title: Why did SQL Server Management Studio 2008 command-line switches stop working?
body: <p>I've always relied heavily on Windows shortcuts to SSMS that include command-line switches allowing me to quickly open up a specific database on a specific server. For example</p>
  
  <pre><code>Ssms.exe -S 123.123.123.123 -U sa -P goodpassword -d DbName
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>or </p>
  
  <pre><code>Ssms.exe -S . -E -d DbName
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>These suddenly stopped working. I get this error from SSMS:</p>
  
  <pre><code>Failed to create new SQL Server script.
  Object reference not set to an instance of an object. (AppIDPackage)
  Program Location: at Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.UI.VSIntegration.
  AppIDPackage.AppIDPackage.OpenConnectionDialogWithGlobalConnectionInfo()
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>I can still launch SSMS without the command-line switches, and then manually establish the connections. Some command-line switches still work, for example </p>
  
  <pre><code>ssms.exe -nosplash
  </code></pre>
  
  <p>works fine. </p>
  
  <p>I get the same error with any combination of the -S, -E, and -d command-line switches. It doesn't matter if I'm pointing to a valid server or database or not, or if my login credentials are good or not. I can point to the older version of SSMS and it works fine, but not the 2008 version. </p>
  
  <p><a href="http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/fi-FI/sqlexpress/thread/47c38e1b-4d2d-41d5-99a0-28dd89d07317?prof=required" rel="nofollow noreferrer">This post on MSDN's forums</a> is all I've found online, but MS hasn't been very helpful on this thread. </p>
  
  <p>Any ideas how I might start to fix this? I work with a lot of different databases on different servers, and I really rely on these shortcuts. </p>