This tool is licensed under MIT License - see the LICENSE file for details.

@puya/pdcsc or in short pdcsc is a CLI tool developed in nodejs for managing .sql database repositories that target Microsoft SQL Server databases.

It creates/updates changeset files based on .sql files' changes detected in feature branches in a ./Scripts folder.

The tool can be integrated in cicd pipelines like gitlab pipeline and azurdevops pipeline and is also able to apply changeset(s) on custom databases upon merging branches.

Last but not least, pdcsc can also be used manually to update a custom database by applying changesets on it, making the database up-to-date with the lastest changes of the project. Thus, pdcsc can be a handy tool for support teams as well.

It is an acronym for Puya Data Changeset Creator. Puya is a persian word (پویا), meaning dynamic.

It means a tool that creates changesets for dynamic data or dynamic databases.

• It manages a database repository containing .sql files.
• It targets database schema management, not the data inside of a database.
• It creates changeset scripts for modifications developers do in their feature branches.
• It assists in having a smooth and streamlined ci/cd workflow to update database of a product/project.
• It provides a safe, smooth and automated mechanism to apply schema updates on SQL Server databases.
• It is a tool best used in teams, but can be used by single developers as well.

• It does not merge .sql files and generate a single bundle for creating the database (together with all its objects).
• It dos not work in an Up/Down fashion. It always works in an Up fashion.
• It does not have anything to do with a project's business logic.

Lets accept this. Most of the time we are going Up. We go Down mostly in case of errors.

Going back is in reality a dangerous and daunting happening. It can lead to data loss.

The way pdcsc works together with proper ci/cd scripts ensures that database is updated without any errors - most of the time if not always.

If we always go up step by step and we are safe in each step, there should not be a need to go down - in theory.

If something failed, we can issue a hotfix and apply the fix immediately to counter the bug.

Again, we are going up in order to resolve and fix the issue.

• Generate Changeset: generates changeset based on committed changes detected in a branch.
• Test Changeset: creates a database backup and executes the changeset against that to see whether the changeset is ok or not.
• Pipeline Mode: Using pipeline argument, it can be used in ci/cd pipelines (like gitlab or azuredevops) to provide a safe merge, preventing the merge if the changeset has errors.
• Update database: Using apply argument, it can apply changesets(s) on a database and making the database up-to-date.

By default (without specifying pipeline or apply arguments), @puya/pdcsc manages current branch's changeset.

@puya/pdcsc IS AN IMPORTANT AND CRITICAL TOOL THAT TARGETS SQL SERVER DATABASES.

THE TOOL NEVER CHANGES ANY DATA IN TARGET DATABASES EXCEPT THE TABLE IT CREATES ITSELF TO TRACK CHANGESETS JOURNALING.

THE TOOL NEVER MANIPULATES ANY SCHEMA IN TARGET DATABASES. ALL SCHEMA CHANGES ARE PERFORMED BY DEVELOPERS WHO USE THE COMMAND AND PUT THEIR CUSTOM SCRIPTS IN THE CHANGESETS.

IT IS HIGHLY RECOMMENDED TO HAVE A DBA IN YOUR TEAM WHO PERFORMS CODE REVIEW UPON FEATURE BRANCH MERGING AND IS COMPLETELY SURE ABOUT THE CHANGES APPLYING TO YOUR DATABASES.

THIS TOOL IS DEVELOPED AS IS AND THE COMPANY AND DEVELOPERS WHO CREATED IT HAVE NO RESPONSIBILITY OVER ANY PROBLEMS HAPPEN OR CONSEQUENCES INCUR TO YOUR DATABASES.

YOU USE IT SOLELY BASED ON YOUR OWN DECISION.

