Matt Hilbert

7 December 2015

Smaller software releases are big news too

This has been a good year for Redgate customers. Major software releases of SQL Prompt, SQL Compare, SQL Monitor, and SQL Source Control have introduced new features, added support for the latest versions of SQL Server Management Studio and Visual Studio, and made them even easier and more intuitive to use.

SQL Monitor v5, for example, now monitors the complex environment of AlwaysOn Availability Groups for SQL Servers. SQL Source Control v4.1 was released on 2 December with improved Git support.

But what about our smaller tools in the SQL Toolbelt like SQL Doc, SQL Dependency Tracker, or SQL Data Generator? To many customers, they’re just as important because they turn a snaglist of irritating and often laborious tasks into a shortlist they can do over a coffee and a doughnut.

So much so that our inbox is full of comments like:

“Damn, that’s a sweet little tool … I have to say, you guys rock.”
(Dave Sussman, ASP/ASP.NET MVP, on SQL Doc)

“I love this program. I am considering naming my first child Redgate Weese.
I thought SQL Dependency Tracker Weese was too long.”
(Daniel Weese, DanWeese.com)

“In less time than it took me to get a coffee, I had a database with 2 million rows of data for each of 10 tables.”
(Stephanie Beach, QA Manager, Certica Solutions, on SQL Data Generator)

Those comments aren’t unusual and that’s why our small tools are important too. Whether it’s SQL Doc, SQL Dependency Tracker, SQL Data Generator, SQL Test, or SQL Index Manager, these are the tools that quietly take care of lesser problems in a big way.

So in the background, while a lot of coding effort has been concentrated on our major tools, a team at Redgate has been patiently working away on the less talked about tools.

We’ve updated the SQL Compare engine behind SQL Doc, SQL Dependency Tracker, and SQL Data Generator. We’ve refreshed icons and splash screens. We’ve added connectivity support for SQL 2016 CTPs where it’s needed, and updated SQL Test to the latest version of tSQLt. We’ve fixed bugs, addressed niggles, and made lots of small changes that, together, add up to a refreshing change.

Whether you use the tools individually or as part of our bundles like the SQL Toolbelt, there’s now more to discover. Whatever tool makes your day shorter and a lot less hassle, find out more about the latest version on our website.