Schema and Data Comparison for SQL Server version 7 - New and Updated Features
This page contains information about the release 7 of xSQL Comparison Bundle for SQL Server. The main feature of this release is the added support for Microsoft Azure databases v11 and v12. To view release notes for other versions, click
here.
Check the following topics for more detail:
Support for Microsoft Azure v11
Version 7 brings full support for Microsoft Azure v11. Platform differences between the cloud and on-premise databases are handled transparently. You will receive plenty of warnings to pay attention to only when it's needed.
Support for Microsoft Azure v12
Version 7 supports the latest Microsoft Azure v12. Since at the time of this release v12 was still in preview, we might include additional enhancements and updates for this version in the future release of the comparison bundle.
Changes in the user-interface
- Duplicate Sessions: It is now possible to have multiple sessions for the same SQL Server/Databases. You can control this feature via an option in the application settings.
- Session Name: Session name is now visible in the workspace. This allows you to easily locate a session, even when there are multiple sessions for the same databases.
- Cloud Indicator: An azure database shows a "cloud" image in the workspace, so that you can distinguish between the cloud and on-premise databases.
- Excluded Objects: Data compare includes a new popup that contains database objects, such as table or views, excluded from data comparison due to the Azure v11 restriction related to missing clustered indexes. You can access the popup from a link in the pairing step of the data compare. The link is visible only the restriction has effected tables or views in the database.
- New Landing Page: Version 7 includes a new landing page. It appears only when the workspace is empty. The new page makes it easier for you to navigate the first time you open the comparison tools.
- "Buy Now" button: If you're using the trial version of the comparison bundle, you will see a "Buy Now" button in the user interface ribbon. This will make it convenient for you to reach the purchase page when you ready to buy comparison tools.
- New schema Comparison Option: Schema compare introduces a new comparison option named "Refresh referencing views when rebuilding a table". The option is located under the tab "Scripting Options" and it is off by default. When checked, the table-rebuild portion of the schema synchronization script contains additional script that refreshes the views that reference the table that is being rebuilt.
Bug Fixes
- Fixes a "false" difference triggered by an unspecified TEXTIMAGE filegroup of a table. This prevents unnecessary table rebuilds.
- Performs an additional check before scripting the where clause of a database statistic. In some cases, SQL Server flags the stats as having a where clause, when they actually don't have one.
- Updates the spatial index script to handle unspecified grid levels. Schema comparison also ignores unspecified levels to prevent "false" differences between indexes.
- Adds the data compression option to the unique constraint's scripting. The previous version didn't consider data compression for unique constraints.
- Fixes an issue related to the collation of a column with a user-defined data type. Since collation for this type of columns can't be scripted but could still trigger a difference, the collation clause is ignored during column comparison.
- Fixes an issue with assembly files. Now only the filename of an assembly is compared, neither the path not the extension.
- During the SQL Server discovery, the previous version generated an error when no SQL Servers were found in the network. This issue effected the "Add Database" popup of schema and data compare UI.
Licensing
If you have a valid license and install version 7 of the comparison bundle, the support for Microsoft Azure databases will depend on your licensing options:
- If you have a subscription, the Microsoft Azure databases will be supported and no additional action is required.
- If you have a perpetual license with an active support/maintenance plan, we will email you a new license. When you active the new license, version 7 will support Microsoft Azure databases
- If you have a perpetual license and your support has expired, version 7 will not support Microsoft Azure databases. Other SQL Server versions will continue to work with no restrictions.
Installation
Installing version 7 will automatically remove the previous version of the comparison bundle, if you have it installed.
