A Step-by-Step Guide for SQL Data Examiner, the tool that Compares and Synchronizes Database Contents

To start a new comparison, simply click the “New” button, located on the toolbar, or select File » New in the File menu.

In the window that appears, type in or select the database server, the authentication method and the names of the first and the second databases.

If the databases you compare are on the same server, select the “Both databases on the same server” option so that you don’t have to type the login name and the password twice.

Click “Next” to continue.

Select the tables you want to compare and the key column(s) necessary to match the records in the compared databases. Specify a unique index in the drop-down list if there are any such indexes, or select the custom key. By default, the program selects the primary key column(s) as the key column(s).
If no key columns have been chosen, when you click “Compare” the application will remind you to choose a key column.

Now you can select the columns to compare. By default, all columns are selected, but in the drop-down list you can deselect the ones you don’t want to compare.

The “Select All” button allows you to select all the tables in the list. You can click the “Select None” button to clear the checkboxes. The “Clear Wrong” button deselects all the tables for which the key column hasn’t been specified.

Click “Compare” to continue.

When the comparison process is complete, the results are displayed for you to review.

The differences in the rows are color coded:

• Black for tables that have identical content in both databases;
• Grey for tables that have some different records;
• Blue for tables that have some records in the first database that are missing in the second; and
• Green for tables that have some records in the second database that are missing in the first.

Selecting a table activates the right panel of the dialog box. It displays the following tabs:

• The “Identical” tab displays the identical rows in the compared tables;
• The “Different” tab displays rows with different content. Such tables must be synchronized in order to be identical;
• The “Only in DB1” tab displays rows in the first database that are missing in the second database; and
• The “Only in DB2” tab displays rows in the second database that are missing in the first database.

Select the tables or rows you want to synchronize, and click the “Synchronize…” button on the toolbar.

In the wizard’s first step, you will be asked to select the synchronization direction. Choose the database to be changed.

You will also be prompted to create a backup of the database that will be changed. We recommend that you back up your target database before synchronization.

Click “Next” to continue.

In the second step you can select the options you need. By default, all four options are selected.

You can find detailed descriptions of these options in the program’s Help file.

Click “Next” to continue.

In the third step you can review a summary of the planned changes and the script that will execute them.

Click “Next” to continue.

On this step, you can specify what actions should be performed on the synchronization script: execute the script, save it or send it to an external application. If you want to review the results of the synchronization, check the “Compare databases after synchronization” option.

Then click “Execute” to perform the specified actions.

Click “Finish” to close the “Synchronize” window.

Synchronization has been completed successfully.