special characters ( square bracket )
 9    [Small]]String] VARCHAR(10) -- contains special characters ( square bracket )    
10)
11ON [PRIMARY]
12
13CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Table2]
14( 
15[ID] INT NOT NULL IDENTITY(0, 1), 
16[SmallString] VARCHAR(10)
17)
18ON [PRIMARY]
Analysis Results
  Message Line Column
1 SA0042B : The name of the column [Small’String] contains quote character. 4 1
2 SA0042B : The name of the column [Small”String] contains quote character. 5 1
3 SA0042B : The name of the column [Small String] contains whitespace character. 6 1
4 SA0042B : The name of the column [Small String] contains whitespace character. 7 1
5 SA0042B : The name of the column [Small[String] contains square bracket character. 8 1
6 SA0042B : The name of the column [Small]]String] contains square bracket character. 9 4
See Also

Other Resources

Analysis Rules