ApexSQL Compare 2017 – Screen shot tour

ApexSQL Compare is a free standalone application that can compare files and folders. Once installed and run, the New project window is shown, allowing to choose between the Files and Folders comparison types:

If the Files comparison type is chosen, the next step in the New project window is to load desired file or SQL Server database object:

Under the Options tab, you can choose between three comparison modes (Character, Line, and Block) and different Ignore options can be set, so that specific parts of the loaded file won’t be included in the comparison:

After the desired files are loaded and all options are set, with a click on the Compare button, the comparison results will be shown:

By default, the Merge view panel is not shown below the compared files/objects. With a click on the Merge button from the Home tab, under the Actions group, it will allow to merge checked differences from the left and/or right side.

The resulting merge script can be created by:

• Using only differences from the left side
• Using only differences from the right side
• Using differences from the left and right side
• Using combination of the differences from the left and right side

In the top-right corner of the Merge view panel, the Copy/Save buttons are located and they can be used to copy/save the resulting merge script:

Below the Merge view panel, the Status bar provides information about the number of Missing/Different/Additional/Equal rows:

Different rows of compared files/SQL objects are highlighted and additionally, differences on a character level are highlighted with a different color, if the Character comparison mode is selected, so that are easily found:

Above the compared files/SQL objects, there are two tabs with buttons that can come in handy. In the Home tab, the following buttons are shown:

• New allows creating a new project
• Open allows opening and existing project
• Edit allows editing the current project
• Save allows saving the current project
  
• Merge shows the Merge view panel that allows creating of the merge script
  
• Export allows exporting of comparison differences to a HTML report
• Swap places of left and right compared file/SQL object
  
• Previous/Next can be used to go to the previous/next difference
  
• Check all left will check all different lines in the left-side panel
  
• Check all right will check all different lines in the right-side panel
  
• Uncheck all will uncheck all left and right different lines, allowing to check individual left/right differences
  
• Refresh can refresh compared files/SQL objects, so if any changes are made on the original files/objects it will be instantly shown
• Options opens the Options window where application options can be edited

In the View tab, a few more buttons can be useful:

• Find opens the Find panel above the Status bar and it allows searching in all three panels:

• Center allows to center left and right panels
  
• Increase/Decrease/Reset font size buttons increase/decrease/reset font size in all panels
• Word wrap button will wrap loaded file/SQL object to fit the comparison window
• Difference highlights opens its window and allows quick customization of colors for difference highlighting:

If the Folders comparison type was chosen, the next step would be to choose desired folder for comparison:

In addition, under the Options tab, several comparison option can be set to filter files for the comparison process:

Once folders are set, along with desired options, and the Compare button is clicked, the comparison results will be shown:

Below the compared folders, the Status bar is shown and it provides information about the number of Missing/Different/Additional/Equal files.

The Folders comparison type has its own buttons in the Home tab that are different from the Files comparison:

• Copy right will copy selected file(s) from left to right folder
• Copy left will copy selected file(s) from right to left folder
• Sync left will synchronize all files from right to left folder
• Sync right will synchronize all files from right to left folder

Under the View tab, the following buttons are shown:

• Find opens the Find panel below the folder path for each panel and it allows individual searching:

• Auto size will auto size columns in the comparison grid
• Fit to screen will fit grid columns to screen size
• Different files will show only different files in the comparison grid

ApexSQL Compare has various options that can be set to facilitate the comparison. All options can be accessed with a click on the Options button from the Home tab. Once opened, the General tab will be shown in which several options can be set:

1. Set up a preferred startup action

2. Set the maximum number of items shown in the recent files list:

   

3. Turn the Word wrap option on or off

4. Change default colors for Difference highlights

5. Choose between three different themes

In the Script tab, choose between three comparison modes: Character, Line or Block. Also, different Ignore options can be set, so that specific parts of the script won’t be included in the comparison:

In the Folder tab, different Comparison options can be set, so that specific files are included/excluded from the comparison process:

In the Output tab, file location and file name template can be defined, along with optional output elements and encoding:

In the last tab, the Shortcuts tab, shortcuts for several options can be customized:

Additionally, ApexSQL Compare offers SQL Server Management Studio and Visual Studio integration. Once integrated, the main menu will be shown in the navigation bar of integrated hosts:

From ApexSQL Compare’s main menu, the new file comparison can be initiated with a click on the New comparison command. Once opened, desired files can be loaded with a click on the Browse button on the left and right side:

Also, ApexSQL Compare can compare SQL Server objects. Right-click a desired object in Object Explorer -> Compare scripts -> Set as left/right:

As in the standalone application, the Merge view panel is not shown by default and a merge script can be shown with a click on the Merge view from ApexSQL Compare main menu or from the button on top of the comparison window:

All options from the standalone application for comparing files are also available in the add-in.