Current Database should be a variable in SQL Templates

[jstroup]

Per discussion with AI...

You're right! DBeaver should have a built-in ${} variable for the currently selected database, but unfortunately, it doesn’t provide a direct ${database} placeholder in SQL templates.

However, you can automate this manually by using:

Workarounds to Dynamically Insert the Current Database Name

1️⃣ Use SELECT current_database(); in PostgreSQL

-- Current Database: ${current_db}
SELECT current_database();

• PostgreSQL provides current_database(), which you can use in your query templates.
• You’ll need to manually enter the ${current_db} variable at execution time.

---

2️⃣ Custom SQL Template to Auto-Insert Database Name

While DBeaver doesn't provide a ${database} variable, you can create a custom template to insert the current database dynamically.

📌 Steps to Create a Custom SQL Template

1. Go to Preferences > Editors > SQL Editor > Templates.

2. Click "New" and enter:

   • Name: ShowDB
   • Description: Show current database
   • Pattern:

     -- Connected to: ${database_name}
     SELECT current_database();

3. Click OK to save.

4. Usage:

   • In the SQL editor, type ShowDB and press Ctrl + Space, and it will insert:

     -- Connected to: ${database_name}
     SELECT current_database();

---

3️⃣ Use a Dynamic SQL Header for Every Query

If you want every query you run to automatically label the database, use:

SELECT 'Connected to: ' || current_database() AS db;

This will prepend your output with the database name.

---

Feature Request to DBeaver

DBeaver should have a ${database} variable similar to ${date}, ${time}, etc.
You might want to submit a feature request on [DBeaver GitHub](https://github.com/dbeaver/dbeaver/issues).

---

Final Takeaway

• No built-in ${database} variable, but custom templates can help.
• Use SELECT current_database(); in PostgreSQL.
• A custom SQL template (ShowDB) can insert the database name for you.
• Consider submitting a feature request to DBeaver.

Let me know if you need more fine-tuned automation! 🚀

[TB-HunBoka]

My only question is, why do you need this variable in a template?
Templates variables are usually manually typed values that you can reuse in the same template multiple times, so you need to type it only once, and the template will copy this value on every precedence in the template.

Example:
select ${column},count(*)
from ${table}
group by ${column}
order by ${column} desc;

When I type the column name at the first place, it auto copies it to every other column variable.

Do you have a query where you need this value multiple times?

Note: I saw that the template in the current version auto populates table and column with the first data it can fund, but not sure why.

[jstroup]

We query many different databases, many of which contain tables with the same name, but with different data. I also include result sets below each query when doing analysis. If I don't know which database the result is from it gets really confusing. Currently I manually include the database name as a comment above the query. If this were a template, I could just type two characters and hit ctrl-space.

[TB-HunBoka]

At first, I was confused, by the topic name and about the description.
However, I think I understand what you would like to do. You would like to have a function that will write the current database name in the script.
Am I right?
I do not know this kind of capabilities of Dbeaver yet.

Do you have one script file with many queries that you run on every database, or you have one script file per database you are working with?

If you have one script file per database, then here are my methods to identify Oracle databases for query results:

1. use separate script per database. Also, DBeaver can add the connection name to the script header if you would like that:
   You can turn it on the Editor -> SQL Editor -> Scripts -> Advanced Setting -> Write connection binding in script header.
2. export the data into a CSV and use file name pattern like this: ${datasource}-Export. Here the datasource will help to identify the source of the data. Also, you can add more value to it, like date, and that will help you track the results history.