How to automate script generation using SMO in SQL Server?

Question

I would like to automate script generation (in SSMS --> Tasks --> Generate Scripts) in SSMS 2008. I have read that SQL Server 2008 does not support Database Publishing Wizard (including SQLPUBWIZ SCRIPT) but this automation can be done using SMO in SQL Server 2008. I don't have a clue about SMO and how to do this using SMO, so could you give me some advice (resources etc.) how to begin?

Answer 1

The key to SMO scripting is the Scripter class. All other tools (like SSMS) use this class to generated object creation scripts. There is an example usage on MSDN:

{ 
   //Connect to the local, default instance of SQL Server. 
  Server srv = new Server(); 

   //Reference the AdventureWorks2008R2 database.  
  Database db = srv.Databases["AdventureWorks2008R2"]; 

   //Define a Scripter object and set the required scripting options. 
  Scripter scrp = new Scripter(srv); 
   scrp.Options.ScriptDrops = false; 
   scrp.Options.WithDependencies = true; 

   //Iterate through the tables in database and script each one. Display the script. 
   //Note that the StringCollection type needs the System.Collections.Specialized namespace to be included. 
   Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Sdk.Sfc.Urn[] smoObjects = new Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Sdk.Sfc.Urn[1] ;
   foreach (Table tb in db.Tables) {   
      smoObjects[0] = tb.Urn; 
      if (tb.IsSystemObject == false) { 
         System.Collections.Specialized.StringCollection sc;
         sc = scrp.Script(smoObjects); 
         foreach ( string st in sc) { 
            Console.WriteLine(st); 
         } 
      } 
   } 
}

Answer 2

Although the question has been accurately answered, I struggled for a few days to put together a script that scripted out all the objects I cared about on a database server. Here's my code just in case it is useful to someone else at some point.

# Load needed assemblies
[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("Microsoft.SqlServer.SMO") | out-null
[System.Reflection.Assembly]::LoadWithPartialName("Microsoft.SqlServer.SMOExtended") | Out-Null;

#Specify target server and databases.
$sql_server = "SomeServerName"
$SMOserver = New-Object -TypeName Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.Server -ArgumentList "$sql_server"
$databases = $SMOserver.Databases
$BaseSavePath = "T:\SomeFilePath\" + $sql_server + "\"

#Remove existing objects.
Remove-Item $BaseSavePath -Recurse

#Script server-level objects.
$ServerSavePath = $BaseSavePath
$ServerObjects = $SMOserver.BackupDevices
$ServerObjects += $SMOserver.Endpoints
$ServerObjects += $SMOserver.JobServer.Jobs
$ServerObjects += $SMOserver.LinkedServers
$ServerObjects += $SMOserver.Triggers

foreach ($ScriptThis in $ServerObjects | where { !($_.IsSystemObject) }) {
    #Need to Add Some mkDirs for the different $Fldr=$ScriptThis.GetType().Name
    $scriptr = new-object ('Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.Scripter') ($SMOserver)
    $scriptr.Options.AppendToFile = $True
    $scriptr.Options.AllowSystemObjects = $False
    $scriptr.Options.ClusteredIndexes = $True
    $scriptr.Options.DriAll = $True
    $scriptr.Options.ScriptDrops = $False
    $scriptr.Options.IncludeHeaders = $False
    $scriptr.Options.ToFileOnly = $True
    $scriptr.Options.Indexes = $True
    $scriptr.Options.Permissions = $True
    $scriptr.Options.WithDependencies = $False

    <#Script the Drop too#>
    $ScriptDrop = new-object ('Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.Scripter') ($SMOserver)
    $ScriptDrop.Options.AppendToFile = $True
    $ScriptDrop.Options.AllowSystemObjects = $False
    $ScriptDrop.Options.ClusteredIndexes = $True
    $ScriptDrop.Options.DriAll = $True
    $ScriptDrop.Options.ScriptDrops = $True
    $ScriptDrop.Options.IncludeHeaders = $False
    $ScriptDrop.Options.ToFileOnly = $True
    $ScriptDrop.Options.Indexes = $True
    $ScriptDrop.Options.WithDependencies = $False

    <#This section builds folder structures.  Remove the date folder if you want to overwrite#>
    $TypeFolder = $ScriptThis.GetType().Name
    if ((Test-Path -Path "$ServerSavePath\$TypeFolder") -eq "true") `
    { "Scripting Out $TypeFolder $ScriptThis" } `
        else { new-item -type directory -name "$TypeFolder"-path "$ServerSavePath" }
    $ScriptFile = $ScriptThis -replace ":", "-" -replace "\\", "-"
    $ScriptDrop.Options.FileName = $ServerSavePath + "\" + $TypeFolder + "\" + $ScriptFile.Replace("]", "").Replace("[", "") + ".sql"
    $scriptr.Options.FileName = $ServerSavePath + "\" + $TypeFolder + "\" + $ScriptFile.Replace("]", "").Replace("[", "") + ".sql"

    #This is where each object actually gets scripted one at a time.
    $ScriptDrop.Script($ScriptThis)
    $scriptr.Script($ScriptThis)
} #This ends the object scripting loop at the server level.

