Setting project options
Published 13 December 2022
You can use project options to modify the behavior of SQL Compare. For example, you can set SQL Compare to ignore certain objects even if they're different, or so it doesn't script certain properties for deployment (such as the collation order on columns).
When you create a new project, you should run the comparison with the default options, then review your comparison results. However, if your database is on a SQL Server with case-sensitive sort order, you must select the Use case sensitive object definition option. When you have reviewed your comparison results, you may want to consider changing some of the options.
The options you set are saved for each project, and are modified on the Project Configuration dialog box.
To display the Project Configuration dialog box, click (Edit Project), or select Project Options from the Tools menu.
Some of the options apply only to the comparison, and don't affect the deployment. Similarly, some options apply only to the deployment.
Hover the mouse pointer over the option for a more detailed description.
Default options
To make the current selection of options your defaults, click Save as my defaults. These saved defaults will be used for all new projects. To restore your defaults after making changes, click My Defaults.
To reset all the options to their original settings, click Redgate defaults. The default options for a project are as follows:
Behavior options
- Auto-map similar columns
- Decrypt encrypted objects (2008 databases)
- Enable SQL Monitor integration (find out more)
Ignore options
- Ignore database and server names in synonyms
- Ignore filegroups, partition schemes, and partition functions
- Ignore fill factor and index padding
- Ignore user properties
- Ignore white space
- Ignore WITH element order
To search for an option, type search text in the Find box. The list is filtered to display only those options that contain the search text.
SSDT-compatible options - Preview release only
When compare identifies that a scripts folder is a Microsoft Database Project, which is only supported as a Preview release in SQL Compare, the following standard options will also be used automatically.
- Ignore permissions
Ignore SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER and SET ANSI_NULLS statements
- Ignore WITH NOCHECK
Ignore system named constraint and index names
Add database USE statement
Command line option: AddDatabaseUseStatement
Alias: adus
Adds a USE statement at the top of the SQL deployment script.
Add DROP and CREATE for rerunnable scripts
Command line option: DropAndCreateForReRunnableScripts
Alias: dac
Legacy aliases: DropAndCreateInsteadOfAlter, dacia
When this option is specified, SQL Compare replaces ALTER statements in the deployment script with DROP and CREATE statements for:
- Views
- Stored Procedures
- Functions
- Extended Properties
- DDL Triggers
- DML Triggers
Add CREATE OR ALTER for rerunnable scripts
Command line option: CreateOrAlterForReRunnableScripts
Alias: coa
When this option is selected, SQL Compare attempts to make scripts rerunnable by changing ALTER into CREATE OR ALTER statements for the following objects:
- Views
- Stored Procedures
- Functions
- Extended Properties
- DDL Triggers
- DML Triggers
Add NO POPULATION to fulltext indexes
Command line option: AddNoPopulation
Alias: anp
Adds the 'NO POPULATION' clause to all new fulltext indexes, so that you can control when the first population occurs, rather than letting them populate at deployment time.
When SQL Compare creates a snapshot, this option is ignored, and NO POPULATION is not saved in the snapshot.
Add object existence checks
Command line option: ObjectExistenceChecks
Alias: oec
Legacy alias: ObjectExistenceChecks
Checks for the existence of objects affected by the deployment by adding IF EXISTS statements in the deployment script.
This option can be useful if you want to run the deployment script multiple times.
Enabling this option will cause SQL Compare to generate deployment scripts that use sp_executesql for object types where this is required to be able to perform the check.
Add ONLINE = ON when creating indexes
Command line option: OnlineIndexBuild
Alias: oib
Adds the ONLINE = ON option when creating relational indexes.
Note that some indexes cannot be created with ONLINE = ON within a transaction, so you may need to also choose the "Don't use transactions in deployment scripts" option.
Add WITH ENCRYPTION
Command line option: AddWithEncryption
Alias: we
Adds WITH ENCRYPTION when stored procedures, functions, views, and triggers are included in the deployment
When SQL Compare creates a snapshot, this option is ignored, and WITH ENCRYPTION is not saved in the snapshot.
Auto-map similar columns
The sense of this option is reversed on the command line so if it is set in a project then to get the same behavior on the command line it should not be set.
