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The Schema Diff feature provides you a mechanism to compare schemas of two similar databases. For instance, you can use WinSQL Professional to compare the schema of a database used in a development environment to a similar database in production environment.
Perform the following steps to invoke the Schema Diff wizard:
1 From the Tools menu, click Database Diff, and then click Schema Diff. The following window displays:
2 If this is the first time you are invoking the wizard, click New
OR
If you wish to use a previously saved template, click Existing.
3 Click Next.
4 Select the first and second databases. Click the icon in the center of the screen to establish connection to both databases.
Once the connection is established, the Connection icon changes to Disconnect, depicted as follows:
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5 Click Next. The following window displays:
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This window is used to select the objects you wish to compare. The Primary Objects section of this window is used to display the primary objects contained within the database, such as:
·Tables
·Views
·Stored Procedures
·Database Specific Extensions
The Detail Options section of this window displays additional detail for the option selected in the Primary Objects section. The contents of this section changes based on the selection made in the Primary Objects section. For example, if you select “Stored Procedures” in the Primary Objects section, the Detail Options section will contain items to verify if you want to match the procedure script.
The following additional options available on this window, and a description of each, is included in the following table:
|
Option |
Description |
|
Object name comparison must be case sensitive |
If selected, comparisons are case sensitive. |
|
Compare owner/schema of the object along with the name |
If selected, the object owner is also matched. |
|
Run comparison with respect to both databases |
If selected, a comparison is run twice – once for each database. When the comparison is run, WinSQL considers one database as the reference and finds out which objects are missing or different in the other database. |
|
Span output report to multiple files |
If selected, multiple HTML files are created for output reports. It is highly recommended that you leave this option selected, particularly for large databases. |
|
Hide matching entries |
If selected, matched objects do not appear in the report. Selecting this option greatly reduces the report size. |
6 Once all options are selected, click Next. The following window displays:
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Reports are generated as HTML files, and they are displayed using the HTML browser configured on your system.
The following is a description of the options available for generating reports:
·Use built-in style sheet – If this option is selected, the generated report will use a built-in style sheet for HTML rendering.
·Header/Footer file – If specified, WinSQL Professional uses the text contained in the specified file as the header and/or footer for the report. This is a convenient way to customize the look and feel of the generated report
·Match/Unmatch image – This is the URL for the images displayed in the report.
7 Once all options are selected, click Next. The following window displays:
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8 Select the appropriate option, and then click Finish.
Comparing Objects Using Schema Diff
When comparing two databases, WinSQL Professional picks the first database and treats it as a pivot database, meaning it will examine all the objects in this database and will try to match it will the non-pivot database.
If Run comparison with respect to both databases is selected, WinSQL Professional will run the comparison twice – once for each database as the pivot database.
Primary Objects and Detail Options
The content of this list contains all the objects that can be compared. On the right side are the individual options for the object selected on the left. For example when you select Stored Procedures on the left, you see Parameters, Parameter type, Procedure script, and “Show DDL if doesn’t match” on the right.
Important note: You must select an appropriate database plug-in at the time of connection in order for the Database Diff to work correctly.