Git Automation with SQL Tools and Visual Studio Code

Question

So here's my situation:

• We have a database application created and maintained by a third party

We have access to the application to debug/extend that application to meet our needs

The third party software developer regularly modifies the application to add features and fix bugs

The application is managed via web interface

We have added the web portal directory to a self-hosted git repository. Changes made to those files, either by us or the developer, are automatically tracked and therefore can be committed and pushed to the repository. So now we want to do the same with the SQL application.

I have made a new repository for the DB application. I created a new database project, using the SQL Tools plugin to VS Code, and successfully imported the entire database schema. Synced the git and we now have a beautiful project with SQL code for the entire server.

Here's my problem:

If the developer makes changes, how do I track those? I can't seem to find a way to refresh the project with the server and for example see that they added a column to a table, or modified a stored procedure.

Am I missing something obvious

  Can this not be done with SQL Tools on Code; does it work with full Visual Studio
  
     Is there a 3rd Party alternative
     

Thanks in advance for any help!So here's my situation:

We have a database application created and maintained by a third party

We have access to the application to debug/extend that application to meet our needs

The third party software developer regularly modifies the application to add features and fix bugs

The application is managed via web interface

We have added the web portal directory to a self-hosted git repository. Changes made to those files, either by us or the developer, are automatically tracked and therefore can be committed and pushed to the repository. So now we want to do the same with the SQL application.

I have made a new repository for the DB application. I created a new database project, using the SQL Tools plugin to VS Code, and successfully imported the entire database schema. Synced the git and we now have a beautiful project with SQL code for the entire server.

Here's my problem:

If the developer makes changes, how do I track those? I can't seem to find a way to refresh the project with the server and for example see that they added a column to a table, or modified a stored procedure.

Am I missing something obvious

  Can this not be done with SQL Tools on Code; does it work with full Visual Studio
  
     Is there a 3rd Party alternative
     

Thanks in advance for any help!

Answer 1

Hi @Jason Price

You may go to Visual Studio SSDT to manage database schema changes.

SSDT has a built-in Schema Compare tool, which can compare the differences between the database and the local project with one click and generate incremental update scripts.

Best regards,

Cosmog

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