PLEASE DO READ THE Best Practices and Guidelines SECTION OF THIS DOCUMENT TO FOLLOW BEST PRACTICES AND GUIDELINES.

npm i @puya/pdcsc -g

npm install @puya/pdcsc

2.4.2

Once installed, you can use the pdcsc command in your terminal. You should run this tool only in the root of your database's scripts repository.

pdcsc [cmd] [arguments] [options]

• pdcsc requires git to be installed on the machine where it is run.
• It must also be executed in a git repository.
• There should be a Scripts folder where pdcsc executes.
• In ./Scripts folder, script files of SQL Server objects are expected to be stored.
• pdcsc config files should be placed near the Scripts folder.
• For pipeline and apply commands, pdcsc requires a ci/cd tool like gitlabs or azuredevops.

pdcsc does not enforce any rules for file names and their content. Nevertheless, while the following rules are not obligatory for pdcsc, it is recommended to employ them in your database repository to have a smooth database maintenance.

• Put Scripts folder at the root of the repo.
• Each object (table, udf, sproc, etc.) must be stored as a distinct .sql file.
• Include schema of the object in the filename (use dbo.MyTbl.sql not MyTbl.sql)
• Each file should only create a single object.
• Name of the file should match the object name.
• File of tables should include default constriants as well, but not foreign keys.
• Definition of all foreign keys of a table must be put in a distinct file in Relations folder.
• The filename of FK relations of a table should be the same name as table name. The reason behind this is explained at Why Tables and Relations are separated section.
• Any custom command to should be placed in especial Custom-Start/Custom-End sections provided in changesets.
• Make your changesets idempotent by adding enough custom start/end scripts (i.e. if they are executed multiple times, no error is raised and no side-effect is happened). Read Idempotent Changeset section about idempotent changesets.

• init: Initializes a new database repository in current path, creates a git repo in it (if no git repo found), creates default scripts folders and creates a pdcsc-config.json config file and gitlab ci/cd yaml file.
• roll: Creates/Updates a changeset based on .sql file changes in ./Scripts folder in current branch. This is the default command.
• apply: Applies changesets in ./Changes folder on a database (updates the database).
• pipeline: Used in CICD pipelines, tests changeset of current branch that its merge is requested and if it succeeds, executes changeset over the database specified (making it up-to-date). If changeset execution was successful as well, it is journaled in the database (journaling is explained later in Changeset execution history section).
• render: Renders a changeset and creates a .sql file (overwrites existing .sql file)
• check-update: checks whether a new version for pdcsc is available or not.
• create-journal: creates journal table (dbo.Changesets if it is not already exist).

• -v or --version: Shows pdcsc version.
• -? or --help: Shows pdcsc help.
• -c or --config: specifying custom config file
• -fc or --full-changeset: create full changeset (containing all sections)
• -s or --server: database server address.
• -u or --user: database user.
• -p or --password: database password.
• -d or --database: target database.
• -e or --encrypt: encrypt database connection or not (default is false).
• -dbm or --debug-mode: debug mode
• -dbl or --debug-level: debug level

Note: -s, -u, -p, -d and -e cli args have more priority over same database props in pdcsc-config.json.

• 1: log app execution flow (default)
• 2: show local variables
• 3: show loop variables and more detailed variables
• 4: show db queries
• 5: show large db queries
• 6: show used pdcsc-config
• 7: show deepest variables (rarely used)
• 8: resered
• 9: show detailed exceptions and errors (expanded stack trace)

1. Initializing a new database repository:

pdcsc init

Initializing a new database repository with full config:

pdcsc init -f

2. Creating/Updating current feature branch's changeset:

pdcsc roll

or simply ...

pdcsc

3. Updating master database upon merge requests in CI/CD:

pdcsc pipeline

4. Manually updating an existing database

pdcsc apply -d MyDb

5. Specifying database setting through cli:

pdcsc -s "192.168.10.120" -u "myUser" -p "myPassword" -d "MyDb"

As it was stated, database settings specified through cli have more priority over config file.

