Easiest Way To Diff Two Table Schemas In SQL Server 2008? - sql

Question

I have to do checks between a development and release database and do this manually, which is both slow and not 100% reliable (I only visually inspect the tables).
Is there a quick and easy way to compare table schemas automatically? Maybe even a feature that does this built right into SQL server?
Edit: I'm comparing structure only, thank you for pointing this out.

Answer 1

I'm a fan of SQL DBDiff, which is an open source tool you can use to compare tables, views, functions, users, etc. of two instances of SQL Server databases and generate a change script between the source and destination databases.

Answer 2

There are some commercial products that do this; Visual Studio 2010 Premium Edition can compare schemas.
Some others:
http://www.red-gate.com/products/SQL_Compare/index.htm
http://www.apexsql.com/sql_tools_diff.aspx

Answer 3

Data or structure or both? Try RedGate sql compare or data compare. They both have free trials and are awesome.
http://www.red-gate.com/products/SQL_Compare/index.htm
http://www.red-gate.com/products/SQL_Data_Compare/index.htm

Answer 4

I'm a little late to the game...but this script I made has worked well for me. It'll work across linked servers too if needed.
use master
go
DECLARE #Server1 VARCHAR(100) ='[CARNYSQLTEST1].'; --include a dot at the end
DECLARE #DB1 VARCHAR(100) = '[ZipCrim]';
DECLARE #Table1 VARCHAR(100) = 'IntAction';
DECLARE #Server2 VARCHAR(100) ='[CARNYSQLDEV].'; --include a dot at the end
DECLARE #DB2 VARCHAR(100) = '[ZipCrim]';
DECLARE #Table2 VARCHAR(100) = 'IntAction';
DECLARE #SQL NVARCHAR(MAX);
SET #SQL =
'
SELECT Table1.ServerName,
Table1.DBName,
Table1.SchemaName,
Table1.TableName,
Table1.ColumnName,
Table1.name DataType,
Table1.Length,
Table1.Precision,
Table1.Scale,
Table1.Is_Identity,
Table1.Is_Nullable,
Table2.ServerName,
Table2.DBName,
Table2.SchemaName,
Table2.TableName,
Table2.ColumnName,
Table2.name DataType,
Table2.Length,
Table2.Precision,
Table2.Scale,
Table2.Is_Identity,
Table2.Is_Nullable
FROM
(SELECT ''' + #Server1 + ''' ServerName,
''' + #DB1 + ''' DbName,
SCHEMA_NAME(t.schema_id) SchemaName,
t.Name TableName,
c.Name ColumnName,
st.Name,
c.Max_Length Length,
c.Precision,
c.Scale,
c.Is_Identity,
c.Is_Nullable
FROM ' + #Server1 + #DB1 + '.sys.tables t
INNER JOIN ' + #Server1 + #DB1 + '.sys.columns c ON t.Object_ID = c.Object_ID
INNER JOIN sys.types st ON St.system_type_id = c.System_Type_id AND st.user_type_id = c.user_type_id
WHERE t.Name = ''' + #Table1 + ''') Table1
FULL OUTER JOIN
(SELECT ''' + #Server2 + ''' ServerName,
''' + #DB2 + ''' DbName,
SCHEMA_NAME(t.schema_id) SchemaName,
t.name TableName,
c.name ColumnName,
st.Name,
c.max_length Length,
c.Precision,
c.Scale,
c.Is_Identity,
c.Is_Nullable
FROM ' + #Server2 + #DB2 + '.sys.tables t
INNER JOIN ' + #Server2 + #DB2 + '.sys.columns c ON t.Object_ID = c.Object_ID
INNER JOIN sys.types st ON St.system_type_id = c.System_Type_id AND st.user_type_id = c.user_type_id
WHERE t.Name = ''' + #Table2 + ''') Table2
ON Table1.ColumnName = Table2.ColumnName
ORDER BY CASE WHEN Table1.ColumnName IS NULL THEN 2 ELSE 1 END, Table1.ColumnName
'
EXEC sp_executesql #SQL

