DbForge Schema Compare for Oracle Product Review

Summary

dbForge Schema Compare for Oracle is a comprehensive tool for database schema comparison and synchronization that can be used both by application developers and database administrators (DBAs). This Oracle comparison tool helps to identify the impact of changes made to the database schema by easily pointing out all differences and allowing to generate customized Oracle schema synchronization script.

Version 4.0 of dbForge Schema Compare for Oracle was released in August 2018. This huge update delivered significantly improved and new implemented features such as Oracle Database 18c connectivity support, support for Oracle 12c objects, multiple Schema comparison options and Schema synchronization options. Support for TEMPORARY TABLE, expanded Comparison Reports functionality, automatic selection of comparison key for object without equal unique indexes, improved visual style of tool, command line execution file wizard, trial product activation, support for PowerShell, FIPS compliance, specific exit codes were added as well.

Version 4.2 was released on July 2, 2020. The solution got connectivity support for Oracle 20c.

Version 4.3 was released on January 27, 2021. The version introduced CMD Activation, improved comparison and synchronization of virtual columns.

Version 4.4 was released on January 13, 2022. The version got a support for Oracle 21c. New schema comparison options were added - Ignore MAXVALUE, Ignore INCREMENT BY, Ignore CACHE, Ignore CYCLE. Drastically improved schema comparison reports. The behavior of the Ignore START WITH schema comparison option was enhanced.

The latest version 4.5 was released on March 16, 2023. The new version supports Linux and Mac. The behavior of table columns reordering was improved.

What tasks does it solve?

Using dbForge Schema Compare for Oracle, Oracle developers and DBAs can:

• Save time comparing and synchronizing Oracle database schemas
• Generate SQL*Plus scripts to update one schema with another
• Apply updates from development databases to staging or production
• Compare table structure in the same or different Oracle databases
• Make schema snapshots for savepoints in database development
• Automate migration of schema changes using command-line interface
• Report schema diffs in HTML and Microsoft Excel file formats
• Improve Oracle schema versioning using source control integration

Full feature list

Supported Oracle server versions

• Support for all Oracle versions from 9i to 21c.
• Oracle Cloud.
• Oracle Real Application Clusters.
• Oracle on Amazon RDS.
• Instant Client support.
• Direct server access.
• Using different Oracle Homes in a single application.

Supported schema objects

• Array type
• Cluster
• Database link
• DML trigger
• Function
• Java source
• Materialized view
• Materialized view log
• Object type
• Package
• View

Schema snapshots and version control integration

• Schema snapshot generation
• Schema snapshot generation through the command line
• Support for Team Foundation Server, Apache Subversion, Git, Mercurial, Perforce(P4), and SourceGear Vault
• Create schema snapshots for audit and roll-back purposes

Synchronization features

• Multiple ways to synchronize schemas
• Migrate any schema differences (individual, selected, or all)
• Dependency check to script objects in the correct order for updates
• Resolve synchronization issues
• Warnings on controversial points prior to synchronization
• Create a custom synchronization script
• Perform additional scripts before and/or after data synchronization

What else can be compared and synchronized?

• Compare table structure in different Oracle databases
• User comments on schema objects
• Per-object security permissions
• Multiple Oracle schemas
• Synchronize multiple Oracle schemas
• Ignore comments in whitespace
• Ignore differences in identifier and keyword case
• Compare wrapped and unwrapped PL/SQL objects
• Copy Oracle schema to another server

Fast Schema Comparison When comparing schemas in the New Comparison wizard, you can disable the dependency analysis option that will allow you to describe only objects you have chosen on the Object Filter tab. In this case, the synchronization script will not be generated.

PL/SQL Code Comparison With dbForge Schema Compare for Oracle, you can easily compare PL/SQL objects and customize the workflow by selecting the options in the Script Objects section on the Options tab:

• Compare wrapped and unwrapped PL/SQL objects
• Ignore case
• Ignore comments
• Ignore double quotes in PL/SQL blocks
• Ignore white spaces

How can I automate my routine tasks? Automating and scheduling routine tasks can help you save time and improve comparing and synchronizing efficiency with the following capabilities:

• Save comparison project settings for future use
• Use command line interface for automatic routine synchronizations
• Code formatting
• Schema export and import
• Create command line execution files to run routine schema comparison and synchronization tasks
• Run PowerShell automation scripts

How can I analyze comparison results? The feature allows generating and customizing a comparison report specific to your needs.

• Filter and sort objects in the comparison results grid
• View DDL differences for each pair of objects
• View a schema update script
• Group objects in the comparison results report by status, object type or operation
• Exclude the selected schema objects from the comparison report

Export Comparison Reports You can generate a schema comparison report in HTML, Excel, XML, and XML for Excel file formats and specify a name and a location where the file will be stored. In addition, you can include the following objects to the comparison report:

• Objects with differences
• Objects selected for synchronization
• Identical objects and comparison options

and group them by status and object type.

Supported Data To compare and synchronize schemas, you can use the following data types as a source and a target:

• Database
• Snapshot
• Versioned snapshot

After you configure the comparison and mapping settings, the data comparison results will be displayed on the data grid.

Installation

To install the tool, it is necessary to double-click the exe file and follow the prompts in the wizard. The tool can be upgraded using the built-in wizard. If a new version is available on the Devart website, you are automatically prompted about it when you start the tool.

Usage

dbForge Schema Compare for Oracle helps comparing database schemas, analyze differences between them, and synchronize these schemas.

Comparing database schemas

1. Click New Schema Comparison on the product Start Page to open New Schema Comparison Wizard.
2. Specify Type for Source and Target, Connection, and select the database schemas you want to compare in the Schema Mapping area.

1. Set comparison options and define the objects you want to compare on other wizard pages.
2. Click Compare to start the comparison process.

Analyzing comparison results

Comparison results are represented as a schema comparison document, where you can:

1. Group and filter the results in the grid.
2. See SQL differences of compared objects in the text comparer under the grid.
3. Change update operations and include or exclude objects from synchronization directly in the grid.

Synchronizing database schemas

1. To open Schema Synchronization Wizard, click Synchronize... on the toolbar.
2. On the Output wizard page, select what you want to do with the Oracle synchronization script.
3. Check the dependencies and issues, if any.
4. Review action plan and warnings.
5. Click Synchronize.
6. Run the generated synchronization script by clicking F5 or save it for further usage.

Price and availability

The product is available in two editions: Standard and Professional.

Standard is a software that includes essential tools for schema comparison and synchronization. Professional is a fully-featured software able to complete any schema comparison and synchronization tasks and provide the best professional tricks to simplify your database management. Each edition is also available in dbForge Compare Bundle for Oracle that also includes dbForge Data Compare for Oracle. dbForge Schema Compare for Oracle license price starts at $199.95.

Benefits

• 30-day fully-functional product trial
• 30-day money-back guarantee policy
• free 1-year subscription for updates and technical support

Product support

If you have any problems with the product or questions concerning it, you can send an e-mail to support@devart.com or write them at the company forum, and you will be answered shortly. Also you are welcome to provide feedback and take part in different surveys, as well as send us suggestions concerning the product development.

Conclusion

With a clear GUI and simple logic, dbForge Schema Compare for Oracle is one of the most reliable tools for Oracle schema comparison and synchronization that can be applied by a wide range of people dealing with Oracle databases to accelerate application development, lower its lifecycle costs, reduce application downtime, eliminate errors during database upgrades, and increase the application development efficiency in general.