TOAD® Handbook

Comparing Schema Differences

Probably the most challenging DBA task is to maintain database structural integrity and consistency. The DBA must always be able to guarantee that production has not changed, and know how development differs from test and test differs from production. And the devil is in the details (the same as it was with schema generation). In the old days when there were just tables, indexes, and views, DBAs simply had a script to generate the differences via the online data dictionary. Of course nowadays there are so many convoluted object types and interdependencies among them that you can’t use simple, home-grown scripts any more. So some DBAs will attempt to use data modeling tools like Quest Software’s QDesigner or CA’s ...