Answer 5

Soo,
Googled this:
for structures:
see also:
My previous answers' links doesn't work anymore for some reason, so here's another answer from TechNet:
DECLARE #Sourcedb sysname
DECLARE #Destdb sysname
DECLARE #Tablename sysname
DECLARE #SQL varchar(max)
SELECT #Sourcedb = '<<SourceDatabaseName>>'
SELECT #Destdb = '<<DestinationDatabaseName>>'
SELECT #Tablename = '<<Tablename>>' -- '%' for all tables
SELECT #SQL = ' SELECT Tablename = ISNULL(Source.tablename,Destination.tablename)
,ColumnName = ISNULL(Source.Columnname,Destination.Columnname)
,Source.Datatype
,Source.Length
,Source.precision
,Destination.Datatype
,Destination.Length
,Destination.precision
,[Column] =
Case
When Source.Columnname IS NULL then ''Column Missing in the Source''
When Destination.Columnname IS NULL then ''Column Missing in the Destination''
ELSE ''''
end
,DataType = CASE WHEN Source.Columnname IS NOT NULL
AND Destination.Columnname IS NOT NULL
AND Source.Datatype <> Destination.Datatype THEN ''Data Type mismatch''
END
,Length = CASE WHEN Source.Columnname IS NOT NULL
AND Destination.Columnname IS NOT NULL
AND Source.Length <> Destination.Length THEN ''Length mismatch''
END
,Precision = CASE WHEN Source.Columnname IS NOT NULL
AND Destination.Columnname IS NOT NULL
AND Source.precision <> Destination.precision THEN ''precision mismatch''
END
,Collation = CASE WHEN Source.Columnname IS NOT NULL
AND Destination.Columnname IS NOT NULL
AND ISNULL(Source.collation_name,'''') <> ISNULL(Destination.collation_name,'''') THEN ''Collation mismatch''
END
FROM
(
SELECT Tablename = so.name
, Columnname = sc.name
, DataType = St.name
, Length = Sc.max_length
, precision = Sc.precision
, collation_name = Sc.collation_name
FROM ' + #Sourcedb + '.SYS.objects So
JOIN ' + #Sourcedb + '.SYS.columns Sc
ON So.object_id = Sc.object_id
JOIN ' + #Sourcedb + '.SYS.types St
ON Sc.system_type_id = St.system_type_id
AND Sc.user_type_id = St.user_type_id
WHERE SO.TYPE =''U''
AND SO.Name like ''' + #Tablename + '''
) Source
FULL OUTER JOIN
(
SELECT Tablename = so.name
, Columnname = sc.name
, DataType = St.name
, Length = Sc.max_length
, precision = Sc.precision
, collation_name = Sc.collation_name
FROM ' + #Destdb + '.SYS.objects So
JOIN ' + #Destdb + '.SYS.columns Sc
ON So.object_id = Sc.object_id
JOIN ' + #Destdb + '.SYS.types St
ON Sc.system_type_id = St.system_type_id
AND Sc.user_type_id = St.user_type_id
WHERE SO.TYPE =''U''
AND SO.Name like ''' + #Tablename + '''
) Destination
ON source.tablename = Destination.Tablename
AND source.Columnname = Destination.Columnname '
EXEC (#Sql)

Answer 6

For a free solution, you can use SQL Server Managements Objects to output the DDL script for each table, view, index, SP, UDF, etc. Then you can compare, either in code, or using a diff tool like WinMerge.

Answer 7

If two tables in same database, you can use this query
select c2.table_name,c2.COLUMN_NAME
from [INFORMATION_SCHEMA].[COLUMNS] c2
where table_name='table1'
and c2.COLUMN_NAME not in (select column_name
from [INFORMATION_SCHEMA].[COLUMNS]
where table_name='table1')

Answer 8

you can take a look at http://cdttools.com/2011/10/sql-diff-erence/ its a low cost alternative, will walk schema between two databases and tell you whats changed. You can then use SQL Mgmt studio to generate "script->As Alter" to build change scripts. (caveat: I wrote it)

