SQL Server guide

Read more than 20000 work items (UNION ALL)

The Azure DevOps API returns at most 20000 work items per request. To read more, run multiple queries that each request a different ID range (e.g. 1–19999, 20000–39999) and combine the results. This example uses temp tables and UNION ALL so you get one result set; you can add more ranges by adding more SELECT INTO and UNION ALL lines.

Run the full script at once. Adjust the ID ranges and the number of temp tables to match your data size.

Standard SQL query example

This is the base query accepted by the connector. To execute it in SQL Server, you have to pass it to the Data Gateway via a Linked Server. See how to accomplish this using the examples below.

SELECT * INTO #t1 FROM WorkItems WITH(Project='ProductTesting', Query='SELECT * FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.Id]>=1 and [System.Id]<20000');
SELECT * INTO #t2 FROM WorkItems WITH(Project='ProductTesting', Query='SELECT * FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.Id]>=20000 and [System.Id]<40000');
SELECT * INTO #t3 FROM WorkItems WITH(Project='ProductTesting', Query='SELECT * FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.Id]>=40000 and [System.Id]<60000');
--//....
--//add more temp tables above and update UNION ALL too

SELECT * FROM #t1 
UNION ALL 
SELECT * FROM #t2
UNION ALL 
SELECT * FROM #t3
;

Using OPENQUERY in SQL Server

SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY([LS_TO_AZURE_DEVOPS_IN_GATEWAY], 'SELECT * INTO #t1 FROM WorkItems WITH(Project=''ProductTesting'', Query=''SELECT * FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.Id]>=1 and [System.Id]<20000'');
SELECT * INTO #t2 FROM WorkItems WITH(Project=''ProductTesting'', Query=''SELECT * FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.Id]>=20000 and [System.Id]<40000'');
SELECT * INTO #t3 FROM WorkItems WITH(Project=''ProductTesting'', Query=''SELECT * FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.Id]>=40000 and [System.Id]<60000'');
--//....
--//add more temp tables above and update UNION ALL too

SELECT * FROM #t1 
UNION ALL 
SELECT * FROM #t2
UNION ALL 
SELECT * FROM #t3
;')

Using EXEC in SQL Server (handling larger SQL text)

The major drawback of OPENQUERY is its inability to incorporate variables within SQL statements. This often leads to the use of cumbersome dynamic SQL (with numerous ticks and escape characters).

Fortunately, starting with SQL 2005 and onwards, you can utilize the EXEC (your_sql) AT [LS_TO_AZURE_DEVOPS_IN_GATEWAY] syntax.

DECLARE @MyQuery NVARCHAR(MAX) = 'SELECT * INTO #t1 FROM WorkItems WITH(Project=''ProductTesting'', Query=''SELECT * FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.Id]>=1 and [System.Id]<20000'');
SELECT * INTO #t2 FROM WorkItems WITH(Project=''ProductTesting'', Query=''SELECT * FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.Id]>=20000 and [System.Id]<40000'');
SELECT * INTO #t3 FROM WorkItems WITH(Project=''ProductTesting'', Query=''SELECT * FROM WorkItems WHERE [System.Id]>=40000 and [System.Id]<60000'');
--//....
--//add more temp tables above and update UNION ALL too

SELECT * FROM #t1 
UNION ALL 
SELECT * FROM #t2
UNION ALL 
SELECT * FROM #t3
;'
EXEC (@MyQuery) AT [LS_TO_AZURE_DEVOPS_IN_GATEWAY]