#Script database-level objects.
foreach ($db in $databases) {
    $DatabaseObjects = $db.ApplicationRoles
    $DatabaseObjects += $db.Assemblies
    $DatabaseObjects += $db.ExtendedStoredProcedures
    $DatabaseObjects += $db.ExtendedProperties
    $DatabaseObjects += $db.PartitionFunctions
    $DatabaseObjects += $db.PartitionSchemes
    $DatabaseObjects += $db.Roles
    $DatabaseObjects += $db.Rules
    $DatabaseObjects += $db.Schemas
    $DatabaseObjects += $db.StoredProcedures
    $DatabaseObjects += $db.Synonyms
    $DatabaseObjects += $db.Tables
    $DatabaseObjects += $db.Triggers
    $DatabaseObjects += $db.UserDefinedAggregates
    $DatabaseObjects += $db.UserDefinedDataTypes
    $DatabaseObjects += $db.UserDefinedFunctions
    $DatabaseObjects += $db.UserDefinedTableTypes
    $DatabaseObjects += $db.UserDefinedTypes
    $DatabaseObjects += $db.Users
    $DatabaseObjects += $db.Views

    #Build this portion of the directory structure out here.  Remove the existing directory and its contents first.
    $DatabaseSavePath = $BaseSavePath + "Databases\" + $db.Name

    new-item -type directory -path "$DatabaseSavePath"

    foreach ($ScriptThis in $DatabaseObjects | where { !($_.IsSystemObject) }) {
        #Need to Add Some mkDirs for the different $Fldr=$ScriptThis.GetType().Name
        $scriptr = new-object ('Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.Scripter') ($SMOserver)
        $scriptr.Options.AppendToFile = $True
        $scriptr.Options.AllowSystemObjects = $False
        $scriptr.Options.ClusteredIndexes = $True
        $scriptr.Options.DriAll = $True
        $scriptr.Options.ScriptDrops = $False
        $scriptr.Options.IncludeHeaders = $False
        $scriptr.Options.ToFileOnly = $True
        $scriptr.Options.Indexes = $True
        $scriptr.Options.Permissions = $True
        $scriptr.Options.WithDependencies = $False

        <#Script the Drop too#>
        $ScriptDrop = new-object ('Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo.Scripter') ($SMOserver)
        $ScriptDrop.Options.AppendToFile = $True
        $ScriptDrop.Options.AllowSystemObjects = $False
        $ScriptDrop.Options.ClusteredIndexes = $True
        $ScriptDrop.Options.DriAll = $True
        $ScriptDrop.Options.ScriptDrops = $True
        $ScriptDrop.Options.IncludeHeaders = $False
        $ScriptDrop.Options.ToFileOnly = $True
        $ScriptDrop.Options.Indexes = $True
        $ScriptDrop.Options.WithDependencies = $False

        <#This section builds folder structures.  Remove the date folder if you want to overwrite#>
        $TypeFolder = $ScriptThis.GetType().Name
        if ((Test-Path -Path "$DatabaseSavePath\$TypeFolder") -eq "true") `
        { "Scripting Out $TypeFolder $ScriptThis" } `
            else { new-item -type directory -name "$TypeFolder"-path "$DatabaseSavePath" }
        $ScriptFile = $ScriptThis -replace ":", "-" -replace "\\", "-"
        $ScriptDrop.Options.FileName = $DatabaseSavePath + "\" + $TypeFolder + "\" + $ScriptFile.Replace("]", "").Replace("[", "") + ".sql"
        $scriptr.Options.FileName = $DatabaseSavePath + "\" + $TypeFolder + "\" + $ScriptFile.Replace("]", "").Replace("[", "") + ".sql"

        #This is where each object actually gets scripted one at a time.
        $ScriptDrop.Script($ScriptThis)
        $scriptr.Script($ScriptThis)

    } #This ends the object scripting loop.
} #This ends the database loop.