Command Line Wizard

Last modified: January 15, 2025

Schema Compare incorporates a built-in Command Line Wizard that allows converting the project’s comparison and synchronization options into command-line syntax and save it as a *.bat file.

It is a very convenient feature when it comes to scheduling or automating database comparison and synchronization. You can then use a *.bat file with a script and Windows Task Scheduler or any other task scheduler tool available to schedule the database comparison or synchronization.

You can select command-line file settings to manage *.bat file text in the Command line execution file settings dialog. You can open the dialog by selecting Save Command Line in:

1. New Schema Comparison Wizard

2. Schema Synchronization Wizard

Options of the Command Line Wizard

The command line wizard has the following options:

Command-line file settings

Name	Default State	Description
Source	Yes	Specify the source configurations: a server, a database, a connection, a snapshot, a backup, and a scripts folder.
Target	Yes	Specify the target configurations: a server, a database, a connection, a snapshot, a backup, and a scripts folder.
Comparison Project	No	Load command-line settings from the previously created comparison project file with the .scomp extension.
Comparison Options	No	Configure options to manage the comparison process.
Synchronization	Yes	Start database synchronization. If an output file is specified, only a synchronization script will be generated.
Report	No	Generate a schema comparison report file.
Report Format	No	Specify the format of the file comparison report: HTML (default), XML, or XMLFOREXCEL. If not specified, the report file’s extension determines the file format.
Include Objects	No	Specify the objects to be included in the report: All (default) - all objects Filtered - filtered objects Diff - objects with differences SelectForSync - objects selected for synchronization.
Log File	No	Generate a comparison log file in the specified directory.
Synchronization Options	No	Set options to manage the synchronization script.
Synchronization File	Yes	Specify a path to the database synchronization script file.
Objects Filter	No	Apply a custom filter to include or exclude objects from comparison.
Execute	No	Execute the file obtained as the result of the previous commands execution.
Error Code	No	Enable the processing of error levels.
Arguments File	No	Specify the path to the command-line arguments file. If you select the path to an existing file, it will be used. If you provide a file name instead, a new file with the specified options will be generated.
Echo OFF	No	Disable echoing all commands in the batch file. All the text in the batch file is enclosed in the @Echo OFF … @Echo ON command.
Keep opened	No	Add the pause command at the end of the batch file text to keep the command window open after execution.
PowerShell	No	Add the & symbol at the beginning of the batch file text to ensure compatibility with PowerShell.

After setting the required options for the potential script, you can click Validate to check the accuracy of the code.

If the syntax is valid, you will receive the following message:

Otherwise, the correspondent warning will be displayed:

After validating the code, you can save the script as a *.bat file by clicking the Save button and specifying a path to its location.