Typical Workflows

Deploy Development Changes to Staging

1. Connect Dev as Source, Staging as Target
2. Run Schema Compare
3. Select only the objects you intend to deploy
4. Click Schema for target, or For target on one object. Review the Sync Script tab, then execute it on Staging

Audit Production vs DR

1. Connect Production as Source, DR as Target
2. Run Schema Compare, then Discover + Data Compare on critical tables
3. Investigate any Modified / Source Only / Target Only results

Post-Deployment Validation

1. Before deployment: compare and note outstanding differences
2. After deployment: re-run Compare and confirm differences are resolved
3. Export Report as HTML or Excel and keep the file with the release notes

Align Database Configuration

1. Connect the desired database as Source and the database to update as Target
2. Open Config Compare and select Database configuration
3. Review Modified rows such as recovery model, compatibility level, and file growth
4. Click Config for target. Comments call out file paths, collation, and other settings that are not changed automatically
5. Review the script, then run it on the target

Compare Two Instances

1. Connect both SQL Servers. A database selection is not required
2. Open Config Compare, leave Instance configuration selected, and click Compare Configuration
3. Export the result when you need a record of edition, memory, or sp_configure drift

Fail a Pipeline When Schema Drifts

1. Put DBLenseCompare.exe on a Windows runner. Open the app once on that machine so the trial or license is stored
2. Run compare --mode schema with --report and, if you want object files, --scripts-folder
3. Treat exit code 1 as a failed check. Exit code 0 means the two databases match. Exit code 2 means the compare itself failed
4. Publish the HTML, Excel, XML, or PDF report as a build artifact. Commit the scripts folder when the change is intentional