Static data
Published 25 March 2013
To source-control data in SQL Source Control, you first link it to source control, then commit it. Linking associates a table's data with source control so subsequent data changes are detected and static data can be shared across the team.
Linking to static data affects performance
Committing and getting the latest version of data can be slow. We recommend you only source-control static data (also known as lookup or reference data). Source-controlling very large static data tables might cause SQL Source Control to time out.
If static data is slowing down performance, you can disable checks for changes to static data on the Setup tab under Options just for this database.
To source-control data:
- In the Object Explorer, right-click the database or table with data you want to source control and select Other SQL Source Control tasks > Link or unlink static data.
- A dialog box opens with the Link/unlink static data tab selected:
The dialog box shows a list of the tables in the database.
You can only source-control data in tables with a valid primary key. The primary key is used as the comparison key to identify corresponding rows. - Select the tables you want to link and click Save and close.
SQL Source Control creates a file for the table's data, but the data itself hasn't been committed yet. - On the Commit Changes tab, make sure all Data Link changes are selected, type a comment (optional), and click Commit.
The data is committed to source control.
