SQLTreeo Compare

This update makes the automatic updates of SQLTreeo Compare more dependable. It works the same way in SQLTreeo Job Timeline now. Nothing else changes.

Updates

• When an update has been offered and a later check in the background cannot reach the network, for example because the laptop went offline, the Update now button stays. Before, it disappeared until the next successful check.
• An update that is downloaded and waits for Restart and install is no longer offered again by the checks that run every few hours while the application stays open.
• A copy that receives beta versions looks at the beta channel and at the stable channel and takes the newest version, because a final release is published to the stable channel only. A copy that stops receiving betas follows the stable channel again after a restart.
• The portable zip never looks for updates and does not update itself, as the download page says. Settings → Updates explains this instead of showing switches that would do nothing.
• A feed address under Settings → Updates → Advanced that is not an address is no longer saved, and the page says so. An empty box still means the default feed.
• “Last checked” on the Settings page follows the automatic checks while the page is open, and the switch for beta versions says that it takes effect after a restart.
• The button that closes the update banner now has a name for screen readers.

This update fixes problems around entering and checking a license key. Nothing else changes.

Fixes

• Entering a license key could end with the error “The calling thread cannot access this object”. The result of the online check is now shown on the right thread.
• A license service that does not answer in time no longer loses the key you just entered. The key is stored and checked again later.
• An answer of the license service that is not about your key, for example when the service has a problem of its own or a network proxy answers in its place, is no longer taken for “the key is invalid”. The key keeps the state it had until the next successful check.
• A license term that has ended is shown as expired, with its end date. A key that the service does not know no longer shows an end date.
• A license file that exists but cannot be read, for example after a crash while it was written, is no longer treated as a new computer. No new trial starts over it and the key in it is not overwritten. The app says that the file could not be read, and entering the key again repairs it.
• The license file is now written through a temporary file, so a crash or a power loss cannot leave half a file.

Renewal notice

In the last 7 days of a license term, a banner says when the license ends and offers renewal. Without a renewal the app becomes view only after the end date, as after the trial: you can still compare and look at every difference.

What changes after the trial

During the 30-day trial everything works, as before. After the trial, without a license key, the desktop app is view only.

• Still free: comparing schemas, servers and data, and looking at every difference.
• New and free: the deployment or configuration script opens without a license, so you can read exactly what would run.
• Needs a license: copying text out of the results and scripts, saving and running scripts, deploying, exporting reports, and the sqlcompare command line.

Until now, results could be copied after the trial and the command line could compare without a license. If you use either without a license key, this update ends that.

You are told before it happens

• The first start explains what the trial includes and what is left after it.
• The start page and Settings show the days left and what changes afterwards.
• The script window reminds you during the trial that copying, saving and deploying need a license later.
• In the last 7 days of the trial a banner appears, with buttons to buy a license or enter a key.
• A paid action without a license explains itself and offers the same two buttons.

Fixes

• Command line: a mistyped option now returns exit code 2 (error) instead of 1 (differences found), so a typo in a pipeline is no longer reported as drift.
• Data compare: columns of type hierarchyid, geometry, geography and CLR types are compared instead of skipped.
• Data compare: a table without a primary key or unique index is compared on row counts only; the result now names those tables.
• Server script: a backup device that only exists on the target is no longer dropped when removals are switched off.
• Server script: after a failed run the message no longer claims a transaction was rolled back; server scripts do not run in one.

The license agreement is updated to version 1.2 to describe the free part (section 2.3).

One-click repeat comparisons

A new comparison now starts with the source and target you used last. Open Compare database schemas, and both tiles are already filled in; press Compare. Click a tile to pick another saved connection or change anything before comparing. Server comparisons start from the same servers without the database.

When a side is not configured yet, the connection dialog starts from the last connection used in that role, so usually you only confirm.

Passwords are only prefilled when you ticked Remember password. Otherwise the connection is filled in without it and you enter the password once.

Release notes before you update

When an update is available, the banner and the start page show What’s new. It lists the changes of the new version, offers Update to … right there, and links to the full release history on this site. You decide with the notes in front of you.

Housekeeping

Clearing the saved connections under Settings › Data also forgets the last source and target, so the next new comparison starts empty.

Saved connections

Setting up a comparison no longer means typing the same server, login and database again and again. Every connection you confirm with OK in the connection dialog is remembered, and the next time the dialog opens it starts with a Saved connections list. Pick an entry and every field is filled in; change anything you like before pressing OK. The list shows the most recently used connections first and keeps up to 40 entries.

Passwords are stored only when Remember password is ticked, and then encrypted with Windows Data Protection for your user account, so they cannot be read by other users or on another computer. Entries without a stored password fill in everything except the password.

Keeping the list clean

• Remove in the dialog forgets the selected entry.
• Settings › Data › Clear saved connections removes every remembered server name, login and stored password from the computer, after a confirmation.
• The toggle above it switches remembering off altogether; existing entries stay until you clear them.

