In a previous blog I describe in twenty one easy steps how to set up continuous integration using a combination of TeamCity and Red Gate tools. Okay, it’s easy only in a relative sense, giving that until recently database continuous integration was almost impossible to set up. One would always suspect that a twenty-one-step process is a long way from ......

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Production databases can get very large. This in itself is to be expected, but when a copy of the database is needed the database must be restored, requiring additional and costly storage. For example, if you want to give each developer a full copy of your production server, you’ll need n times the storage cost for your n-developer team. The same is ......

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The rise in demand for database continuous integration has forced me to skill-up in various new tools and technologies, particularly build servers. We have been using JetBrain’s TeamCity here at Red Gate for a couple of years now, having replaced the ageing CruiseControl.NET, so it was a natural choice for us to use this for our database CI demos. Most ......

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Because there is so little information on database continuous integration in the wild, I’ve taken it upon myself to aggregate as much as possible and post the links to this blog. Because it’s my area of expertise, this will focus on SQL Server and Red Gate tooling, although I am keen to include any quality articles that discuss the topic in general ......

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Developers have long since had to context switch between two IDEs, Visual Studio for application code development and SQL Server Management Studio for database development. While this is accepted, especially given the richness of the database development feature set in SSMS, loading a separate tool can seem a little overkill. This is where SQL Connect ......

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Testing a database upgrade script as part of a continuous integration process will only work if there is an easy way to automate the generation of the upgrade scripts. There are two common approaches to managing upgrade scripts. The first is to maintain a set of scripts as-you-go-along. Many SQL developers I’ve encountered will store these in a folder ......

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This post will describe how to set up basic database continuous integration using TeamCity to initiate the build process, SQL Source Control to put your database under source control, and the SQL Compare command line to keep a test database up to date. In my example I will be using Subversion as my source control repository. If you wish to follow my ......

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Typically, when I install SQL Server Management Studio and run it for the first time, the first thing I do is to close the Object Explorer Details window. After all, it doesn’t seem to serve a useful purpose, duplicating information that already exists in the Object Explorer. However, I have discovered that it has one important redeeming capability, ......

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There are a number of free T-SQL prettifiers out there, covering both code layout and syntax highlighting, but Format SQL is different in that it leverages the engine that powers SQL Prompt, the popular add-in that extends SQL Server Management Studio for SQL developers and DBAs. Simply type or paste T-SQL into the top text area, and it formats your ......

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If your organization has continuous integration in place, it will most likely contain a build step in which your latest application source code gets pulled from source control, compiled, and optionally subjected to a various tests. If you’re a Microsoft shop, chances are that your application works alongside an instance of SQL Server. SQL Source Control ......

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