How to: Set Options for Comparing Database Schemas
You can configure options to specify more exactly what is considered a difference between databases or database projects. You can set global options that affect the default comparison options for all new sessions of Schema Compare.Sessions of Schema Compare are automatically refreshed when you change options. You configure options for each type of database schema provider that you have installed. In Visual Studio Premium, you can configure options for any supported database schema provider, such as SQL Server 2005 and SQL Server 2008.
For information about specific comparison options that you can configure, see Options (Database Tools/Schema Compare).
Note
The default values for Schema Compare options differ from the default deployment options in several areas. By default, operational settings, such as fill factor and index padding, are included in Schema Compare but ignored when you deploy. Also by default, several settings (enforce only minimal dependencies, ignore extended properties, and ignore permissions) are enabled for Schema Compare to improve performance.
To set global options for Schema Compare
On the Tools menu, click Options.
The Options dialog box appears.
Expand the Database Tools node, expand the Schema Compare node, and then click the node for the appropriate database schema provider.
After you finish configuring your options, click OK to commit those changes. At any time, you can click Cancel to discard the changes.
When you commit your changes, any new sessions of Schema Compare use the new settings. Existing sessions keep the settings that were in effect when the session was created until you refresh the results window.
Note
You can also specify options by clicking Options in the New Schema Comparison dialog box. For more information, see How to: Compare Database Schemas.
See Also
Tasks
How to: Compare Database Schemas