Script table as CREATE TO by using vb.net - sql

Question

In SQL server I can create a table which is duplicate of another table with all constraints set in it. I can use script table as CREATE TO in SQL server management studio to do this. Then I can run the script in another database so that same table is recreated but without data. I want to do same by using vb.net code. Important point is that all the constraints and table properties are set properly.

Answer 1

You can use the SMO (SQL Server Management Objects) assembly to script out tables to a string inside your application. I'm using C# here, but the same can be done easily in VB.NET, too.
// Define your database and table you want to script out
string dbName = "YourDatabase";
string tableName = "YourTable";
// set up the SMO server objects - I'm using "integrated security" here for simplicity
Server srv = new Server();
srv.ConnectionContext.LoginSecure = true;
srv.ConnectionContext.ServerInstance = "YourSQLServerInstance";
// get the database in question
Database db = new Database();
db = srv.Databases[dbName];
StringBuilder sb = new StringBuilder();
// define the scripting options - what options to include or not
ScriptingOptions options = new ScriptingOptions();
options.ClusteredIndexes = true;
options.Default = true;
options.DriAll = true;
options.Indexes = true;
options.IncludeHeaders = true;
// script out the table's creation
Table tbl = db.Tables[tableName];
StringCollection coll = tbl.Script(options);
foreach (string str in coll)
{
sb.Append(str);
sb.Append(Environment.NewLine);
}
// you can get the string that makes up the CREATE script here
// do with this CREATE script whatever you like!
string createScript = sb.ToString();
You need to reference several SMO assemblies.
Read more about SMO and how to use it here:
Getting Started with SQL Server Management Objects (SMO)
Generate Scripts for database objects with SMO for SQL Server