SQLCMD throwing error with multi-line queries

Question

I get the error "Unclosed quotation mark after the character string..." when I pass multi-line queries to SQLCMD via a SQL Agent Job.  For example, the following command fails:
SQLCMD -E -S MyServerName -Q "PRINT 'Hello';
PRINT 'World';" -b
SQLCMD seems to be only processing the first line, ignoring that there is more to the query.  The actual error in this case is:
Msg 105, Level 15, State 1, Server MyServerName, Line 1
Unclosed quotation mark after the character string 'PRINT 'Hello';\n '.
Msg 102, Level 15, State 1, Server MyServerName, Line 1
Incorrect syntax near 'PRINT 'HELLO';\n'.
Where "\n" is actually an unprintable character for the line terminator.
What am I doing something wrong for passing multi-line statements to SQLCMD?

Answer 1

Hi Brandon,
You can use sqlcmd to run a Transact-SQL script file. A Transact-SQL script file is a text file that can contain a combination of Transact-SQL statements, sqlcmd commands, and scripting variables.
To create a simple Transact-SQL script file by using Notepad and save the file as myScript.sql in the C drive.
To run the script file
1. Open a command prompt window.
2. In the Command Prompt window, type: sqlcmd -S myServer\instanceName -i C:\myScript.sql
3. Press ENTER.
TechNet
Subscriber Support
If you are TechNet Subscription user and have any feedback on our support quality, please send
your feedback here.
Thanks,
Maggie
Please remember to mark the replies as answers if they help and unmark them if they provide no help. This can be beneficial to other community members reading the thread.