Command line option: NoAutoColumnMapping
Alias: nacm
By default, SQL Compare will automatically map columns with compatible data types and similar names in mapped tables. Setting this option in a project will cause SQL Compare to only map identical columns.
Consider next filegroups in partition schemes
Command line option: ConsiderNextFilegroupInPartitionSchemes
Alias: cfgps
When this option is selected, if a partition scheme contains a next filegroup, SQL Compare considers the next filegroup in the comparison and deployment if the partition scheme is extended. The next filegroup doesn't affect how data is stored.
Database Project compatible script folder output
Not on the command line.
This option forces script folder output to conform to the style used by the most recent Visual Studio database project type.
Decrypt encrypted objects
Command line option: DecryptEncryptedObjects
Alias: deo
Legacy aliases: DecryptPost2kEncryptedObjects, dp2k
When this option is specified, SQL Compare decrypts text objects in databases created using the WITH ENCRYPTION option.
When SQL Compare saves a snapshot or scripts folder, this option is set and all encrypted objects are decrypted.
- When comparing large databases with few encrypted objects, selecting this option may result in slower performance.
- When this option isn't selected, encrypted text objects are shown as different and can't be deployed.
- Decrypting encrypted objects requires that the user has
sysadmin
permissions - This option does not work with Azure SQL databases
Deploy all dependencies
Command line option: IncludeDependencies
Alias: incd
Includes dependent objects when comparing and deploying databases. For example, if a view depends on a table then the table will be deployed when deploying the view.
This option does not appear in the project options in the UI but is instead displayed on the dependencies step of the deployment wizard where a subset of the differences are selected for deployment and unselected dependencies were identified.
Disable DDL triggers during deployment
Command line option: DisableAndReenableDdlTriggers
Alias: drd
DDL triggers can cause problems when you run the deployment. Select this option to disable any enabled DDL triggers before deploying the databases, and re-enable those triggers following deployment.
Do not add error handling statements to deployment scripts
Command line option: NoErrorHandling
Alias: neh
Removes error handling from the deployment scripts to produce more readable SQL.
If you run the script and this option is not selected, the script will stop executing after encountering an error. This can be useful if you want to continue running the script when there are errors.
If you deploy using SQL Compare, the deployment is always stopped when an error is encountered.
This option can only be selected if the Don't use transactions in deployment scripts option is selected.
Do not include comment header in the deployment script
Command line option: DoNotOutputCommentHeader
Alias: nc
When this option is specified, comments and comment headers are not included in the output deployment script.
Do not use ALTER ASSEMBLY to change CLR objects
Command line option: DontAlterAssembly
Alias: daa
Legacy aliases: UseClrUdtToStringForClrMigration, uclr
If CLR objects included in the deployment, this option forces two rebuilds of the table with conversion to and from strings to update the CLR objects, instead of using ALTER ASSEMBLY. For more information, see Understanding the deployment.
This option affects the deployment only.
Do not use transactions in deployment scripts
Command line option: NoTransactions
Alias: nt
Removes transactions from the deployment SQL scripts to produce SQL code that is more readable.
If this option isn't specified and the deployment script fails, the script is rolled back to the start of the failed transaction. If this option is specified, the script isn't rolled back. This can be useful for detection of errors within a script.
If the deployment includes memory-optimized objects (memory-optimized tables, natively compiled stored procedures or memory-optimized table types), you must select this option to create a valid deployment script.
For more information, see Deploying memory-optimized objects.
Enable SQL Monitor integration
The sense of this option is reversed on the command line so if it is set in a project then to get the same behavior on the command line it should not be set.
Command line option: NoDeploymentLogging
Alias: ndl
Appends a logging statement at the end of the SQL Compare generated deployment script to log the deployment details to the SQL Server Log in order for SQL Monitor to detect the deployment and mark it on the timeline for performance data (find out more).
Force column order
Command line option: ForceColumnOrder
Alias: f
If additional columns are inserted into the middle of a table, this option forces a rebuild of the table so the column order is correct following deployment. Data will be preserved.
Throw on file parse failed
Command line option: ThrowOnFileParseFailed
Alias: tofpf
Throws an exception when parsing a scripts folder fails.
