Sql Server Database Visual Studio – Many database administrators and developers prefer to use SQL Server Management Studio to make changes directly to the database schema. As a production DBA, I can certainly say that there are situations where this is acceptable and even desirable, but a Visual Studio database project is generally the better approach. I switched from SSMS development to database development in Visual Studio several years ago and have never looked back.
If you know how to start Visual Studio and how to import a database, you can jump right into the benefits of using Visual Studio for database development.
Sql Server Database Visual Studio
There are several ways to start developing a database in Visual Studio. First you need Visual Studio. Visual Studio used to be a premium product and quite expensive, but a few years ago Microsoft released the Community Edition, which is free! You can download a copy here: https://visualstudio.microsoft.com/vs/community/
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The most obvious and easiest way is to simply create a new database project and start developing the database from scratch.
However, you probably have existing databases that you want to bring into the database project. First, create a new database project and then import the existing schema, which you can do in several ways:
This option allows you to import the schema by connecting directly to a SQL Server database. This is the easiest option, but keep in mind that it may not work in some environments if there are network restrictions or if you don’t have access to the server.
To remove the possible limitations described above, we can ask our friendly production database administrator to pull DACPAC from the production database. DACPACs are files that contain the entire database schema without any data. You can read more about the Data-Tier application on MSDN: https://docs.microsoft.com/en-us/sql/relational-databases/data-tier-applications/
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In SQL Server Management Studio, this can be done by right-clicking on the database -> Tasks -> Extract database application
This will create a *.dacpac file in the selected location that can be imported into Visual Studio.
It is also possible to extract DACPAC via the command line using the SqlPackage.exe file. SqlPackage.exe is a small command-line application responsible for unpacking and deploying DACPACs. It is part of the SQL Server installation, not Visual Studio. More on that later.
If the DACPAC option is not possible for some reason, we can import the SQL file. As a developer, you can use a friendly DBA to create database scripts. As a DBA, you can do this in a similar way to DACPAC mining. Right click on the database and go to Tasks and Build Scripts…
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I explained how to get started with Visual Studio and how to import an existing database. In the next section, I’ll focus on why we did it and how Visual Studio benefits the world of database development.
Once the database is in the project, you can configure configuration options. For example, you can configure snapshot isolation or enable Service Broker. The deployment process handles all of this for you and deploys the configuration to the database:
We can also set the target SQL version that launches Visual Studio to make sure we’re using compatible syntax.
If you want to upgrade your database to the latest version of SQL, this is a good way to find out if it’s using outdated syntax. Import the database into Visual Studio, set the target platform to the desired SQL version and run the build.
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Visual Studio enables direct integration with source code, which in turn enables distributed development among a larger team.
Consider a scenario where two people modify the same objects in a database schema. In the case of SSMS, the second person applying the changes will likely override the changes made by the first person in the meantime. You can reduce this risk by using source code control, which merges the code and ensures that there are no conflicting changes. You also get additional protection provided by the deployment process itself, which detects all changes to the database made outside the project.
Visual Studio is smart enough to recommend potential problems found in your code. These are not bugs per se, and we cannot find any faulty code. Think of yourself as an experienced DBA looking over your shoulder and telling you what you should change.
It is also possible to create your own validation rules, which can be useful in complying with company and DBA standards. For example, it can flag any join or cross-database alarms when using three-part object naming conventions.
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Let’s say we want to rename an existing column. This naturally affects any other objects, functions, views, or operations that use this column. Visual Studio will automatically find all dependencies and links and highlight the problem.
As you can see, the rollup not only fails, but is also reported in the view that references that column:
Visual Studio also allows you to write integration tests for stored procedures that can be run as part of a deployment routine. The result of the test affects the final result of the entire implementation.
To create a unit test for a stored procedure, right-click the stored procedure and click Create Unit Tests. This opens a window where we can select the actual procedure for which we want to create unit tests:
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Unit tests are created in C#, so it’s not exactly a database language, but don’t worry, it’s not that hard. In our example, we create a unit test for the stored procedure because it accepts parameters. After choosing the method to create the test, click OK
The first login – “Run” must use the same account used by the production application. This also validates the permissions to ensure that the application can perform the operation.
Another connection – “Secondary information”. It is a privileged connection to prepare for the event and clean up afterwards. It can also be used to confirm what the first login did. For example, an application account can only have EXECUTE permission and not SELECT access to the schema for security reasons. Suppose we have a stored procedure that inserts data into a table. Successful completion of the procedure does not mean that the test has been successful. We must also ensure that the information is correct. This can be achieved with a secondary account.
Deployments are Visual Studio’s greatest strength. As a production DBA, I remember the days when I had to create over a hundred scripts for larger deployments. It could easily last a week alone and what could go wrong! Visual Studio makes this process very simple and easy, although there are a few pitfalls that I’ll explain below.
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The commissioning concept is simple. Visual Studio compares the differences between the existing database schema we’re deploying to and the schema of the project we’re deploying from and generates a deployment script.
To publish a database directly from Visual Studio, right-click on the database project and click Publish, select the desired connection string and option, and wait a minute or two. You can see the progress in the Output window:
If we register as a data tier application, we can also prevent deployment if the production database differs from the project. For example, when someone has modified a table directly in SSMS that is not in the project, we can tell the deployment to stop because of the risk of overwriting those changes.
Deployment will not start if there is a risk of data loss. This also means that it will NOT delete tables that contain data or make any changes that could cause data loss. This is a good thing in general, but it can cause problems when you use the CI/CD pipeline and decide to retire old tables.
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On the Deposit tab, as the name suggests, we have several options related to deposit operations:
If you delete a table from a project, it is not automatically deleted from the database. This is the default function, but of course you can change it.
You can safely perform the deployment with the default settings. The default settings ensure that no data is lost. The process is also completely event-specific, meaning that if something goes wrong, the event will be cancelled. However, this means that a large deployment can affect the event log or even cause it to explode. Therefore, it is important not to make changes to the schema that could lead to major events.
If we don’t want to publish the database directly, but want to validate the publishing script, we have the Generate script option. This creates, as its name suggests
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The default release settings described above include the use of Visual Studio. Of course, one of the most important requirements is the ability to connect to the production server and obtain the necessary permissions to deploy the changes. This is often not the case.
I’ve often worked in isolated work environments where DB units contribute to deployments developed by independent teams that don’t have access to production servers. You