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. You must refresh existing sessions of Schema Compare for the changed options to take effect. You configure options for each type of database schema provider that you have installed. In Visual Studio Team System 2008 Database Edition, you can configure options for SQL Server 2000, SQL Server 2005, and SQL Server 2008.

For information about specific comparison options that you can configure, see Options (Database Tools/Schema Compare).

To set global options for Schema Compare

  1. On the Tools menu, click Options.

    The Options dialog box appears.

  2. Expand the Database Tools node, expand the Schema Compare node, and then click the node for the appropriate database schema provider.

  3. 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

Concepts

Terminology Overview of Database Edition

Compare and Synchronize Database Schemas