This option is only available on the command line. In the UI the script parser error dialog will be displayed when this error occurs.
Use case-sensitive object definition
Command line option: UseCaseSensitiveObjectDefinition
Alias: cs
Legacy alias: CaseSensitiveObjectDefinition
For databases with case-sensitive collation, enables objects with case-sensitive names to be compared and deployed. For example, considers object names such as ATable and atable as different and performs case-sensitive comparisons on stored procedures, and so on.
You should use this option only if you have databases with binary or case-sensitive sort order.
Use database compatibility level
Command line option: UseCompatibilityLevel
Alias: ucl
Uses a database's compatibility level instead of the SQL Server version.
Ignore
Ignore authorization on schema objects
Command line option: IgnoreSchemaObjectAuthorization
Alias: isoa
Ignores authorization clauses on schema-qualified objects when comparing and deploying databases.
Ignore bindings
Command line option: IgnoreBindings
Alias: ib
Ignores bindings on columns and user-defined types when comparing and deploying databases. For example, sp_bindrule and sp_bindefault clauses will be ignored.
Ignore certificates, symmetric keys, and asymmetric keys
Command line option: IgnoreCertificatesAndCryptoKeys
Alias: icc
SQL Server severely restricts access to certificates, symmetric keys, and asymmetric keys. This means SQL Compare can't compare all of the properties for a symmetric key.
If certificates, symmetric keys, and asymmetric keys are selected for deployment, only the permissions are deployed.
Ignore change tracking
CommandLineOption: IgnoreChangeTracking
Alias: ict
Ignores change tracking when comparing and synchronizing databases.
Ignore check constraints
Command line option: IgnoreCheckConstraints
Alias: ich
Legacy alias: IgnoreChecks
Ignores check constraints when comparing and deploying databases.
Ignore collations
Command line option: IgnoreCollations
Alias: ic
Ignores collation orders on character datatype columns when comparing and deploying databases.
This option is not used for memory-optimized tables.
Ignore comments
Command line option: IgnoreComments
Alias: icm
Ignores comments when comparing views, stored procedures and so on.
Comments will still appear in the deployment scripts.
Ignore constraint and index names
Command line option: IgnoreConstraintAndIndexNames
Alias: icn
Legacy alias: IgnoreConstraintNames
Ignores the names of indexes, foreign keys, primary keys, and default, unique, and check constraints when comparing views, tables and table-valued types. If an index or constraint differs in ways other than its name then its name won't be ignored when it is deployed. Note that this does not ignore names in the definition of a view, for example in a table index hint. In the case of a scripts folder target, SQL Compare will deploy objects using system-named constraints even if the source or target uses constraint names.
Ignore data compression
Command line option: IgnoreDataCompression
Alias: idc
Ignores page and row compression for tables and indexes. When Ignore filegroups is selected, compression is automatically ignored for partitioned tables. In the case of a scripts folder target, SQL Compare will deploy objects without data compression even if the source or target uses data compression.
Ignore database and server name in synonyms
Command line option: IgnoreDatabaseAndServerNameInSynonyms
Alias: idsn
Legacy aliases: IgnoreDatabaseAndServerName, IgnoreDatabaseName, idn
Ignores the database and server name in synonyms when comparing databases.
Ignore DML trigger order
Command line option: IgnoreTriggerOrder
Alias: ito
DML triggers can have an order specified, such as FIRST INSERT, LAST UPDATE, and so on. Specify this option to ignore the trigger order for DML triggers when comparing and deploying databases. The DDL trigger order isn't affected.
Ignore DML triggers
Command line option: IgnoreTriggers
Alias: it
Ignores DML triggers when comparing and deploying databases.
Ignore dynamic data masking
Command line option: IgnoreDynamicDataMasking
Alias: iddm
Ignores MASKED clauses on table columns. Whilst masking-only differences will not be deployed, if your target column was masked and has any change deployed to it, for memory-optimized tables and scripts folders this will cause the field to lose its masking function regardless of whether it was also masked in the source database.
Ignore event notification on queues
Command line option: IgnoreEventNotificationsOnQueues
Alias: iqen
Legacy alias: IgnoreQueueEventNotifications
Ignores the event notification on queues when comparing and deploying databases.
