SQL Source Control

1 August 2020 Updated August 2020In our series of blog posts about Version Control and the Database, we’ve explored the history of version control, why databases have some unique requirements, and why it’s important to include them in your VCS.In this concluding post, I focus on Redgate SQL Source Control and answer some fundamental questions about what it is, how it works, and which added, database-specific benefits it brings to version control. You can explore everything I talk about by downloading a 28-day fully-functional free trial of the tool.What does SQL Source Control do?SQL Source Control plugs into SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS) and links your databases to an existing version control system, such as Git, TFS or Subversion.This allows you to manage changes to database schema and static data alongside application code. You can see who made what change, when, and why, and have a simple way of sharing changes across a team of developers.Most importantly, you work from a single source of truth, greatly reducing the risk of downtime at deployment.How does SQL Source Control work?Version-controlling only really works well for text files, because it’s easy to tell what’s changed. It’s consequently hard to version control database schemas because they’re not text files and the data within the database has to be maintained.For this reason, SQL Source Control generates a version of your database schemas as text files, and links these files to your version control system. This means that, when you make a schema change and commit it to version control, it’s easy to see what the change was.Behind the scenes, SQL Source Control uses the SQL Compare engine to create and maintain folders of object creation scripts, called scripts folders, which represent your database schema.However, SQL Source Control doesn’t just run comparisons between the database and the scripts folder in your source control system, it actually keeps track of three separate versions of the database to capture all the information needed to track database changes:The database itself – the current state of the database in SQL ServerThe transient – a local copy of the latest revision in version control. SQL Source Control periodically checks your version control system and updates the transient so it always reflects the latest version available. The transient is stored in your local application data.The working base – a local copy of the database at the last time you ran a commit or a get latest command. Like the transient version, it’s stored in your local application data.More detail on how the three-way comparison works can be found on our documentation pages.What additional benefits does SQL Source Control offer?SQL Source Control offers all the standard benefits of version control, such as a single source of truth, ease of sharing changes across a team for collaboration, a full change history, and more. This is explained in more detail in Part II of the Version Control and the Database series.In addition, it includes some features which address some database-specific problems in the version control

Skip to main content This browser is no longer supported. Upgrade to Microsoft Edge to take advantage of the latest features, security updates, and technical support. SQL database source control integration in Microsoft Fabric Article02/13/2025 In this article -->Applies to: ✅ SQL database in Microsoft FabricIn this tutorial, you learn how to work with your SQL database in Fabric with Fabric git integration source control.A SQL database in Microsoft Fabric has source control integration, or "git integration", allowing SQL users to track the definitions of their database objects over time. This integration enables a team to:Commit the database to source control, which automatically converts the live database into code in the configured source control repository (such as Azure DevOps).Update database objects from the contents of source control, which validates the code in the source control repository before applying a differential change to the database.If you're unfamiliar with git, here are a few recommended resources:What is git?Training module: Intro to gitTutorial: Lifecycle management in FabricThis article presents a series of useful scenarios that can be used individually or in combination to manage your development process with SQL database in Fabric:Convert the Fabric SQL database into code in source controlUpdate the Fabric SQL database from source controlCreate a branch workspaceMerge changes from one branch into anotherThe scenarios in this article are covered in an episode of Data Exposed. Watch the video for an overview of the source control integration in Fabric:PrerequisitesYou need an existing Fabric capacity. If you don't, start a Fabric trial.Make sure that you Enable SQL database in Fabric tenant settings.Make sure that you Enable Git integration tenant settings.Create a new workspace or use an existing Fabric workspace.Create or use an existing SQL database in Fabric. If you don't have one already, create a new SQL database in Fabric.Optional: Install Visual Studio Code, the mssql extension, and the SQL projects extension for VS Code.SetupThis repository connection applies at the workspace level, such that a single branch in the repository is associated with that workspace. The repository can have multiple branches, but only the code in the branch selected in workspace settings will directly impact the workspace.For steps to connect your workspace to a source control repository, see Get started with Git integration. Your workspace can be connected to an Azure DevOps or GitHub remote repository.Add the Fabric SQL database to source controlIn this scenario, you'll commit database objects to source control. You might be developing an application where you're creating objects directly in a test database and track that database in source control just like your application code. As a result, you have access to the history of the definitions of your database objects and can use Git concepts like branching and merging to further customize your development process.Connect to your SQL database in the Fabric SQL editor, SQL Server Management Studio, the mssql extension with Visual Studio Code, or other external tools.Create a new table, stored procedure, or other object in the database.Select the ... menu for the database,

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"Uncommitted" after the update. This is because the Git Integration feature does a direct comparison of all the file content generated for an item definition, and some unintentional differences are possible. One example is inline attributes on columns. In these cases, you'll need to commit back to source control in the Fabric web interface to sync the definition with what is generated as part of a commit operation.Once the update has completed, use a tool of your choice to connect to the database. The objects you added to the SQL project visible in the database.NoteWhen making changes to the local SQL project, if there is a syntax error or use of unsupported features in Fabric, the database update will fail. You must manually revert the change in source control before you can continue.Updating a SQL database in Fabric from source control combines a SQL project build and SqlPackage publish operation. The SQL project build validates the syntax of the SQL files and generates a .dacpac file. The SqlPackage publish operation determined the changes necessary to update the database to match the .dacpac file. Because of the streamlined nature of the Fabric interface, the following options are applied to the SqlPackage publish operation:/p:ScriptDatabaseOptions = false/p:DoNotAlterReplicatedObjects = false/p:IncludeTransactionalScripts = true/p:GenerateSmartDefaults = trueThe source controlled SQL project can also be cloned to your local machine for editing in VS Code, Visual Studio, or other SQL project tools. The SQL project should be built locally to validate changes before committing them to source control.Create a branch workspaceIn this scenario, you'll set up a new development environment in Fabric by having Fabric create a duplicate set of resources based on the source control definition. The duplicate database will include the database objects that we have checked into source control. This scenario is targeted towards developers that are continuing their application development lifecycle in Fabric and are utilizing the source control integration from Fabric.Complete the scenario convert the Fabric SQL database into code in source control.You should have a branch in a source control repository with both a SQL project and the Fabric object metadata.In the Fabric workspace, open the source control panel. From the Branches tab of the Source control menu, select Branch out to new workspace.Specify the names of the branch and workspace that will be created. The branch will be created in the source control repository and is populated with the committed contents of the branch associated with the workspace you are branching from. The workspace will be created in Fabric.Navigate to the newly created workspace in Fabric. When the database creation completes, the newly created database now contains the objects specified in your code repo. If you open the Fabric query editor and navigate in Object explorer, your database has new (empty) tables and other objects.Merge changes from one branch into anotherIn this scenario, you'll use the source control repository to review database changes before they're available for deployment. This scenario is targeted towards developers that are working in a team environment