Database Build Blockers: Mutually Dependent Databases

Phil Factor demonstrates a clever way to create 'stub' objects, in SQL Change Automation pre-deployment scripts, in order to overcome the problems caused by 'missing objects' when building databases that have circular, or mutual, dependencies. In the subsequent deployment, SQL Change Automation fully builds every object in each of the databases, so all dependencies are fully tested. Read more

Integrating Redgate SQL Code Guard with SonarQube

Greta Rudžionienė provides a step-by-step guide to running SQL code analysis checks, as defined by SQL Code Guard, in SonarQube, a general-purpose code quality tool that can perform continuous code analysis on a variety of languages. Read more

Simple SQL Change Automation Scripting: The Release Object

Once you understand the SCA data objects, it can give you a certain glow of to discover, suddenly, that SCA can do some complicated and time-consuming tasks with just a few lines of code. Phil Factor demonstrates how to get the most of SCA's Release object. Read more

What’s new in v6.3 of Data Masker for SQL Server

The first time you approach the task of data masking, it can seem daunting. You've identified your sensitive columns, but how do you decide on the best data masking strategy? Which rules do you need in your data masking set? Data Masker for SQL Server makes it easy to decide. Read more

Simple SQL Change Automation Scripting: Connections, iProjects and Builds

Phil Factor delves into some of SQL Change Automation's data objects, or artifacts, covering the DatabaseConnection, iProject and iBuildArtifact objects. He explains the useful information they contain and how to use them in a PowerShell-automated database delivery process. Read more

Problems Caused by Use of the SQL_VARIANT Datatype

Phil Factor illustrates the 'quirks' of the SQL_VARIANT datatype and why it's best to investigate when SQL Prompt alerts you to its use. It is only safe to store data as a SQL_VARIANT, if you explicitly convert it to its true type before you use it. Read more

Practical steps for end-to-end data protection

If you plan to make production data available for development and test purposes, you'll need to understand which columns contain personal or sensitive data, create a data catalog to record those decisions, devise and implement a data masking, and then provision the sanitized database copies. Richard Macaskill show how to automate as much of this process as possible. Read more

The ‘= NULL’ Mistake and other SQL NULL Heresies

The SQL Prompt Best Practice rule checks whether a comparison or expression includes a NULL literal ('NULL'), which in SQL Server, rather than result in an error, will simply always produce a NULL result. Phil Factor explains how to avoid this, and other SQL NULL-related calamities. Read more

SQL Change Automation Scripting: Getting Data into a Target Database

Your strategy for loading a freshly built database with data will depend on how much you need. If just a few rows, then single-row INSERT statements will be fine, but for more than that you'll need to build insert the rows using native-format BCP. Fortunately, SQL Change Automation (SCA) can be used with either strategy, as Phil Factor demonstrates. Read more

Dealing with Server Objects, Settings and Features when Provisioning Databases

If we want the behavior and performance of our test databases to mimic that observed in production, then we must consider not only the database but also the server. Grant Frtichey reviews the server-level objects, settings and features that we may need to consider, and then shows how to 'synchronize' the linked servers, user logins and SQL Agent jobs, as part of an automated provisioning process, using SQL Provision. Read more

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