Configure comparison options

You can use project options to configure the behavior of Schema Compare.

The guide describes the following topics:

When you create a new project, you should run the comparison with the default options and then review your comparison results. After you have reviewed your comparison results, you may consider changing some of the options. The options you set are saved for each project, and you can modify them on the Options page of the New Schema Comparison wizard.

Options wizard

Note

When comparing database objects, such as procedures, views, triggers, and functions, using dbForge Schema Compare, the tool automatically adjusts how the SQL code looks based on the active formatting profile rules. This formatting only affects how the scripts appear in Text Compare.

If you want to see only differences in DDL in Text Compare without the formatting applied, turn on Format Database Object Script on the Text Compare toolbar. This button appears when the Format Database Object Script in Text Compare option is activated. For more information, see Compare objects that differ only in formatting.

If you click Save Command Line, the Command Line Wizard will open.

To explore how to remove objects that have the Only in Target status, see Exclude all objects with the Only in Target status.

Default options

If you want to make the current selection of options your defaults, click Save As My Defaults. These options will be used for all new projects.

To restore your defaults after making changes, click My Defaults.

Save as defaults

If you need to reset all the options to their original settings, click Devart Defaults.

The options are grouped, and there is a detailed description for each option.

Options groups

Search for options

On the Options page, you can search for comparison options by typing the search text or symbol, such as a wildcard or an underscore, in the Search box. The list is filtered to display only those options that contain the search text.

The default search mode is case-insensitive. It means that searching for a term like ignore will highlight all options containing the text whether it is capitalized (Ignore) or lowercase (ignore). As you type, the text that matches your search criteria will be highlighted in the grid. The number of matching options will be displayed in the search bar.

The search is case-insensitive

If you write the text divided by spacebars, each subsequent input will highlight new results.

New search

To remove the search input, click clear symbol in the Search box.

Save settings to a command-line arguments file

On the Options page, you can save command-line arguments and settings to a .txt file. To do this, click Save settings to a command-line arguments file.

Save settings to a command-line arguments file

The Save As dialog opens, allowing you to select the destination path to save the file. The default name is SchemaCompareArgs.txt. You can specify a different name and click Save. The file includes information such as the source and target connections, along with a list of comparison options indicating whether each option is turned on (Enabled) or turned off (No):

The file contains the following information

After that, a notification will appear indicating that you’ll need to manually enter the password for the specified connection when you use the file.

Warning message

Note

Throughout the generation process, the command-line arguments file includes comparison and synchronization options.

