Using Solutions/Projects on SQL Server Management Studio

Question

[I posted a related question over at dba.stackexchange, but got little response, so I thought I'd post this here.]

The MSDN documentation is schizophrenic. On the official SQL Server Documentation, we're told that the use of "Solutions, Projects, and Items" is deprecated. The warning banner reads,

"This feature will be removed in a future version of Microsoft SQL Server. Avoid using this feature in new development work, and plan to modify applications that currently use this feature."

However, elsewhere in the MSDN docs, using Projects & Solutions is still the prescribed method for storing scripts etc.

So what would you recommend for storing and packaging the various scripts, queries, and files that make up your database application? I would also be very interested to know if any of you are acually using the Solutions or Projects framework in your current work, and what you use them for.

[Note: I realize that I could use VS2010 for this functionality, but I am only interested in SSMS-based approaches as the rest of my team does not have access to VS (and also for the reasons expressed in the answer to this question).]

I am particularly keen on finding the best practice for sharing SQL statements and queries amongst a team -- would you use projects/solutions (backed up in source control)? or perhaps custom templates?

Answer 1

I have used both, though I am tending to use Visual Studio now, since that seems to be the direction that MS is going in. I can tell you that in SQL Server 2012, projects are still supported and work just fine.

I honestly wouldn't sweat it either way -- IMO SSMS projects are a lightweight way of storing scripts, and (personal preference), if I'm working only with the database, I prefer working with SSMS rather than Visual Studio, if for no other reason than I like the way my key bindings are set up, and I'm used to it, being an old timer from the Query Analyzer days.

For me, I just use SSMS projects because the penalty I incur if MS drops this feature is that I just create a simple VS project and create references to my files in there.

I would tell you that you should post something on MS Connect to alert them to this discrepancy in the documentation, but it's been years and I've never had any suggestion for any enhancement I've made on Connect bubble up to any action other than "Closed (Won't Fix)" or "Closed (By Design)".

Answer 2

I know this is an old question, but I came across it while trying to find the best way of keeping easy team work with organized database scripts. I found a really nice solution by reading a 5 post series by Scott Allen on how to keep your database under source control (1 of N ways to accomplish this), and after using it for a while, I'm pretty satisfied with it and I think it would help you, so lets share...

Check out this post: http://odetocode.com/blogs/scott/archive/2008/02/03/versioning-databases-branching-and-merging.aspx (this is the 5th and last post, be sure to check the "previous entries" links for posts 1 to 4)