Using Schema Compare

You can launch the Schema Compare tool from the Visual Studio Tools menu, from the Project folder in a Oracle Database Project Version 2, or from the context menu for a Data Connection node in Server Explorer described in the Data Connection Node Menu Options.

Once launched, the Schema Compare Source and Target Dialog appears.

You choose source and target Server Explorer database connections and/or Oracle Database Project Version 2 projects. You can also choose to restrict the comparison to particular schema objects types. You can also filter the results to show only certain types of results, for example, only objects that are missing in the target.

When comparing a Oracle Database Project Version 2 project to a Oracle Database connection, the database connection should contain one of the schema names that is included in the database project.

The Schema Compare Results Window opens.

This displays a tree control representing the results hierarchy. You can drill down and view the differences.

When you select an Object Type node (or any of its children), the Attributes and Object Definition tabs show detailed differences between the source and target. The Update SQL tab shows the SQL required to modify the target so that the object matches the source.

Clicking the Update Target toolbar button on the Results window will update a target Database Connection or Oracle Database Project Version 2 project to upgrade the target schema to match the source schema.

If the target is a Oracle Database connection, then clicking the Generate Script toolbar button will generate a deployment script (a diff script). This can be run against the target database to upgrade the target schema to match the source schema.