SQL Server : newline character

Question

I have a programming language that does not allow me to write queries on multiple lines. It has to be written all in a single line.

I am unable to send a GO command because it has to be in a new line..

So for example, this does not work:

insert into mytable (field1, filed2) values (1, 2), (3, 4); go

as it should be

insert into mytable (field1, filed2) values (1, 2), (3, 4); 
go

I've tried multiple things but none worked:

insert into mytable (field1, filed2) values (1,2),(3,4); \r go

insert into mytable (field1, filed2) values (1,2),(3,4); \r\n go

insert into mytable (field1, filed2) values (1,2),(3,4); $r$n go

insert into mytable (field1, filed2) values (1,2),(3,4); char(10) go

insert into mytable (field1, filed2) values (1,2),(3,4); char(13) go

Is there a way to write it inline, and have SQL Server use it as 2 different lines?

Answer 1

GO is not part of the TSQL language. It is used and recognized only by SSMS and sqlcmd to cut your script into parts ("batches"), and then each part is compiled and run separately, one after the other.

The reason that SSMS and sqlcmd work this way this is that it makes it possible to have e.g. a CREATE TABLE statement, followed by INSERT statements for that table. The INSERT-part will only compile if the table already exists, and that will be the case only after the CREATE has been run.

It is OK to combine multiple INSERTs into one statement. When in doubt about where the next statement should start, you can add a semicolon (;) to mark the end of the previous statement.