BEFORE YOU START
FOLLOW ALONGOpen the live SQL Formatter workspace→
SQL formatting should expose joins and predicates without rewriting the query. The safest workflow treats formatting as a text-review step, not query optimization.
Select the target dialect
MySQL, PostgreSQL, SQLite, and SQL Server have overlapping syntax but different quoting and procedural extensions.
EXAMPLE
PostgreSQLPreserve strings and comments
Never apply whitespace replacement inside quoted literals or comments.
EXAMPLE
WHERE note = 'order by is text'Review structural clauses
Verify JOIN conditions, WHERE predicates, GROUP BY, HAVING, and ORDER BY after formatting.
EXAMPLE
FROM … JOIN … ON …
WHERE …Execute in a safe environment
Formatting does not validate tables, types, permissions, plans, or transaction behavior. Test with the target database.
EXAMPLE
EXPLAIN …Key takeaways
- Formatting is not parsing or optimization.
- Dialect-specific syntax needs dialect-specific testing.
- Always review production queries after transformation.