Need to get a better feel for unique column additions/change

dahannajr

I work with a client who still uses foxpro. When a get a SQL backup from them, i need to run a compare to a baseline table structuer. The problem is that the SQL compare shows almost everything as different (even with Ignore order is selected).

Basically, the order of the columns means nothing to me and I'd like the SQL differences view to basically order the columns and show differences the same way that a software DIFF util might.

Brian Donahue

Hello,

Thanks for your post. You may want to look at the SQL Compare's project options. There is an option that affects whether or not column order is considered as a difference. It's the 'force column order' option.

dahannajr

This option seems to be a synchronization option and not a compare option. Basically, when table XYZ comes to me, it might look like

field1 char(10)
field3 char(20)
field2 char(20)

and my baseline table might be

field1 char(10)
field2 char(20)
field3 char(20)

I've had issues where the compare lists some field comparisons on the first table as 'X' only to have the same field located 30 fields later in the second table.

What I'm looking for is a Comparison option like "Show columns in alphabetical order" and perform the DIFF after the sort.

My brute force solution is to get them into Excel and sort the columns and then manually DIFF them. Obviously, not a great time investment.

Brian Donahue

Is this about the side-by-side text windows? They're not 100% accurate. The option to force the column order (to be identical) affects both the comparison and synchronization process.

dahannajr

It is largely about the side-by-side columns being accurate. I have no problem with the synchronization part. That has always wored well for us. What I'm trying to control is change management. I need to see if there have been any changes made to the data structure when I get a new version of this FoxPro data file which has been converted to SQL. The fields are many times not in the same order and I want to rely on the side-by-side view to give me an accurate reflection on how "in-sync" the two models are.