ApexSQL Compare release notes

Enhancements:

• Application telemetry now collects anonymous data on the use and performance of applications and application components

Fixes:

• 208565: "Could not load file or assembly 'Microsoft.Identity.Client'" error is encountered when trying to connect to the Azure server with the Azure Active Directory authentication type

Changes:

• The activation model is now switched to Subscription
• Trust server certificate option is added under the “Connection options” dialog
• The application does not support integration into SQL Server Management Studio 2012, 2014, and 2016 versions
• The application does not support integration into Visual Studio 2010, 2012, 2013, and 2015 versions

Known limitations:

• 218747: "The 'ApexSOLCompareJnstPackage' package did not load correctly" error is encountered when the Visual Studio 2019 16.7 version is started
• 218749: There are no responses when any of the application options are selected from the "Extensions" drop-down list in Visual Studio 2019 16.7 version

Enhancements:

• New ApexSQL Updater allows users to configure advanced updating settings of all installed ApexSQL products

Changes:

• The application is now a part of the ApexSQL Compare and Sync Toolkit for SQL Server and ApexSQL DevOps Plus Toolkit for SQL Server bundles and requires activation
• Error handling and send logs functionality has been modified

Known limitations:

• SQL objects cannot be compared when using the Compare script command under the right-click menu in SQL Server Object Explorer of Visual Studio

Fixes:

• 192543: The custom file name set under the Output tab in the Options window is not saved; the default name is used when exporting an HTML file from the main application window and in the Save as automation script window

Enhancements:

• SQL Server 2019 support
• The Remove command is added as the right-click command in the recent file/folder list

Fixes:

• The Some Folder folder is created on the synchronized side, when the opposite one does not have folder in it
• Values from the previous comparison in Status bar are not changed when the new comparison is finished
• The old project remains hidden in the background, when the new project is initiated from the opened project
• The second file is not loaded instantly, when both left and right loaded files are empty
• The Find panel remains shown when the application is restarted
• The Word wrap option remains turned on when the application is restarted
• Merge view buttons in the File compare query window and under the ApexSQL Compare context menu are not synchronized when the Options window is opened and the Cancel button is clicked in SQL Server Management Studio
• Merge view buttons in the File compare query window and under the ApexSQL Compare context menu are not synchronized when the Options window is opened and the Cancel button is clicked in Visual Studio
• Moving scroll bars with mouse click and drag is not working properly in SQL Server Management Studio
• Moving scroll bars with mouse click and drag is not working properly in Visual Studio
• The File compare query window is closed even when the Cancel button is clicked in the "Save merged script file before closing?" message in SQL Server Management Studio
• The File compare query window is closed even when the Cancel button is clicked in the "Save merged script file before closing?" message in Visual Studio
• The ApexSQL Compare changes color (background) of the ApexSQL Complete windows and dialogs when installed
• Export to HTML option in the Automation script window does not update the script with the new HTML file name, unless focus is changed from that name text box to any other option in this window
• Scroll bar position is not updated when the Up and Down arrows are used in the Find panel
• Scrolling in the HTML report is very slow comparing to scrolling in the application
• The right-click context menu for folder comparison grid is not working on empty parts of panels
• The default highlight colors are different in the Options window from the ones in the Difference highlights dialog
• PostgreSQL file is set as default file type when saving the merge script of two compared SQL files
• The Merge view panel is hidden when the Refresh button from the Home tab is clicked
• The left and right file name are not shown when generating HTML report from the CLI

Changes:

• Dark theme is now used as the default application theme
• Save as dialogs are now inheriting the application theme

Changes:

• Software Transaction Agreement is added as a new step in the installation wizard and updated in accordance with https://www.quest.com/legal/sta.aspx

Fixes:

• The application doesn't integrate with SQL Server Management Studio 18 GA version
• "Object reference not set to an instance of an object" error is encountered when the OK button is clicked in the Connection options dialog after changing value for timeout options
• The application cannot be integrated in SQL Server Management Studio and Visual Studio via silent install
• The uninstall confirmation message box appears when the /verysilent and /suppressmsgboxes options from CLI are used

Enhancements:

• SQL Server 2019 CTP 2.0 support
• SQL Server Management Studio 18 integration support
• Visual Studio 2019 integration support
• New error handling and send logs functionality
• Improved application installer with a dark theme
• New application icon
• Save automation script as a PowerShell script
• Active Directory support for:
  • Password authentication
  • Integrated authentication
  • Universal with MFA support authentication
• CLI switches:
  • Left and right side logins for Azure Active Directory authentication [/ad1 and /ad2]

Fixes:

