If some of your database constraints have system-generated names, they can cause 'false positives' when comparing schemas and generating build scripts using SQL Compare or SQL Change Automation. Phil Factor explains the difficulties, and the Compare option you need to enable to avoid them. Read more
Phil Factor demonstrates a cunning way to test stored procedures or functions, such as after refactoring, by storing the 'before' and 'after' results in views and then using SQL Data Compare to spot any discrepancies. Read more
Alexander Diab demonstrates how a team of developers can work on and test features in different branches of a SQL Server database development project, while their local development database automatically remains 'synchronized' with the current branch in version control. Read more
SQL Change Automation enables users to make database changes to production safely and efficiently using PowerShell cmdlets, which can be integrated easily into any release management tool. This article will show you how to automate database deployments safely, by using SQL Change Automation from within PowerShell scripts, and how a deployment script for a release can be checked and amended as part of the process. Read more
Phil Factor provides a powerful DOS batch script which, when coupled with SQL Compare CLI, allows you to build databases from source, during development, and fill them with the specific datasets required for testing. Read more
A common database build breaker is data that violates the conditions of any of the CHECK, UNIQUE or FOREIGN KEY constraints, and unique non-clustered indexes, designed to protect the consistency and integrity of your data. Phil Factor explain how to avoid this problem, using SQL Compare and some custom stored procedures to discover which rows will cause violations, and fixing them, before running the build. Read more
Giorgi Abashidze explains how his team use a 2-phase deployment process with SQL Compare Command line, and some SQL Synonyms, to automate custom deployments for each of their customers, while only needing to maintain one branch per release in source control. Read more
You want to use SQL Compare or SQL Change Automation (SCA) to create or update a database, and at the same time ensure that its data is as you expect. You want to avoid running any additional PowerShell scripting every time you do it, and you want to keep everything in source control, including the data. You just want to keep everything simple. Phil Factor demonstrates how it's done, by generating MERGE scripts from a stored procedure. Read more