As it was said, by executing pdcsc init in a folder we can prepare it to be used by pdcsc.

pdcsc init

pdcsc checks whether it is executed in a git repo and if not, creates one.

Then it creates Scripts folders and its sub-folders (if not already existed).

After that, it creates a list of files as below (if not already existed):

• gitignore
• pdcsc config
• pdcsc custom configs for development and production mode
• gitlabg and azuredevops cicd scripts

This command can be both executed in an empty folder and a non-empty folder.

Using -s, -d, -u, -p and -e we can also ask pdcsc to createe config files with our own values, so there won't be a need to manually edit config files and changes database settings.

pdcsc init -s 192.168.10.10 -d OdooDb -u dteam -p 3246784

The behavior of pdcsc can be customized through its config file.

The config file is named pdcsc-config.json file. It is automatically created when initializing a new pdcsc repository using init command. The file is placed at the root of the repo.

Here's an example of a simple pdcsc configuration file:

{
  "database": {
    "server": "localhost",
    "user": "db_user",
    "password": "db_password",
    "database": "my_database",
    "encrypt": false
  },
  "pipeline": "gitlabs",
  "masterBranchName": "origin/main"
}

The full pdcsc config file with all its options is as follows:

{
	"database": {
		"server": "...",	  // database server address (default = 'localhost')
		"user": "...",		  // database userid
		"password": "...",	// database password
		"database": "...",	  // master database name
		"encrypt": true | false,	  // encrypt connection or not
    "trustServerCertificate": true | false, // trust server certificate
    "connectionTimeout": number, // conenction timeout (default = 10 sec)
    "queryTimeout": number, // query timeout (default = 30 sec)
	},
	"pipeline": "...",			    // pipeline type (gitlabs = default, azuredevops)
	"masterBranchName": "...",		// master branch name (default = 'origin/main')
	"appVersionSprocName": "..."	// appVersion sp name (default = 'dbo.getAppVersion')
	"appVersionFormat": "...",		// app version timestamp (default = 'YYYY-MM-DD HH:mm:ss')
	"timestampLocale": "...",		// timestamp locale (default = 'en')
	"changesetsTableName": "...",	// database changeset history table (default = 'dbo.Changesets')
	"backupDbName": "...",			// name of temp database when testing changesets (default = 'TempBackupDB')
	"defaultCodePage": "",			// default .sql files codepage (default = 'utf-8')
	"paths": {
		"backupDir": "...",				// default backup dir on database server (default = 'C:\\temp\\')
		"changesetFolderName": "...",	// changesets folder name (default = 'Changes')
		"scriptsFolderName": "...",		// .sql scripts folder name (default = 'Scripts')
	},
	"folders": {
		"procedures": "...",	// name of procedures folder (default = 'Procedures')
		"functions": "...",	// name of user-defined functions folder (default = 'Functions')
		"tables": "...",		// name of tables folder (default = 'Tables')
		"relations": "...",	// name of relations folder (default = 'Relations')
		"types": "...",		// name of user-defined types folder (default = 'Types')
		"views": "...",		// name of views folder (default = 'Views')
		"indexes": "...",	// name of indexes folder (default = 'Indexes')
		"triggers": "...",	// name of triggers folder (default = 'Triggers')
		"schemas": "...",		// name of schemas folder (default = 'Schemas')
    "sequences": "...",		// name of sequences folder (default = 'Sequences')
    "synonyms": "...",		// name of synonyms folder (default = 'Synonyms')
    "queues": "...",		// name of service queues folder (default = 'Queues')
    "assemblies": "...",		// name of assemblies folder (default = 'Assemblies')
    "statistics": "...",		// name of statistics folder (default = 'Statistics')
	}
}

We can customize pdcsc configuration through an environment variable named PDCSC_CONFIG_MODE.

If pdcsc detects such variable, it checks whether a pdcsc-config.{env.PDCSC_CONFIG_MODE}.config file exists or not. If so, it merges that file with pdcsc config file (pdcsc-config.json or the custom config file specified through -c cli argument).

