SQL Formatter Options

CASE

A CASE expression is a decision table written inline, and it benefits more than any other construct from consistent formatting: with each WHEN on its own line, the branches can be compared vertically. These options cover the CASE, WHEN, THEN, ELSE and END keywords, the conditions inside a WHEN, and a threshold that keeps very short CASE expressions on one line.

CASE Keywords

These options place the five keywords that make up a CASE expression. Read them as pairs: Linebreak Before decides whether the keyword starts a new line, Linebreak After whether its operand starts a new line.

CASE / END

ID	Option	What it does	Default
ID026	ProLinebreak Before CASE Keyword LBB_CASE	Puts CASE on a new line. In a SELECT list this separates the CASE expression from the column before it.	`on`
ID042	ProLinebreak After CASE Keyword LBA_CASE	Starts the first WHEN on the line after the CASE keyword.	`on`
ID044	ProLinebreak Before END Keyword LBB_CASE_END	Puts END on a new line, where it closes the expression at the same indentation as CASE.	`on`
ID121	ProIndent CASE Statement inside brackets IND_CASEBRACKET	Indents a CASE expression that sits inside brackets, for example within a function call.	`off`

ID026 off, ID042 off, ID044 off

select emp_name, case when salary > 5000 then 'high' else 'low' end as band
from   employee

ID026 on, ID042 on, ID044 on

select emp_name,
       case
           when salary > 5000 then 'high'
           else 'low'
       end as band
from   employee

WHEN

ID	Option	What it does	Default
ID055	ProLinebreak Before WHEN Keyword LBB_CASE_WHEN	Puts each WHEN on a new line. This is the option that turns a CASE expression into a readable decision table.	`on`
ID043	ProLinebreak After WHEN Keyword LBA_CASE_WHEN	Starts the condition on the line after the WHEN keyword.	`on`
ID048	ProIndent WHEN Conditions IND_CASE_WHEN	Indents the WHEN conditions one level deeper than CASE, subordinating the branches to the expression.	`on`

This is the option that turns a CASE expression into a readable decision table: one branch per line, comparable top to bottom.

ID055 off

case when salary > 5000 then 'high' when salary > 2000 then 'mid' else 'low' end

ID055 on, ID048 on

case
    when salary > 5000 then 'high'
    when salary > 2000 then 'mid'
    else 'low'
end

THEN

ID	Option	What it does	Default
ID052	ProLinebreak Before THEN Keyword LBB_CASE_THEN	Puts THEN on a new line, separating each condition from its result.	`on`
ID046	ProLinebreak After THEN Keyword LBA_CASE_THEN	Starts the result value on the line after THEN.	`off`
ID085	ProIndent THEN Keyword IND_CASE_THEN	Indents THEN one level deeper than its WHEN.	`off`

ID052 off

case
    when salary > 5000 then 'high'
    when salary > 2000 then 'mid'
end

ID052 on

case
    when salary > 5000
    then 'high'
    when salary > 2000
    then 'mid'
end

Tip: Add ID085 to indent the THEN line one level below its WHEN, which keeps the condition and its result visually paired.

ELSE

ID	Option	What it does	Default
ID053	ProLinebreak Before ELSE Keyword LBB_CASE_ELSE	Puts ELSE on a new line, aligned with the WHEN branches.	`on`
ID047	ProLinebreak After ELSE Keyword LBA_CASE_ELSE	Starts the default value on the line after ELSE.	`off`
ID086	ProIndent ELSE Keyword IND_CASE_ELSE	Indents ELSE one level deeper.	`off`

ID053 off

case
    when salary > 5000 then 'high' else 'low'
end

ID053 on

case
    when salary > 5000 then 'high'
    else 'low'
end

CASE Conditions

Applies to the boolean expression inside a WHEN, not to the CASE expression as a whole.

Brackets

ID	Option	What it does	Default
ID117	ProLinebreak Before '(' LBB_OPENCASEBRACKET	Puts the opening bracket of a WHEN condition on a new line.	`off`
ID118	ProLinebreak After '(' LBA_OPENCASEBRACKET	Starts the condition on the line after the opening bracket.	`on`
ID119	ProLinebreak Before ')' LBB_CLOSECASEBRACKET	Puts the closing bracket on a new line.	`off`
ID120	ProLinebreak After ')' LBA_CLOSECASEBRACKET	Starts whatever follows on the line after the closing bracket.	`off`

ID118 off

when (salary > 5000 and job = 'MGR') then 'senior'

ID118 on

when (
         salary > 5000
         and job = 'MGR'
     ) then 'senior'

AND/OR

ID	Option	What it does	Default
ID056	ProLinebreak Before AND/OR LBB_CASE_ANDOR	Starts each additional part of a WHEN condition on its own line, led by AND or OR.	`on`
ID061	ProLinebreak After AND/OR LBA_CASE_ANDOR	Puts the condition on the line after the operator.	`off`
ID254	ProIndent AND/OR in CASE Condition IND_CASE_ANDOR	Indents the AND / OR operators inside a WHEN condition one level deeper.	`off`

ID056 off

when salary > 5000 and job = 'MGR' and active = 1 then 'senior'

ID056 on

when salary > 5000
     and job = 'MGR'
     and active = 1 then 'senior'

Small CASE Statements

ID	Option	What it does	Default
ID067	ProNo Linebreak for CASE Statement smaller than this number o... LB_WIDTH_SMALL_CASE	CASE expressions of up to and including this many characters are kept on one line. Prevents a two-branch flag conversion from occupying six lines. Set to 0 to always break.	`10`

Keeps a two-branch flag conversion from occupying six lines.

ID067 = 0

select case
           when flag = 1 then 'Y'
           else 'N'
       end as active
from   employee

ID067 = 40

select case when flag = 1 then 'Y' else 'N' end as active
from   employee

Option IDs are identical across all SQLinForm editions (VS Code, JetBrains, SSMS, Notepad++, Online Formatter) and are the keys stored inside a profile file. Generated from properties.json 2026.8.21.0.