Database Compare

When setting up a project that relies on an SQL Server database, is it very important to ensure that the same database schema is being used for development and production. Finding differences the old-fashioned way is a time-consuming task, but you can take advantage of certain software utilities to speed things along.

Database Compare is a useful application that allows you to perform a comparison of two SQL Server databases. It lists any content differences that are encountered, and it is also capable of extracting and analyzing scripts.

Naturally, those who need to perform an in-depth comparison may wish to try a more complex application, but this tool makes it very simple to spot differences between the contents of two databases.

It features an intuitive user interface, so even novices should find its functions to be fairly self-explanatory. All you need to do is provide the name and location of each database, along with the required login credentials.

It is possible to specify which items should be taken into consideration, should you only wish to compare tables, views, stored procedures or functions.

Database Compare also enables you to grab scripts and save them to a specified folder on your hard drive. Again, you can export tables, views, stored procedures or functions.

When it comes to analyzing the differences between two scripts, the application relies on WinMerge to perform the comparison, so you should first ensure that this program is installed on your computer.

Database Compare can be used without first going through a complex installation procedure, which means it is very easy to deploy, as long as the required software is available on the host machine.

In conclusion, Database Compare is a relatively simple application that allows you to analyze the contents of two databases, as well as extract scripts. It is quite intuitive and features a minimalistic user interface.