can't get schema compare to work on GDR R2

Question

we are trying to use the schema compare feature but after upgrading to GDR R2 Compare is not returning anything.

database to database
schema to database

It does not seem to matter which method. Schema compare appers to be doing something but when it returns it shows no changes which i know is not true.

Answer 1

Tim,

Not sure if this will help you or not, but look for any errors in your schema (in the errors/warnings window). I had the same problem (sveral times) and it was always due to some form of complaint about the schema.

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Chris Snyder, Stumbling through code one day at a time If your question was answered, please mark it.

Answer 2

Chris that does not seem to be the problem as i see the same issue when Comparing Database to Database. We have reproduced this on 2 machines and are no closer to a resolution. The really interesting thing is I am able to run a Deploy with no issues but the schema compare functionality is not working.

Answer 3

Tim, 

Does Schema Compare show any objects as being equal, diff, etc?  There are no errors or warnings in the error list?

There could be an object in the database that is failing the reverse engineer.  Can you enable tracing to see if you are getting an exception?
See here to enable trace: http://blogs.msdn.com/gertd/archive/2008/08/17/trace-helper.aspx

Thanks,

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Barclay Hill Program Manager VSTS: DB Team (DataDude, DBPro, Database Edition) Please mark the responses as answer if it resolves your question.

Answer 4

Hi Tim,

I've just "upgraded" to GDR R2 as well. I have a similar problem in that Schema Compare doesn't seem to be working right. I run a compare, I get results, I click "Write Updates", it "does it's thing", then it recompares (automatically), but the *same* "differences" are still there. Some are marked "Skip" & I can't change it to update. Some are marked "Update" but still they don't get updated.

I've done this numerous times now & still can't get a simple schema compare & update to function correctly like it did pre-GDR.

I'm not a happy camper!

Yann

Answer 5

After going back and forth with Barclay off line we found the answer to this issue. I followed the info outlined here and schema compare workes now.

http://blogs.msdn.com/gertd/archive/2009/03/08/dealing-with-confused-installations.aspx

Super big thanks to Barclay.