SQL Server guide

List databases

Returns all databases in the Cosmos DB account. Use this to discover database names and IDs for connection defaults or for querying a specific database. Columns include Id, ResourceId, LastUpdated, and ETag.

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 * FROM SysDatabases

Using OPENQUERY in SQL Server

SELECT * FROM OPENQUERY([LS_TO_COSMOS_DB_IN_GATEWAY], 'SELECT * FROM SysDatabases')

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_COSMOS_DB_IN_GATEWAY] syntax.

DECLARE @MyQuery NVARCHAR(MAX) = 'SELECT * FROM SysDatabases'
EXEC (@MyQuery) AT [LS_TO_COSMOS_DB_IN_GATEWAY]