IS there any Tool or API to auto update a database structure

Question

In an application that I am supporting, lately I have made several changes to the DB structure.

I send the update to the users, but its very hard to keep them all up-to-date.

Is there any simple way to do this ?

Something that enables users to skip versions, but still do the update in the next version they install.

I use BlackFish database.

Thanks

Answer 1

Just store database version number in the database and write migration scripts like this:

• database_10.sql - initial db structure
• database_10_15.sql - migration script to move from 1.0 to 1.5
• database_10_17.sql - migration script to move from 1.5 to 1.7

Check database version number on every application startup and apply needed migration scripts.