Execute SQL statement from command prompt

Many a time we run into requirement of executing simple SQL scripts using command prompt. Microsoft gives us a utility called "sqlcmd" just for that.

Following is a very simple query executed using this tool:

sqlcmd -S .\SQLEXPRESS -E -Q "Drop Database SampleDB"

Where SampleDB is the database name i want to drop, -S switch specifies the server instance, -E switch specifies that i want to use trusted connection and -Q switch specifies the SQL query i want to execute.

This tool is quite powerful and there are several switches that you can use to meet different requirements. You can open command prompt and see help (sqlcmd /?) for all the different switches that it supports.