The test data management strategy for any RDBMS needs to include a fast, automated way of allowing developers to "build-and-fill" multiple copies of any version of the database, for ad-hoc or automated testing. The technique presented in this article uses a baseline migration script to create the empty database at the required version, which then triggers a PowerShell callback script that bulk loads in the right version of the data. Read more
How to generate "realistic but fake" SQL Server test data, using SQL Data Generator, and then use SQL Data Compare to produce an INSERT script that Flyway can run to load the data into the database. The technique is useful for managing small volumes of test data or for "topping up" existing data when you create new entities. Read more
How to get the most out of SQL Search, a free database search tool for SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) and Visual Studio that will locate database objects based on their names, columns, or text. Read more
Flyway Teams baseline migration scripts are a simple and fast way to deploy new copies of a database, at a specific version, for testing work, or to create a new branch during development. Read more
When you are using Flyway, you can easily adopt test-driven development practices that will allow you to test your database migration script, to make sure it works exactly as you intended, before you even let Flyway execute it. Read more
How to create and maintain a 'data dictionary' for your SQL Server databases, in JSON format, which you can then use to add and update the table descriptions, whenever you build a new version using Flyway. Read more
How to write idempotent DDL scripts that Flyway can run several times on a database, such as after a hotfix has already been applied directly to the production database, without causing errors. Read more
Before you alter a database object, you need to understand what other objects will be affected. This article shows how to generate a simple dependency diagram that reveals both those objects that reference the target object, and those referenced by it, and includes foreign key references, column references and all the other details you need. Read more
How to extend the range of SQL code analysis, during database development, to include dynamic analysis of the database metadata. This will allow regular checks for problems with the design of your tables and indexes ("table smells") that can affect database performance and data integrity. Read more