How to compare two databases? - sql-server

I have two databases that are similar, but not the same. DB 1 is the old one and DB2 is the updated one with lots of new tables, columns, procs, constraint etc.
I need to write an update script in order to update DB1 database. These databases have lots of tables and stored procedures. Is there any way to get the differences in two database other than manually.

Buy red-gate's SQL Compare. You wil never regret spending the money.

There are a number of software tools (e.g. Red Gate) that enable you to compare databases easily.
Also, try this script; it's free and it should also work.
Cheers

To pile on to everyone suggesting Red Gate's tool, it should be noted that this tool can generate scripts to update the second database.
The awesome thing about red gate (besides the fact that they're an SO sponsor...) is that if you have the SQL Toolbelt with an active subscription, you will automatically get any new tools added. They recently released SQL Source Control, and I got it included as part of my SQL Toolbelt subscription.

Related

Software to migrate database changes using SQL "patch" files?

I have 2 MSSQL databases in 2 servers and I need to replicate amendments in schema and in particular tables. Most preferably I need SQL commands to do so. The system should be able to take a snapsnot of initial state of the database and later generate an SQL that would display the changes.
I need to record only particular tables changes in data and I also need to detect changes in table format (alterations of schema). It is desirable that manual adjustment of replication SQL would be possible (so only necessary changes are reflected, in case automated rules allow some unnecessary queries to end up in the patch.
Thanks !
Have a look at RedGate SQL Developer bundle. Unfortunately I'm not aware of any good open source tool for MS SQL Server.
I think that especially SQL Compare could be helpfull for you. If you are using Visual Studio Team Edition, you can have a look at the VS Database projects. I've heard that some teams are successfully using it for their database change management, but I never tried it myself.

Database schema publishing with SQL Server 2005/2008

I've a question for you. We have built a software that has a single database for each customer. These databases are managed by SQL Server 2008. Now the problem is that when we build our software we, sometimes, need to change something on the schema (like adding table, modifying existing ones etc) and migrate these updates on all the customers' databases.
Now this task is accomplished by hand: we generate update scripts and then, using T-SQL, we update each database. This is ok for a small set of customer, but we are now becoming bigger and bigger and we really don't know how to face it. We found Wizardby and it seems interesting, but quite difficult for us to learn in this exact moment.
Do you have any other trick?
Thanks a lot,
Marco
Try Redgate Sql Compare

What is best way of keeping two database schema in synch?

We have two SQL server database, and one is kept in US and being changed from day to day and the other one is in India. What is the best way of keeping two database schema in synch. Does any functionality like sql server replication help?
If you use replication, then when you change schema on one side, then you must republish those articles, and re-synch just those things that changed.
If you are making changes via script, then simply apply the change scripts to both databases.
EDIT: In fact, if you KNOW you are making changes to two databases, I HIGHLY recommend creating a change script that you can run on both.
If you are not sure if the schemas are in synch, then we use Red Gates SQL Compare. It's a fantastic tool (and no, I don't work for them)
Replication cannot really help if the schema is changing.
Is the schema changing on both sides?
A tool like Red Gate's SQL Compare or Apex's similar tool can look at two databases, determine the differences and generate scripts to make one the same as the other.

