Keeping DB schemas synched

Hi - what's the best (preferably open source or inexpensive) tool for
identifying differences (tables, columns, types, etc) between a development
database and a production one, and applying dev changes to production
automatically?
Thanks,
ChrisI don't think it is ever a good idea to make changes to a production system
"automatically". But the compare tool from www.red-gate.com is inexpensive
and should do what you are after.
Andrew J. Kelly SQL MVP
"querylous" <querylous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9E38D2DB-B107-45D1-A5D4-2E0970067AE8@.microsoft.com...
> Hi - what's the best (preferably open source or inexpensive) tool for
> identifying differences (tables, columns, types, etc) between a
> development
> database and a production one, and applying dev changes to production
> automatically?
> Thanks,
> Chris|||2nd the vote for red gate...I've used SQL COmpare and Data Compare for
several years to keep my schems and lookup data intact
Free 14 day trial, less than $300 per tool. VERY hard to beat
Kevin Hill
3NF Consulting
www.3nf-inc.com/NewsGroups.htm
www.expertsrt.com - not your average tech Q&A site
"Andrew J. Kelly" <sqlmvpnooospam@.shadhawk.com> wrote in message
news:uxykvJONGHA.2472@.TK2MSFTNGP11.phx.gbl...
>I don't think it is ever a good idea to make changes to a production system
>"automatically". But the compare tool from www.red-gate.com is inexpensive
>and should do what you are after.
> --
> Andrew J. Kelly SQL MVP
>
> "querylous" <querylous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:9E38D2DB-B107-45D1-A5D4-2E0970067AE8@.microsoft.com...
>|||Thanks Andrew- I fear I do a lot of things that aren't such good ideas when
developing! With luck, the right tool will have options to select the change
s
I'd like to apply, and then apply them.
Thanks for the rec,
Chris|||Developing is one thing, production is quite another. Yes this tool will
generate scripts for the changes but no matter how good the tool all scripts
should be tested before being applied to production.
Andrew J. Kelly SQL MVP
"querylous" <querylous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:A653C08A-D917-4E85-84DE-D8B4B6A2E015@.microsoft.com...
> Thanks Andrew- I fear I do a lot of things that aren't such good ideas
> when
> developing! With luck, the right tool will have options to select the
> changes
> I'd like to apply, and then apply them.
> Thanks for the rec,
> Chris|||You should be checking your development and production scripts into some
type of source version control system. For example, Visual Source Safe has
an option to compare two projects and list files that are different, and it
has a feature for comparing two versions of a script side by side with
differences highlighted.
Also, you can script the databases to seperate folders and use a tool like
WinMerge to perform the comparisons:
http://groups.google.com/group/micr...br />
46abfa76
"querylous" <querylous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:9E38D2DB-B107-45D1-A5D4-2E0970067AE8@.microsoft.com...
> Hi - what's the best (preferably open source or inexpensive) tool for
> identifying differences (tables, columns, types, etc) between a
> development
> database and a production one, and applying dev changes to production
> automatically?
> Thanks,
> Chris|||Thanks JT- unfortunately, I currently do all admin via the admin console, no
t
with scripts. Bad practice?
Chris
"JT" wrote:

> You should be checking your development and production scripts into some
> type of source version control system. For example, Visual Source Safe has
> an option to compare two projects and list files that are different, and i
t
> has a feature for comparing two versions of a script side by side with
> differences highlighted.
> Also, you can script the databases to seperate folders and use a tool like
> WinMerge to perform the comparisons:
> http://groups.google.com/group/micr... />
0c46abfa76
> "querylous" <querylous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
> news:9E38D2DB-B107-45D1-A5D4-2E0970067AE8@.microsoft.com...
>
>|||In most SQL Server environments, changes to the database schema are
implemented as scripts; which are first tested against a DEV or QA server
and then promoted against the production server. These scripts are archived
using a source control system just like C# or Visual Basic projects.
"querylous" <querylous@.discussions.microsoft.com> wrote in message
news:86627853-B428-44F0-B94E-282A69894DF7@.microsoft.com...
> Thanks JT- unfortunately, I currently do all admin via the admin console,
> not
> with scripts. Bad practice?
> Chris
> "JT" wrote:
>