Benday.SqlUtil 1.0.1

sqlutil

A collection of useful SQL Server database utilities.

Written by Benjamin Day Pluralsight Author | Microsoft MVP | Scrum.org Professional Scrum Trainer https://www.benday.com https://www.honestcheetah.com info@benday.com YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@_benday

Got ideas for SQL Server utilities you'd like to see? Found a bug? Let us know by submitting an issue https://github.com/benday-inc/sqlutil/issues. Want to contribute? Submit a pull request.

Command Categories

<dl>

<dt>Connection Management</dt> <dd>Commands for saving, listing, testing, and removing named database connections</dd>

<dt>Schema Introspection</dt> <dd>Commands for listing databases, tables, and describing table columns</dd>

<dt>Search</dt> <dd>Commands for searching tables, columns, column data, stored procedures, proc parameters, and proc source code by name or value pattern</dd>

<dt>Query & Export</dt> <dd>Run ad-hoc SQL queries and export data as INSERT, INSERT with IDENTITY, or MERGE scripts</dd>

<dt>Database Comparison</dt> <dd>Compare full schemas or specific objects (tables, views, stored procedures, functions) between two databases</dd>

<dt>Sessions</dt> <dd>List active sessions on a SQL Server instance</dd>

</dl>

Installing

sqlutil is distributed as a .NET Tool via NuGet. To install it go to the command prompt and type dotnet tool install Benday.SqlUtil -g

Prerequisites

• You'll need to install .NET 10+ from https://dotnet.microsoft.com/

Getting Started

Everything starts with a connection. After you've installed sqlutil, run sqlutil addconnection to save a connection. A connection stores the server, database, and credentials so you don't have to supply them on every command.

Connections are named and you can have as many as you'd like.

Set a Default Connection

There's one default connection. If you only work with one database, run sqlutil addconnection /server:{server} /database:{database} /default:true and that will set your default connection. Once set, all commands will use it automatically without needing /connectionname.

Additional Named Connections

To add additional named connections, run sqlutil addconnection /name:{name} /server:{server} /database:{database}.

Running Commands

Once you've set a default connection, you can run any sqlutil command without having to specify any additional connection info.

If you want to run a command against a connection that is NOT your default, supply /connectionname:{name}.

You can also skip saved connections entirely and supply /connectionstring:{connectionstring} on any command.

Managing Connections

To add or update a connection use sqlutil addconnection. To list connections use sqlutil listconnections. To delete a connection use sqlutil removeconnection.

GUI Option

Prefer a graphical interface? Run sqlutil gui to launch the sqlutil GUI — a point-and-click interface for all the same functionality without the command line.

Commands

Category	Command Name	Description
Connection Management	addconnection	Add or update a saved database connection
Connection Management	listconnections	List all saved database connections
Connection Management	removeconnection	Remove a saved database connection
Connection Management	testconnection	Test connectivity to a database
Schema Introspection	listdatabases	List all databases on a SQL Server instance
Schema Introspection	listtables	List all tables in a database
Schema Introspection	describetable	Show columns and types for a specific table
Search	searchtables	Search for tables by name pattern
Search	searchcolumns	Search for columns by name or data type pattern
Search	searchcolumndata	Search for text within table column data
Search	searchprocs	Search for stored procedures by name pattern
Search	searchproccode	Search stored procedure source code for text
Search	searchprocparams	Search for stored procedure parameters by name pattern
Query & Export	runquery	Run a SQL query and display the results
Query & Export	exportdata	Export query results as INSERT or MERGE SQL statements
Database Comparison	comparedb	Full schema comparison between two databases
Database Comparison	comparetables	Compare table and view schemas between two databases
Database Comparison	compareprocs	Compare stored procedure and function definitions between two databases
Sessions	listsessions	List active database sessions

Connection Management

<a name="addconnection"></a> addconnection

Add or update a saved database connection.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
name	Optional	String	Name for the connection. Omit to update the default connection.
connectionstring	Optional	String	Full SQL Server connection string (alternative to specifying individual fields)
server	Optional	String	SQL Server hostname or instance (e.g. localhost or server\instance)
database	Optional	String	Database name
integratedsecurity	Optional	Boolean	Use Windows integrated security instead of username/password
username	Optional	String	SQL Server login username
password	Optional	String	SQL Server login password
trustservercertificate	Optional	Boolean	Trust the server certificate (useful for local/dev servers)
default	Optional	Boolean	Also save this connection as the default

<a name="listconnections"></a> listconnections

List all saved database connections.

No arguments.