Schema comparison options

Option name Option Group Default State Option Description
Associate column names having similar name options, 80 % Auto Mapping Disabled Identifies similar column names to be equal.
Ignore case in object names Auto Mapping Disabled Ignores cases in object names during mapping and comparison.
Ignore spaces in object names Auto Mapping Disabled Ignores spaces in object names during mapping and comparison.
Compare database properties Common Enabled Includes a database object in the comparison and synchronization.
Convert user data types into SQL Server system data types Common Disabled Transforms user data types into SQL Server system data types during the database comparison and synchronization.
Disable dependency analysis Common Disabled Disables dependency building algorithms and describes object types selected in the Object filter.
Ignore authorization Common Disabled Ignores the AUTHORIZATION clauses and statements on the contained database objects during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore CHANGE_TRACKING Common Disabled Ignores the CHANGE_TRACKING clauses during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore CLR datatypes in column Common Disabled Ignores CLR datatypes in the column during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore collations Common Disabled Ignores column collations during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore DATA_COMPRESSION for tables, indexes, primary and unique constraints Common Enabled Ignores the DATA_COMPRESSION clause for tables, indexes, primary and unique constraints.
Ignore database and server names for synonyms Common Enabled Ignores database and server names for synonyms during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore database extended properties Common Enabled Ignores extended properties of the database during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore database object extended properties Common Disabled Ignores extended properties of the database object during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore datatypes in column Common Disabled Ignores datatypes in the column during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore event notification on queues Common Disabled Ignores an event notification on queues during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore filegroups and partition schemes/functions Common Disabled Ignores filegroups, partition schemes, and partition functions during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore full-text catalog path Common Disabled Ignores the path in the full-text catalog during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore full-text search Common Disabled Ignores full-text stoplists, full-text catalogs, and full-text indexes during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore next filegroups Common Disabled Ignores next filegroups during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore semicolons Common Disabled Ignores semicolons at the end of statements during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore sequence max value Common Disabled Ignores the sequence maximum value.
Ignore sequence min value Common Disabled Ignores the sequence minimum value.
Ignore sequence start value Common Disabled Ignores the sequence start value.
Ignore tSQLt framework and unit tests Common Disabled Excludes objects of the tSQLt framework and unit tests during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore user DEFAULT_SCHEMA Common Enabled Ignores DEFAULT_SCHEMA for users during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore permissions Common Disabled Ignore security permissions during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore users’ permissions Common Disabled Ignores users’ permissions and roles memberships during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore user DEFAULT_LANGUAGE Common Disabled Ignores DEFAULT_LANGUAGE for users during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore logins, certificates, asymmetric keys for users Common Enabled Ignores logins, certificates, and asymmetric keys, and synchronizes the corresponding user properties.
If you want to ignore users, first, you need to configure the Object Filter after the comparison as described in the Use object filter topic.
Populate full-text indexes Common Disabled Populates full-text indexes.
Quote object names with square brackets Common Enabled Quotes object names with square brackets during the script generation.
Force column order Tables Enabled Forces the re-creation of the table when adding new columns to it.
Ignore bound rules and defaults Tables Disabled Ignores bound rules and defaults during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore default column collations Tables Enabled Ignores default column collations during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore history tables names Tables Enabled Ignores history tables names during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore identity on columns Tables Disabled Ignores identity on columns during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore identity seed and increment values Tables Disabled Ignores identity seed and increment values during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore LOCK_ESCALATION Tables Enabled Ignores LOCK_ESCALATION for tables during the database comparison and synchronization.
Ignore table DML triggers Triggers Disabled Ignores DML triggers for tables during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore INSTEAD OF triggers Triggers Disabled Ignores INSTEAD OF triggers for tables during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore state of DML triggers Triggers Disabled Ignores state of DML triggers during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore state of DDL triggers Triggers Disabled Ignores state of DDL triggers during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore firing order for DDL and DML triggers Triggers Disabled Ignores a firing order for DDL and DML triggers.
Ignore check constraints Indexes and constraints Disabled Ignores check constraints during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore column order in indexes Indexes and constraints Disabled Ignores a column order for the included columns during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore constraint names Indexes and constraints Disabled Ignores constraint names during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore constraints’ system names Indexes and constraints Enabled Ignores constraint system names.
Ignore default constraints Indexes and constraints Disabled Ignores defaul constraints and schema defaults during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore foreign key Indexes and constraints No Ignores foreign keys during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore foreign key actions ON UPDATE and ON DELETE Indexes and constraints No Ignores cascading referential integrity constraints for foreign keys during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore indexes Indexes and constraints No Ignores indexes in tables and views during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore indexes’ names Indexes and constraints No Ignores names of indexes in tables and views during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore NOCHECK state on constraints Indexes and constraints No Ignores the NOCHECK clause for foreign keys and check constraints during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore NOT NULL constraint for a column Indexes and constraints No Ignores the NOT NULL constraint for a column during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore PAD_INDEX and FILLFACTOR for indexes and constraints Indexes and constraints Disabled Ignores PAD_INDEX and FILLFACTOR for indexes and constraints during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore PAGE_LOCK and ROW_LOCK for indexes and constraints Indexes and constraints Disabled Ignores ALLOW_PAGE_LOCK and ALLOW_ROW_LOCK for indexes and constraints during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore primary keys Indexes and constraints Disabled Ignores differences in primary keys during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore sort direction (ASC/DESC) for index columns Indexes and constraints Disabled Ignores sort direction for index columns during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore statistics Indexes and constraints Disabled Ignores statistics related to the column during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore STATISTICS_NORECOMPUTE for indexes and constraints Indexes and constraints Disabled Ignores STATISTICS_NORECOMPUTE for indexes and constraints during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore unique keys Indexes and constraints Disabled Ignores differences in unique keys during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore WITH NOCHECK state on constraints Indexes and constraints Disabled Ignores WITH NOCHECK for constraints during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore DML and INSTEAD OF triggers present only in Target Keep objects in target Disabled Ignores dropped DML triggers in target while comparing and synchronizing tables or views.
Ignore indexes present only in target Keep objects in target Disabled Ignores dropped indexes in target while comparing and synchronizing tables or views.
Ignore NOT FOR REPLICATION for indexes, constraints and triggers Replications Disabled Ignores NOT FOR REPLICATION for indexes, constraints, and triggers during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore replication tables Replications Enabled Ignores replication tables during comparison.
Ignore replication procedures Replications Disabled Ignores replication procedures during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore replication roles Replications Disabled Ignores replication roles during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore replication schemas Replications Disabled Ignores replication schemas during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore replication triggers Replications Disabled Ignores replication triggers during comparison and synchronization.
Decrypt encrypted objects Script Objects Enabled Decrypts bodies of encrypted objects for comparison and synchronization.
Ignore case Script Objects Disabled Ignores case differences in object’s body during comparison.
Ignore comments Script Objects Disabled Ignores comments while comparing stored procedures, views, functions, etc.
Ignore keyword reduction Script Objects Enabled Ignores differences in full and short names of keywords during comparison.
Ignore object names in definitions Script Objects Disabled Ignores object names in definitions during comparison.
Ignore QUOTED_IDENTIFIER and ANSI_NULLS Script Objects Disabled Ignores QUOTED_IDENTIFIER and ANSI_NULLS for stored procedures, functions, triggers, etc. during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore signatures Script Objects Disabled Ignores signatures when comparing and synchronizing stored procedures, functions, triggers, and assemblies.
Ignore white spaces Script Objects Enabled Ignores white spaces (new lines, tabs, spaces, etc.) during comparison and synchronization. Original white spaces in the scripts for database objects and computed columns are preserved.
Ignore WITH ENCRYPTION Script Objects Disabled Ignores differences in the WITH ENCRYPTION attribute during comparison and synchronization.
Ignore WITH option order Script Objects Enabled Ignores elements order in the WITH clause when comparing and synchronizing stored procedures, views, triggers, functions, etc.

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