How can we move on to using VS2005 database projects?
At my company, our current method of updating the database is to connect using Server Explorer in VS2005, and then modify the stored procedures by opening and editing them. It seems that developers are enjoying the "write and save it like him" mentality. This is pretty handy as it automatically turns Create into Alter and runs scripts against the existing database when we need to tweak something.
Lately this has bored us a bit during a server crash where we lost a lot of changes that weren't copied. I am trying to move our SQL development where it belongs: in DB projects so that we can put them in SVN along with the othe code. An alternative is a nightly database backup.
I don't know much about DB projects, and how the workflow works with them. I'm afraid that if I can't get something like this with their current model, they just won't switch. Any thoughts on keeping our current working model, but moving to DB projects?
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If the developers set the rules (and your post sounds like they are), you can only proceed if the new workflow is "better" for them. As a developer myself, I think this is how it should be. I've seen some non-developers come up with pretty pointless development processes and have them put all the trouble on developers.
If you are thinking about VS DB projects, you should first check if VS DB works with your database. If so, you will need to create a big chance in the process: the "true" copy of the database is now in VS DB instead of the database server.
Another solution is to regularly back up the development server. If you back up and back up your transaction log every day, it becomes very difficult to lose much of your work.
Or create a scheduled job that writes the entire database definition to a text file. (Script all objects in the database.) These files are usually very small, so you can keep a long log.
Many reputable bloggers seem to think that storing database definitions in SVN is a good idea. See this horror comment or related question on Stack Overflow How do I execute a version of my MS SQL database in SVN .
Talk to the developers and see what you can agree on.
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