dbForge Schema Compare for SQL Server Tutorial

Read and make sure how easy schema comparison and synchronization is with dbForge Schema Compare for SQL Server. Click the screenshots for details.

• 
  Click to enlarge

  1. Opening the schema comparison wizard

  
  

  By default, the Start page opens, where you can launch Schema Comparison wizard and start your common tasks in one click without searching a required command in the menu.

  Tip: Also you quickly open previous comparison projects.

• 
  Click to enlarge

  2. Creating database connections

  
  

  To create a database connection, click the New button in the wizard. The Database Connection Properties window appears.

  In the Server field of the window open the drop-down list and select the required server. Then specify Authentication, User, Password, Database. Click OK to finish the creation.

  Come back to the New Schema Comparison wizard and select this connection in the drop-down list of the Connection field.

• 
  Click to enlarge

  3. Selecting Source and Target for comparison

  
  

  Source is the database which content is inserted to Target after synchronization. Target is the database which content you compare and synchronize with Source.

  In the New Schema Comparison wizard select any of the following Source and Target types to compare:
  
  – Database
  – Snapshot
  – Backup
  – Snapshot revision in a version control

  Tip: To swap Source and Target, click the swap button. To set up additional comparison options, click the Next button. To start the comparison, click Compare.

• 
  Click to enlarge

  4. Selecting comparison options (optional)

  
  

  You can customize comparison behavior, e.g., to ignore some objects or properties. Go to the Options wizard page and select the required check boxes.

  Tip: Save the comparison settings as a command line arguments file by clicking the link at the top. Later you can use this file for automatic comparison and synchronization through command line.

  Tip: To save the current selection of options as your defaults, click the Save As My Defaults button.

• 
  Click to enlarge

  5. Custom schema mapping (optional)

  
  

  If you need to map schemas (with different names, one-to-many, or many-to-one), do it without a doubt.

  Go to the Schema Mapping wizard page and select Source schema in the left part of the wizard, then select Target schema from the drop-down list in the right part. When you click Compare, the schemas' objects will be automatically mapped.

• 
  Click to enlarge

  6. Selecting required object types to compare

  
  

  To speed up comparison and save your time, select only required object types to include into comparison on the Object Filter wizard page.

  Tip: By default, all supported objects are compared.

• 
  Click to enlarge

  7. Analyzing comparison results

  
  

  See the full info about compared objects in the SchemaComparison window. Select required objects to synchronize.

  The grid shows all compared objects automatically grouped by their status (only in source, different, identical, etc.) You can re-group them.

  See the structure differences of the selected object under the grid. To exclude separate objects or groups of objects from synchronization, unselect the check boxt next to it.

  Tip: For better understanding, filter the objects in the grid, e.g., to see only different objects. To be convinced you will get the desired synchronization result, preview the synchronization script fragment for each object.

• 
  Click to enlarge

  8. Synchronizing database structures

  
  

  Use the Schema Synchronization Wizard to generate a standards-driven synchronization script and tune the synchronization result based on your needs. Click the Synchronize button to immediately generate the synchronization script.

  Tip: To customize synchronization, click Next and move to other wizard's pages.

• 
  Click to enlarge

  On the Options wizard page customize the synchronization by applying various options.

  On the Dependencies wizard page you can check the list of objects automatically included into synchronization as they are dependent on some compared objects.

  To see the synchronization actions and the list of warnings generated during mapping, move to the Summary wizard page.

• 
  Click to enlarge

  9. SQL script management

  
  

  Use SQL editor to view and edit synchronization scripts, create queries and execute them against the selected database.

  Tip: To open SQL editor, click the New SQL button on the toolbar.

  Tip: When the query is executed, see the query results in the Data window at the bottom. Find rich data management options in the right-click menu.