SQL Formatting

DBX chooses a formatter dialect from the active connection and writes the result back to the query editor. When text is selected, only that range is formatted; otherwise DBX formats the entire editor.

Use the Format SQL toolbar button or the configurable formatting command documented under Keyboard Shortcuts.

Formatting only rewrites text and never executes SQL. Unsupported syntax returns an error and leaves the original text unchanged. One formatting operation accepts at most 1,000,000 characters.

Dialect Selection

DBX currently uses dedicated formatter grammars for:

Connection type	Formatter dialect
MySQL	MySQL
PostgreSQL, openGauss, GaussDB, KingbaseES, Redshift, and related profiles	PostgreSQL
SQLite, Turso, rqlite, and Cloudflare D1	SQLite
SQL Server	Transact-SQL
ClickHouse	ClickHouse
Other SQL databases	Generic SQL, with one PostgreSQL-grammar retry when needed

The MongoDB query editor uses a separate Mongo Shell formatter rather than this SQL dialect mapping.

Configure Formatting Options

Open Settings → SQL Formatter. Form mode exposes:

Option	Values or behavior
Keyword, data type, function, and identifier case	`upper`, `lower`, or `preserve`
Indent style	`standard`, `tabularLeft`, or `tabularRight`
Indentation	Spaces or tabs
Tab width	`2` or `4`
Logical operator newline	Before or after the operator
Expression width	`50`, `80`, or `120`
Lines between queries	`0`, `1`, or `2`
Dense operators	Reduces spaces around operators
Newline before semicolon	Places a statement-ending semicolon on a new line
Parameter types	Recognizes positional, numbered, named, quoted, or custom-regex parameters

Restore Defaults restores the formatter settings defined by the current DBX build. Click Apply in the settings dialog to persist changes.

JSON Mode and Import / Export

JSON mode is useful for exact editing, copying, or moving formatter settings. The current file contains only version, formatter, and options:

{
  "version": 1,
  "formatter": "sql-formatter",
  "options": {
    "keywordCase": "upper",
    "dataTypeCase": "preserve",
    "functionCase": "preserve",
    "identifierCase": "preserve",
    "indentStyle": "standard",
    "useTabs": false,
    "tabWidth": 2,
    "logicalOperatorNewline": "before",
    "expressionWidth": 50,
    "linesBetweenQueries": 1,
    "denseOperators": false,
    "newlineBeforeSemicolon": false,
    "paramTypes": null
  }
}

The JSON editor validates the draft continuously. DBX blocks apply or import when:

the text is not valid JSON;
version is not 1;
formatter is not sql-formatter;
options contains an unknown field; or
a value is outside the range accepted by the current build.

Export Config downloads dbx-sql-formatter.json. Import replaces only SQL formatter options; it does not change connections, editor shortcuts, or other DBX settings. Use Configuration Cloud Sync when you need a broader settings migration.

Parameter Recognition

Set paramTypes to null to use the formatter defaults. Configure additional parameter syntax with an object such as:

{
  "positional": true,
  "numbered": ["?", "$"],
  "named": [":", "@", "$"],
  "quoted": [":", "@", "$"],
  "custom": [
    { "regex": "@\\{[^}]+\\}" }
  ]
}

numbered accepts only ?, :, and $.
named and quoted accept only :, @, and $.
Each custom item may contain only a non-empty, valid regex.

DBX always adds recognition for ${name} and #{name} variables so those templates do not cause formatter parse failures. A non-null legacy params option is no longer used for text substitution; configure paramTypes instead.

Query Editor

Learn how formatting, compression, execution scope, and completion work.

SQL Snippets

Build reusable SQL templates with tab-stop placeholders.