• "Setup has detected that Visual Studio/SQL Server Management Studio is running on this machine" message is shown when VS/SSMS is running but it isn't checked for integration in the installation wizard
• The New comparison and Merge view options have the same shortcut combination under the Shortcuts tab in the Options window
• "Could not find a part of the path 'C:\Scripts\ScriptName.sql'" error is encountered when one of the compared files is moved or deleted from the loaded location
• "Compared folders are equal" message is shown when one of the compared folders is moved or deleted from the loaded location
• The installation process is completed successfully even when Visual Studio version that was checked for integration is running
• Option changes in the Options window are remembered, even when the Cancel button is clicked or Esc key pressed
• All shortcuts are still active, even when they are disabled under the Shortcuts tab in the Options window
• The value for the Output type option under the Output tab in the Options window is not reverted when the Defaults button is clicked
• Redundant log files are attached in e-mail when the Send logs button is clicked in SQL Server Management Studio
• "Transparent colors are not supported" error is encountered when trying to set the transparent color for difference highlights
• "The application has stopped working" error is encountered when trying to load an object from Amazon RDS for SQL Server
• The add-in icons disappear in SQL Server Management Studio 2012 and 2014, when ApexSQL Plan add-in is installed
• File name template under the Output tab in the Options window is not reverted when the Defaults button is clicked
• The number of missing, additional, different and equal lines shown in the status bar is not correct
• SQL Server Management Studio's IntelliSense becomes disabled after installing the application's add-in

Changes:

• Save as batch is now Automation script
• The application now requires Microsoft .NET framework 4.7.2
• ApexSQL parent menu of the add-in is now located under the Extensions main menu in Visual Studio 2019

Fixes:

• The add-in icons disappear in SQL Server Management Studio 2012 and 2014 when installed in parallel with any other ApexSQL add-in product released after January 22, 2018

Features:

• Integrated file editor
• Save as batch feature is added under the Save button from the Home tab
• High DPI and 4K resolution support
• Applied concepts of Visual Language Dictionary for Visual Studio for iconography, imagery, colors, menus, fonts, formatting and other GUI elements
• CLI switches:
  • Set the file size type for the files that will be ignored with the /ignore_bigger_than switch [/fst]:
    • Byte
    • KB
    • MB
    • GB
    • TB
    • Default [dft] - MB
  • Set the author name for the comparison report [/auth]
  • Set the legal information for the comparison report [/leg]

Fixes:

• Compared files are shown as equal, if the line ending of the compared files is different than Microsoft Windows
• HTML tags are overlapping in exported HTML report making it unreadable when two HTML files are compared
• The Export to HTML option does not work when two database objects are compared
• "Error on loading configuration file: C:\Users\UserName\AppData\Local\Temp\MergeDiff.Configuration.xml" error is encountered when any combination of CLI switches is executed
• A blank HTML report is generated through the CLI, when database objects are used for the comparison
• Missing the line numbers in HTML report
• Incorrect checkbox positioning for different lines in the comparison preview window when the Check all left or Check all right buttons are clicked
• Missing the option to choose whether to integrate to Windows Explorer or not, in the integration step of the installation wizard
• Horizontal scroll bar does not work in the HTML report if it's resized, so that status bar with difference number goes over the horizontal scroll bar
• SQL Server Management Studio stops working when any system user is right-clicked in Object Explorer and loaded for comparison
• SQL Server Management Studio stops working when the Check all left button is clicked
• "The process cannot access the file 'C:\FileName.txt'" error is encountered when the drop-down list for recent files is opened to select different file that is currently opened, after comparing two files
• "Both sides need to have loaded files in order to generate the merged script" message is shown upon starting the New comparison and previous comparison was closed without saving the merge script in SQL Server Management Studio
• The Show last opened project option is not loading the last opened project upon starting the application
• Merged script has inconsistent line ending if the Word wrap option is not checked upon the opening of merged script
• The add-in theme color in SQL Server Management Studio and Visual Studio is changed to white theme when default options are loaded in the Options dialog
• “The file does not exist or it has been removed” message is shown when trying to delete a path under the File compare dialog
• "ApexSQLCompare_InstPackage" warning message is shown in Visual Studio 2017 during the unistallation of the application
• “Compared folder are equal” message is shown when editing current project and the Cancel button is clicked
• The path from the previously loaded scripts stays in the dropdown box even if new scripts are loaded from the Object Explorer pane
• The Browse button for the Export folder under the Output tab in the Options window doesn't open the default specified path
• Changed project options are remembered when the Cancel button is clicked while editing the current project
• Changed options in the Options window are remembered when the Cancel button is clicked

Changes:

• CLI switches /username1 and /username2 are now /user1 and /user2 respectively

Fixes:

• "Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio 17 is not installed. Please install this version to integrate into" message is shown in the add-in integration step of the installation wizard when SQL Server Management Studio 17.4 is installed
• The choosen highlight color for differences is not applied in both panels when the OK button is clicked in the Difference highlights window
• Incorrect procedures are compared when choosing procedures with the same name, but different schemas from the same database for the comparison

Features:

• Supports SQL Server Management Studio 2012 integration and higher
• Supports Visual Studio 2010 integration and higher
• Supports Windows Explorer integration
• Supports SQL Server 2005 and higher
• Supports Azure SQL Database
• Supports SQL Server on Amazon RDS
• Supports file and folder comparison
• Compare SQL Server objects directly from SQL Server Management Studio and Visual Studio
• Two-way comparison and merge
• Three comparison modes:
  • Character
  • Line
  • Block
• Syntax highlighting for 9 languages:
  • C#
  • C++
  • HTML
  • JavaScript
  • PostgreSQL
  • Python
  • T-SQL
  • Visual Basic
  • XML
• Ignore options for the comparison process:
  • Ansi options
  • Authorization
  • Collation
  • Comments
  • Constraint names
  • Filegroups
  • Indexes
  • Lock escalation
  • Permissions
  • With encryption
• Export comparison results into HTML report
• Command line interface
• GUI themes