Ignore extended properties
Command line option: IgnoreExtendedProperties
Alias: ie
Ignores extended properties on objects and databases when comparing and deploying databases.
This will not ignore the sensitivity classification extended properties on SQL Server 2017 and older.
Ignore filegroups, partition schemes and partition functions
Command line option: IgnoreFileGroupsPartitionSchemesAndPartitionFunctions
Alias: ifg
Legacy alias: IgnoreFileGroups
Ignores filegroup clauses, partition schemes, and partition functions on tables and keys when comparing and deploying databases. Partition schemes and partition functions aren't displayed in the comparison results.
Ignore fill factor and index padding
Command line option: IgnoreFillFactor
Alias: if
Ignores the fill factor and index padding in indexes and primary keys when comparing and deploying databases.
Ignore foreign keys
Command line option: IgnoreForeignKeys
Alias: ifk
Legacy aliases: IgnoreKeys, ik
Ignores foreign keys when comparing and deploying databases.
Ignore full-text indexing
Command line option: IgnoreFullTextIndexing
Alias: ift
Ignores full-text catalogs and full-text indexes when comparing and deploying databases.
Ignore identity property on columns
Command line option: IgnoreIdentityPropertiesOnColumns
Alias: iip
Legacy alias: IgnoreIdentityProperties
Ignores the identity property on columns when comparing databases. The identity property won't be ignored when databases are deployed.
Ignore identity seed and increment values
Command line option: IgnoreIdentitySeedAndIncrementValues
Alias: isi
Legacy alias: IgnoreIdentitySeedAndIncrement
For identity properties, ignores only the identity seed and increment values when comparing databases. They won't be ignored when the databases are deployed.
Ignore indexes
Command line options: IgnoreIndexes
Alias: ii
Ignores indexes, unique constraints, and primary keys when comparing and deploying databases. In the case of memory-optimized tables or script folder targets, index differences will still be deployed if there are other differences between the tables.
Ignore INSTEAD OF triggers
Command line option: IgnoreInsteadOfTriggers
Alias: iit
Ignores INSTEAD OF DML triggers when comparing and deploying databases.
Ignore LOCK properties of indexes
Command line option: IgnoreLockPropertiesOfIndexes
Alias: ilpi
Legacy aliases: IgnoreIndexLockProperties, iilp
Ignores index PAGE LOCK and ROW LOCK properties when comparing and deploying databases.
Ignore migration scripts for databases
Command line option: IgnoreMigrationScripts
Alias: ims
When this option is selected, SQL Compare won't consider migration scripts when you compare a database.
This option can be useful if you've encountered errors relating to migration scripts and/or source control when comparing a database.
For more details about migration scripts, see Working with migration scripts
Ignore NOCHECK and WITH NOCHECK
Command line option: IgnoreNocheckAndWithNocheck
Alias: inwn
Ignores the NOCHECK and WITH NOCHECK arguments on foreign keys and check constraints. When this option is specified, SQL Compare always applies constraints, even when NOCHECK and WITH NOCHECK are enabled.
Ignore NOT FOR REPLICATION
Command line option: IgnoreNotForReplication
Alias: infr
Ignores the NOT FOR REPLICATION option on foreign keys, identities, check constraints and triggers.
If you specify this option, the NOT FOR REPLICATION statement won't be displayed in the object creation script for foreign keys, identities, and check constraints.
For triggers, the NOT FOR REPLICATION statement will be displayed in the object creation script, but will be ignored for the purposes of the comparison. When comparing triggers, you should also specify the IgnoreWhiteSpace option, but this option will also be applied to all objects in the comparison.
Check constraints and foreign keys that contain the NOT FOR REPLICATION statement in their definition will automatically be flagged as WITH NOCHECK. Use the IgnoreWithNocheck option to identify these objects as being the same.
Ignore nullability of columns
Command line option: IgnoreNullability
Alias: in
Ignore performance indexes
Command line option: IgnorePerformanceIndexes
Alias: ipi
Ignores everything that the 'Ignore indexes' option ignores except primary keys and unique constraints.
Ignore permissions
Command line option: IgnorePermissions
Alias: ip
Ignores permissions on objects when comparing and deploying databases.
