A customer recently was asking about grouping objects by type to see all the differences in two databases for one set of objects, like all stored procedures. This post shows how this works and what this changes for your system.
This is part of a series of posts on SQL Compare.
I have two databases, Compare_1_Source and Compare_2_Destination. I made a number of changes to the Source db and when I run SQL Compare between these, my default view shows me the different objects, as well as those in one database and not in the other. You can see this below.
This is the way most of us want to make changes, by deciding from this short list what changes to deploy. If you look closely, you can see there are 115 objects that are identical, so it’s nice to be able to see what has changed.
However, I have had a few people ask to see all the stored procs that have changed, so they can decide what needs to move. They aren’t ready for table changes.
In the upper right corner, above the destination database, I have a drop down for grouping options. I can use the default (type of difference), switch to type of object, or have no grouping.
If I choose object, I see this grouping. In here, the stored procedures are expanded, showing my differences. Second, in the middle, near where the checkboxes are for object selection, I see a count of how many objects are selected, and how many are changes. However, I don’t know the type of change.
I’ll modify a procedure and delete one and I see something slightly different. Now I see the object name to the right side of the checkbox, so I can infer a change if the name is on both sides, or a delete if there is an “x” next to the name.
My default view of tables is shown below. Note that my table changes are mixed within non-changed tables.
However, I can click on the Last modified column and resort the data. If I sort descending, then I see my table changes at the top.
Toggling these settings allows me to see different views. If I just want changes without groups or differences, then I can set no groups and see this (I’ve sorted by modified date).
I have a request to hide the unchanged objects, but that’s not something we do now, nor am I sure we will change things. You can submit your own ideas on Uservoice and get some votes from friends.
SQL Compare is an amazing tool that millions of users have enjoyed for 25 years. If you’ve never tried it, give it an eval today and see what you think.