Differences viewer for tables
The primary purpose of the differences viewer for tables is to show the differences and similarities of data.
Compare two table structures
You can compare two table structures and see the differences in columns, keys, indexes, and other structural table elements. To compare data in selected tables, see Compare table data.
In the Database tool window ( ), select two tables.
Right-click the selection and navigate to Compare Ctrl+D.
Compare table data
You can compare data that is stored in two tables.
Double-click two tables that you want to compare.
In the editor, click the Compare with button () and select the second table.
If needed, change the value of the Tolerance parameter in the comparison dialog. The Tolerance parameter defines a maximum number of differences that are allowed between two result sets. For example, if you want to consider two rows as equal if their data differs in a single column, enter
1
in the Tolerance field.
Detect column insertion
When the tables have different number of columns, extra columns in the table with more columns are ignored. If the Detect column insertion option is on, the most different columns are ignored. On the following picture, the first column in the second table is the most different and so it is ignored. As a result, the second row is shown as containing the same data.
If the option is off, ignored are the last of the columns. On the following picture, the last column in the second table is ignored. So all the rows are shown as containing different data.
Tolerance
Tolerance is how many columns may be different. With zero tolerance on the following picture, the first row is shown as containing different data.
With the tolerance of one on the following picture, the first row is shown as containing about the same data.