Ignore replication triggers
Command line option: IgnoreReplicationTriggers
Alias: irpt
Ignores replication triggers when comparing and deploying databases.
Ignore SET QUOTED_IDENTIFIER and SET ANSI_NULLS statements
Command line option: IgnoreQuotedIdentifiersAndAnsiNullSettings
Alias: iq
Ignores these common SET statements when comparing views, stored procedures and so on. These statements won't be ignored when the databases are deployed. This will also remove them and the deprecated SET ANSI_PADDING from the initial SET statement.
Ignore sensitivity classifications
Command line option: IgnoreSensitivityClassification
Alias: isc
Ignores sensitivity classification on columns.
This will also ignore the sensitivity classification extended properties on SQL Server 2017 and older.
Ignore statistics incremental
Command line option: IgnoreStatisticsIncremental
Alias: isinc
Ignores the Statistics_Incremental property on indexes when comparing and synchronizing databases.
Ignore square brackets in object names
Command line option: IgnoreSquareBrackets
Alias: isb
Ignores starting and ending square brackets in object names which have been escaped using square brackets. This applies to textual objects such as stored procedures, triggers, etc.
Ignore statistics
Command line option: IgnoreStatistics
Alias: ist
Ignores statistics when comparing and deploying databases. In the case of a scripts folder target, SQL Compare will deploy objects without statistics even if the source or target uses statistics.
Ignore STATISTICS_NORECOMPUTE property on indexes
Command line option: IgnoreStatisticsNorecompute
Alias: isn
Ignores the STATISTICS_NORECOMPUTE property on indexes and primary keys.
Ignore system named constraint and index names
Command line option: IgnoreSystemNamedConstraintAndIndexNames
Alias: iscn
Legacy alias: IgnoreSystemNamedConstraintNames
Ignores the names of system named indexes, foreign keys, primary keys, and default, unique, and check constraints when comparing fields in views, tables and table-valued types. Names won't be ignored when the databases are deployed. Note that this does not ignore names in view content, for example in a table index hint.
Ignore tSQLt framework and tests
Command line option: IgnoretSQLt
Alias: itst
Ignores the tSQLt schema and its contents, the tSQLtCLR assembly, the SQLCop schema and its contents, and any schemas and their contents with the tSQLt.TestClass extended property set.
Ignore user properties
Command line option: IgnoreUserProperties
Alias: iup
If you specify this option, users' properties are ignored, and only the user name is compared and deployed.
If you don't specify this option, SQL Compare compares user properties, such as the type of user (SQL, Windows, certificate-based, asymmetric key based) and any schema. If a user is selected for deployment, SQL Compare deploys the properties where possible.
Ignore users' permissions and role memberships
Command line option: IgnoreUsersPermissionsAndRoleMemberships
Alias: iu
When role-based security is used, object permissions are assigned to roles, not users. If this option is selected, SQL Compare compares and deploys object permissions only for roles, and members of roles that are roles. Users' permissions and role memberships are ignored.
Ignore whitespace
Command line option: IgnoreWhiteSpace
Alias: iw
Ignores whitespace (newlines, tabs, spaces, and so on) when comparing databases. White space won't be ignored when the databases are deployed.
Ignore WITH element order
Command line option: IgnoreWithElementOrder
Alias: iweo
If a stored procedure, user-defined function, DDL trigger, DML trigger, or view contains multiple WITH elements (such as encryption, schema binding, and so on), specify this option to ignore the order of the WITH elements when comparing and deploying databases.
Ignore WITH ENCRYPTION
Command line option: IgnoreWithEncryption
Alias: iwe
Ignores WITH ENCRYPTION statements on triggers, views, stored procedures and functions. This option overrides Add WITH ENCRYPTION.
Ignore WITH NOCHECK
Command line option: IgnoreWithNocheck
Alias: iwn
Ignores the WITH NOCHECK argument on foreign keys and check constraints. When this option is specified, disabled constraints aren't ignored, so this option is useful if you want to find out if a constraint is disabled.
If you want to ignore both NOCHECK and WITH NOCHECK arguments, use IgnoreNoCheckAndWithNoCheck.
Foreign keys or constraints that are disabled aren't ignored.
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