Saved connections are kept in settings.json in %AppData%\SqlCompare, next to the recent project list. Project files are not affected by clearing the list: they keep their own connection details.

Results page

• The four coloured counts above the list (only in source, different, only in target, identical) are now switches: click one to hide or show its group. A hidden group shows as an outlined, struck-through pill. Identical objects start hidden, as before; the separate “Show identical” switch is gone.
• Group headers, and the header that stays pinned while you scroll, take the colour of their group instead of a grey bar, so the list reads at a glance.
• The detail pane is a card with a clear heading: object type, object name and a status pill. The source and target titles above the script diff carry the blue and green of the source and target tiles, and the previous/next change buttons are proper buttons.
• A selected row shows light text on the accent colour in every column, and the check box column is no longer clipped.
• The window title shows the version.

Code signing

Every file in this release is signed with a Microsoft Artifact Signing certificate issued to Databaseonline, the company behind SQLTreeo. Windows shows that name as the publisher in the SmartScreen and User Account Control dialogs and in the file properties. The unsigned preview builds triggered the “Windows protected your PC” warning; signed builds install without it, and Smart App Control and company policies that require signed software accept them.

The sqlcompare command line tool in the CLI zip is signed the same way.

License agreement

The end-user license agreement (version 1.1) now names Databaseonline, Roosendaal, trading as SQLTreeo, as the licensor. The terms themselves are unchanged.

Updating

Installed copies pick this version up through the update banner. Because 0.1.2 replaces every file with a signed one, the update is a full download rather than a small delta this time.

Preview build, still unsigned: Windows SmartScreen shows a warning during installation. Choose More info → Run anyway.

Name change

The product is now called SQLTreeo Compare. The window title, start page, settings, update banner, file dialogs, command line help, report headers and the banners in generated scripts use the new name, as do the license agreement and the third-party notices.

Nothing else changed. Projects, the sqlcompare command, the SQLCOMPARE_* environment variables, the .sqlcmp file extension and the update feed are the same, so existing installations update in place; the update is a 156 KB delta.

Preview build. The installer is not code-signed yet, so Windows SmartScreen shows a warning during installation. Choose More info → Run anyway.

Three comparisons

• Schema compare: tables, columns, indexes, constraints, views, procedures, functions, triggers, sequences, synonyms, user-defined types, users, roles, permissions and extended properties, extracted from the catalog views. Ignore options for column order, whitespace and more.
• Server compare for DBAs: server properties, sp_configure, trace flags, logins, server roles and permissions, credentials, linked servers, endpoints, server triggers, audits, database options and files, SQL Server Agent (properties, jobs, alerts, operators, proxies), Database Mail, Resource Governor and Extended Events sessions.
• Data compare: row-by-row comparison of matching tables on primary or unique keys, with table and column filters.

Results and deployment

• Results grouped by Only in source, Different, Only in target and Identical. Groups collapse, the current group header stays pinned while scrolling, and rows are tinted by group.
• Side-by-side script diff for every object with change navigation.
• Source and target tiles with a swap button. Swapping re-runs the comparison from the models already in memory, so the results follow the new direction instantly.
• Deploy… generates the deployment script for the selected objects in dependency order, analyses it for DROP and data-loss statements, shows the change summary, and runs it against the target inside a transaction or saves it as .sql.
• Script… for server comparisons writes the configuration script that applies the source settings to the target, with warnings for manual steps such as passwords.
• Reports as HTML, JSON or text.
• Large results stay responsive: first layout of 3,500 objects went from 71 seconds to 1 second and filtering from 25 seconds to 55 milliseconds during development.

Command line

sqlcompare schema, sqlcompare server and sqlcompare data run the same engine from build pipelines. Exit code 0 means no differences (or a successful deployment), 1 differences found, 2 an error. schema --deploy runs the script against the target; server --script writes the configuration script. Connection strings can come from SQLCOMPARE_SOURCE and SQLCOMPARE_TARGET. See the command line reference.

Projects, connections and updates

• Projects (.sqlcmp) store connections, options and selections. Windows, SQL Server and Microsoft Entra ID authentication. Passwords are stored only on request, encrypted for the Windows user.
• The application checks for updates at start-up and periodically while running, and installs them with one click. The portable zip does not update itself.

Licensing

• The first start creates a 30-day trial with every feature. After the trial, comparing stays free; deploying, scripting and exporting reports need a license key.
• Keys are verified online and keep working for 30 days without a connection. See Trial and licensing.
• Settings → About shows the version, the license agreement and the third-party notices.

Requirements

Windows 10 or 11, 64-bit. No .NET installation needed. Targets: SQL Server 2016 and later, Azure SQL Database and Azure SQL Managed Instance.