Answer 9

Modified a bit of BD.'s query, all credit goes to him. (Changed SCHEMA_NAME(schema_id) to sys.schemas join because SCHEMA_NAME(schema_id) works with current db context which is master, changed sorting and changed column names and added the status column)
USE master
GO
DECLARE
#Server1 VARCHAR(100) = 'Server1.', -- don't forget to include a dot at the end
#Server2 VARCHAR(100) = 'Server2.', -- don't forget to include a dot at the end
#DB1 VARCHAR(100) = 'Database1',
#DB2 VARCHAR(100) = 'Database2'
DECLARE #SQL NVARCHAR(MAX);
SET #SQL = '
SELECT
CASE
WHEN s1.[Column] IS NOT NULL
AND s2.[Column] IS NULL
THEN ''New''
WHEN s1.[Column] IS NULL
AND s2.[Column] IS NOT NULL
THEN ''Deleted''
WHEN s1.[Column] IS NOT NULL
AND s2.[Column] IS NOT NULL
AND (s1.[Type] <> s2.[Type]
OR s1.[Length] <> s2.[Length]
OR s1.[Precision] <> s2.[Precision]
OR s1.Scale <> s2.Scale
OR s1.IsNullable <> s2.IsNullable
OR s1.IsIdentity <> s2.IsIdentity
OR s1.IdentitySeed <> s2.IdentitySeed
OR s1.IdentityIncrement <> s2.IdentityIncrement
OR s1.DefaultValue <> s2.DefaultValue)
THEN ''Changed''
ELSE ''Identical''
END [Status],
s1.[Database],
s1.[Schema],
s1.[Table],
s1.[Column],
s1.[Type],
s1.IsCharType,
s1.[Length],
s1.[Precision],
s1.Scale,
s1.IsNullable,
s1.IsIdentity,
s1.IdentitySeed,
s1.IdentityIncrement,
s1.DefaultValue,
s1.[Order],
s2.[Database],
s2.[Schema],
s2.[Table],
s2.[Column],
s2.[Type],
s2.IsCharType,
s2.[Length],
s2.[Precision],
s2.Scale,
s2.IsNullable,
s2.IsIdentity,
s2.IdentitySeed,
s2.IdentityIncrement,
s2.DefaultValue,
s2.[Order]
FROM (
SELECT
''' + #DB1 + ''' AS [Database],
s.name AS [Schema],
t.name AS [Table],
c.name AS [Column],
tp.name AS [Type],
CASE
WHEN tp.collation_name IS NOT NULL
THEN 1
ELSE 0
END AS IsCharType,
CASE
WHEN c.max_length = -1
THEN ''MAX''
ELSE CAST(c.max_length AS VARCHAR(4))
END AS [Length],
c.[precision],
c.scale,
c.is_nullable AS IsNullable,
c.is_identity AS IsIdentity,
CAST(ISNULL(ic.seed_value, 0) AS INT) AS IdentitySeed,
CAST(ISNULL(ic.increment_value, 0) AS INT) AS IdentityIncrement,
dc.definition AS DefaultValue,
c.column_id AS [Order]
FROM ' + #Server1 + #DB1 + '.sys.tables t
INNER JOIN ' + #Server1 + #DB1 + '.sys.schemas s ON s.schema_id = t.schema_id
INNER JOIN ' + #Server1 + #DB1 + '.sys.columns c ON c.object_id = t.object_id
INNER JOIN ' + #Server1 + #DB1 + '.sys.types tp ON tp.system_type_id = c.system_type_id
LEFT OUTER JOIN ' + #Server1 + #DB1 + '.sys.identity_columns ic ON ic.object_id = t.object_id AND ic.name = c.name
LEFT OUTER JOIN ' + #Server1 + #DB1 + '.sys.default_constraints dc ON dc.object_id = c.default_object_id
) s1
FULL OUTER JOIN (
SELECT
''' + #DB2 + ''' AS [Database],
s.name AS [Schema],
t.name AS [Table],
c.name AS [Column],
tp.name AS [Type],
CASE
WHEN tp.collation_name IS NOT NULL
THEN 1
ELSE 0
END AS IsCharType,
CASE
WHEN c.max_length = -1
THEN ''MAX''
ELSE CAST(c.max_length AS VARCHAR(4))
END AS [Length],
c.[precision],
c.scale,
c.is_nullable AS IsNullable,
c.is_identity AS IsIdentity,
CAST(ISNULL(ic.seed_value, 0) AS INT) AS IdentitySeed,
CAST(ISNULL(ic.increment_value, 0) AS INT) AS IdentityIncrement,
dc.definition AS DefaultValue,
c.column_id AS [Order]
FROM ' + #Server2 + #DB2 + '.sys.tables t
INNER JOIN ' + #Server2 + #DB2 + '.sys.schemas s ON s.schema_id = t.schema_id
INNER JOIN ' + #Server2 + #DB2 + '.sys.columns c ON c.object_id = t.object_id
INNER JOIN ' + #Server2 + #DB2 + '.sys.types tp ON tp.system_type_id = c.system_type_id
LEFT OUTER JOIN ' + #Server2 + #DB2 + '.sys.identity_columns ic ON ic.object_id = t.object_id AND ic.name = c.name
LEFT OUTER JOIN ' + #Server2 + #DB2 + '.sys.default_constraints dc ON dc.object_id = c.default_object_id
) s2
ON s2.[Schema] = s1.[Schema]
AND s2.[Table] = s1.[Table]
AND s2.[Column] = s1.[Column]
ORDER BY
CASE WHEN s1.[Database] IS NULL THEN s2.[Database] ELSE s1.[Database] END,
CASE WHEN s1.[Schema] IS NULL THEN s2.[Schema] ELSE s1.[Schema] END,
CASE WHEN s1.[Table] IS NULL THEN s2.[Table] ELSE s1.[Table] END,
CASE WHEN s1.[Order] IS NULL THEN s2.[Order] ELSE s1.[Order] END
'
EXEC sp_executesql #SQL

Answer 10

You can use the SQL Management studio tools to "Generate scripts" from both databases. Then use your favorite text comparison tool to see any differences.
In the old days, this worked great, but in SQL 2005 the generate script code changed and the objects were no longer created in the same order, so the text comparison is less useful. I have not tested this in more recent versions of SQL so it may have been fixed. You can also try http://exportsqlscript.codeplex.com/ which I have used with good success to output the DDL as scripts for source code control and comparing versions.
References:
https://connect.microsoft.com/SQLServer/feedback/ViewFeedback.aspx?FeedbackID=332400&wa=wsignin1.0
http://social.msdn.microsoft.com/Forums/en-US/sqltools/thread/505fd238-e0dc-42ae-8a54-2dceace81bb3/
http://exportsqlscript.codeplex.com/