SQL Server diff tool

Working on a team where people are prone to amending dev SQL Server tables and forgetting about it, or preparing a change for deployment and having to wait for that deployment. This leaves our dev and live tables inconsistent, causing problems when SPROCs are pushed live.
Is there a tool whereby I can enter a SPROC name and have it check all tables referenced in it in the dev and live DBs, and notify of any differences?
I know two excellent tools for diffing SQL database structures - they don't specifically look inside stored procedures at their text, but they'll show you structural differences in your databases:
RedGate SQL Compare
ApexSQL's SQL Diff
Redgate also has a SQL Dependency Tracker which visualizes object dependencies and could be quite useful here.
Marc
For SQL Server 2005/2008, Open DBDiff works pretty well. The great part about this is that it's free. Also note that I am writing this answer for version 0.9 which currently works for SQL 2005/2008.
It'll show you the differences between the database schema between a source database you specify and the destination database you specify. There are also buttons you can click that can update or create the table that is in question.
I would recommend SQL compare and SQL Data Compare from Redgate Software. I worked with these tools for several projects and they did a great job. Documenting changes is also a good thing to do, but some changes are to complex to write your own SQL code for (including juggling data around between tables).
The redgate tools create scripts in a matter of seconds and those scripts are almost always correct (some older versions had a hard time with table dependencies in big databases, but when playing around with the statements (in a begin transaction / rollback) I was able to quickly fix those problems).
Another strong point in the redgate suites is that you can save your comparison project. This is especially useful when you don't want to convert a certain table (or data), you can exclude them. When loading the project the next time the software will automatically ignore those tables.
One disadvantage is the cost of the software (smaller companies I worked with did not want to buy the software). SQL compare and SQL data compare together will cost you about 800 dollars, but if you look at the time you will save when releasing you will save a lot of money. There is also a trial you can play around with (30 days I believe).
SQLDBDiff is a nice and user-friendly and lite tool.
SQLDBDiff supports SQL Server 2000 to 2016 and also SQL Azure.
SQLDBDiff available with both free with limited use and full with a trial.
More Screen
Try Microsoft Visual Studio Database Edition aka Data Dude (formerly for Database Professionals). It'll do a complete schema comparison and generate the necessary scripts to upgrade the target schema.
Of course, this shouldn't replace a proper build process ;-)
If you need a quick schema comparison tool for SQL Server, you should take a look at dbForge Schema Compare for SQL Server.
I've made a MssqlMerge utility that allows to compare (and merge) MSSQL database data and programming objects. It also allows to search for particular word or phrase across table definitions and programming objects.

How to validate the clients database against my database schema?

Our clients use SQLServer/Oracle databases. Over the years, we've sent them many update scripts which they had to run manually. Most of the time, everything went smooth, but every now and then a script did not run completely to the end or had some errors in it (which weren't detected at the time of the upgrade). Also, sometimes even "smart users" added indexes/tables into those databases themselves, for whatever reason. Later on, those irregularities lead to problems.
Now I have been tasked to figure out a way to verify/validate our clients databases against our own database schema (tables, datatypes, indexes, views, ...). The output should be some kind of difference file indicating what is missing/what should not be in the database. I could do this in code (C++) from inside our application or I can create an external tool for just this one purpose.
Now before I start coding, I wanted to ask if there is already a tool out there that would produce the necessary results, or that at least could help me produce a decent xml file from our master-databases (Oracle and SQLServer)? Or is there a library which could help me write my own tool?
I've used this technique before and it doesn't require buying any tools.
Enterprise Manager has a "Create Script" feature. Perform this on your reference database and the comparison database. Select the appropriate options to generate scripts for the objects you care about. Next, just compare the two generated files with your favorite diff tool.
You can do a similar procedure with Oracle tools that let you export the DDL scripts.
There are three options using Red Gate's tools:
Have your client run the comparison.
You would need to convince your
clients to purchase a license of SQL
Compare and send them a schema
snapshot of your database.
Write an application of your own using Red
Gate's SQL Comparison SDK ($595 for
10 distributions) which can be run
at the client site.
Ask your client to send you a schema snapshot and
run the comparison yourself using your own
copy of SQL Compare. Red Gate
supplies a free schema snapshot tool
called SQL Snapper that will create
snapshots that can then be emailed to you
by your client. As this doesn't include any data, it may be something your client is willing to consider.
The SQL Snapper tool and SQL Comparison SDK sample code can be downloaded from our labs.red-gate.com website.
Oracle compatibility is now available in the form of an Early Access Build. If you're interested or would like to try out the tool visit the product page. You can use this for free until the full release of the tool.
David Atkinson, Product Manager, Red Gate Software.
We use Redgate SQL Compare for this and it's served us well over the years.
We also use Redgate SQL Data Compare for comparing the content of lookup tables.
The folks at redgate have a great tool called SQL Compare.
Can you create a schema dump like MySQL's SHOW CREATE TABLES?
If you're on Windoze, I have used Advanced Query Tool for years, and can attest that, for the money, it does more than anything else. In particular, it will generate a diff report between databases. It is ODBC/VB6, and can run against dozens of databases. Check it out. (No, I am not of QueryTool nor do I own any part of it, just a happy client.)

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