From time to time, I’ll run into a situation where I need to compare database schemas or data from two different databases. This usually happens when a developer makes changes to a development database and neglects to keep track of those changes. When the time comes to push to production, it’s hard to remember all of the changes and if something ends up getting left out, you have to spend time tracking down what was missed.

This use to happen to us a lot until we started using scripts to create and update databases.

From time to time, I still need to compare the structure between two different databases, and sometimes I need to compare the actual data as well. This use to be very problematic until I found some handy utilities from xSQL Software.

They make a number of utilities, but I’ve only tried two of them. Both of them are free for use with SQL Server Express edition, and the full version is reasonably priced if you need to compare Standard or Enterprise edition.

xSQL Object

This utility allows you to compare the structure of two different databases (they don’t need to be on the same server, either). It compares Tables, Stored Procedures, User Defined Functions, Message Types, Contracts, Queues, Services, Routes, Users and Roles. You can selectively choose which tables or other objects you want it to compare. It will show you the differences between the two objects, and best of all, when you’re finished you can tell it to generate a script that will make either one of the databases look like the other one.

xSQL Data Compare

This utility lets you compare the data within tables from two different databases. You can choose which tables to compare, and just like xSQL Object, it allows you to generate change scripts that will make one side look like the other.

I’ve never had any issues with either of these utilities, but it’s always a good idea to back up both databases before executing the change scripts. Have fun!