<a name="removeconnection"></a> removeconnection

Remove a saved database connection.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
name	Required	String	Name of the connection to remove

<a name="testconnection"></a> testconnection

Test connectivity to a database.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
connectionname	Optional	String	Name of a saved connection
connectionstring	Optional	String	SQL Server connection string

Schema Introspection

<a name="listdatabases"></a> listdatabases

List all databases on a SQL Server instance.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
connectionname	Optional	String	Name of a saved connection
connectionstring	Optional	String	SQL Server connection string

<a name="listtables"></a> listtables

List all tables in a database.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
connectionname	Optional	String	Name of a saved connection
connectionstring	Optional	String	SQL Server connection string
schema	Optional	String	Filter by schema name (e.g. dbo)

<a name="describetable"></a> describetable

Show columns and types for a specific table.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
connectionname	Optional	String	Name of a saved connection
connectionstring	Optional	String	SQL Server connection string
table	Required	String	Name of the table to describe

Search

<a name="searchtables"></a> searchtables

Search for tables by name pattern.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
connectionname	Optional	String	Name of a saved connection
connectionstring	Optional	String	SQL Server connection string
search	Required	String	Table name search pattern
match	Optional	String	Match method: contains (default), exact, startswith, endswith

<a name="searchcolumns"></a> searchcolumns

Search for columns by name or data type pattern.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
connectionname	Optional	String	Name of a saved connection
connectionstring	Optional	String	SQL Server connection string
search	Optional	String	Column name search pattern
datatype	Optional	String	Data type filter pattern (e.g. varchar, int)
match	Optional	String	Match method: contains (default), exact, startswith, endswith

<a name="searchcolumndata"></a> searchcolumndata

Search for text within table column data.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
connectionname	Optional	String	Name of a saved connection
connectionstring	Optional	String	SQL Server connection string
table	Optional	String	Table name filter (supports % wildcards)
column	Optional	String	Column name filter (supports % wildcards)
search	Required	String	Text to search for in column data

<a name="searchprocs"></a> searchprocs

Search for stored procedures by name pattern.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
connectionname	Optional	String	Name of a saved connection
connectionstring	Optional	String	SQL Server connection string
search	Required	String	Stored procedure name search pattern
match	Optional	String	Match method: contains (default), exact, startswith, endswith

<a name="searchproccode"></a> searchproccode

Search stored procedure source code for text.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
connectionname	Optional	String	Name of a saved connection
connectionstring	Optional	String	SQL Server connection string
search	Required	String	Text to search for in stored procedure source code
match	Optional	String	Match method: contains (default), exact, startswith, endswith

<a name="searchprocparams"></a> searchprocparams

Search for stored procedure parameters by name pattern.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
connectionname	Optional	String	Name of a saved connection
connectionstring	Optional	String	SQL Server connection string
search	Required	String	Parameter name search pattern
match	Optional	String	Match method: contains (default), exact, startswith, endswith

Query & Export

<a name="runquery"></a> runquery

Run a SQL query and display the results.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
connectionname	Optional	String	Name of a saved connection
connectionstring	Optional	String	SQL Server connection string
query	Required	String	SQL query to execute
filename	Optional	String	Write results to a CSV file instead of stdout

<a name="exportdata"></a> exportdata

Export query results as INSERT or MERGE SQL statements.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
connectionname	Optional	String	Name of a saved connection
connectionstring	Optional	String	SQL Server connection string
query	Required	String	SELECT query to export data from
scripttype	Required	String	Script type: insert, identityinsert, or mergeinto
filename	Optional	String	Output file path (default: stdout)

Database Comparison

<a name="comparedb"></a> comparedb

Full schema comparison between two databases (tables, views, stored procedures, functions, foreign keys).

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
connectionname1	Optional	String	Name of the first saved connection
connectionstring1	Optional	String	Connection string for the first database
connectionname2	Optional	String	Name of the second saved connection
connectionstring2	Optional	String	Connection string for the second database

<a name="comparetables"></a> comparetables

Compare table and view schemas between two databases.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
connectionname1	Optional	String	Name of the first saved connection
connectionstring1	Optional	String	Connection string for the first database
connectionname2	Optional	String	Name of the second saved connection
connectionstring2	Optional	String	Connection string for the second database

<a name="compareprocs"></a> compareprocs

Compare stored procedure and function definitions between two databases.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
connectionname1	Optional	String	Name of the first saved connection
connectionstring1	Optional	String	Connection string for the first database
connectionname2	Optional	String	Name of the second saved connection
connectionstring2	Optional	String	Connection string for the second database

Sessions

<a name="listsessions"></a> listsessions

List active database sessions.

Arguments

Argument	Is Optional	Data Type	Description
connectionname	Optional	String	Name of a saved connection
connectionstring	Optional	String	SQL Server connection string