This way we can customize master branch name, database name or other config props based on our env variable or store sensitive data such as database password in our customized pdcsc config file.

In the second usage, we can add pdcsc-config.{env.PDCSC_CONFIG_MODE}.json in the .gitignore, so that the database password is not stored in the repository.

By default, pdcsc-config.development.json and pdcsc-config.production.json are already ignored (these two names are already added to .gitignore when project initialized through pdcsc init). If you are using another env value, don't forget to add your custom pdcsc-config.{env}.json to your .gitignore file.

In order to create a new changeset, we can use the roll command.

You should issue this command in a feature branch.

So, first create a feature branch and then run the following command.

pdcsc roll

As it was said, roll is the default command and mentioning it is not required.

pdcsc

Upon issuing roll command, pdcsc looks into the changes in current branch, looking for any changes in .sql files.

A change means:

• newly created file(s)
• modified file(s)
• renamed file(s)
• deleted file(s)

If there are any uncommitted changes, pdcsc first questions the user to specify whether he wants to commit the changes and include them in the changeset or not.

Then, it checks the history of current branch and includes any other changes it finds in .sql files.

After that, pdcsc merges all the changes and creates a changeset based on the collected changes.

What it creates is called a Changeset template.

It is simply a text file in which list of changed files are added based on their category.

Lastly, pdcsc renders the template and generates a .sql script for the changeset.

This is the end of what the roll command does.

a Changeset filename is composed of 3 parts:

{timestamp}_{mergeBase}_{branchName}

The first 14 characters of the changeset filename is called timestamp of the changeset.

It contains date/time when the roll command executed.

The next 8 characters after the first hyphen is merge base. It is a hash file extracted from the merge base of current branch (hash of the git node where current branch separated from the parent branch).

And the last part is branch name.

These 3 parts, make a changeset filename 99% unique (preventing potential conflicts) and also sortable (making changesets follow one another each time a new one is created).

Each time roll command runs, pdcsc updates the timestamp of the changeset in current branch.

This is neccessary and very important.

It guarantees that newer changesets that are pushed more recently, always placed at the bottom in the /Changes folder.

Each changeset template is simply a .txt file in which there are specific sections for each Sql Server Object.

A changeset's sections are as follows:

• Assemblies: changed/modified assembly objects
• Types: changed/modified user-defined types
• Schemas: changed/modified schema objects
• Sequences: changed/modified sequence objects
• Synonyms: changed/modified synonym objects
• Queues: changed/modified service queue objects
• Statistics: changed/modified service statistic objects
• Tables: changed/modified tables
• Relations: changed/modified relations (foreign keys)
• Functions: changed/modified user-defined functions (scaler, table-valued, aggregate, ...)
• Procedures: changed/modified stored-procedures
• Views: changed/modified user-defined views
• Indexes: changed/modified user-defined indexes
• Triggers: changed/modified triggers

Each section is denoted using a ## marker at the beginning of the line.

Example:

## Procedures

## Tables

It is possible to use any other arbitrary characters in the section marker as well for more clarification.

## ============ Procedures ============

## ============ Tables ============

Lines with a single # characters are assumed comments and ignored. Empty lines are also ignored.

## ============ Procedures ============
# my comment
## ============ Tables ============

After a section marker, name of the changed .sql files (file name with extension) related to that section are listed.

## ============ Procedures ============
dbo.usp_Product_add.sql
dbo.usp_Product_edit.sql
dbo.usp_Product_remove.sql
dbo.usp_Product_getall.sql
## ============ Tables ============
dbo.Products.sql

The order of the sections in the template is not important.

Whitespaces at either sides of the lines are also ignored.

Developers can manually modify changeset templates, add more sections or items. However, this is not neccessary, as pdcsc is smart enough to manage the changeset, automatically adding new changed files into the template.

By default, pdcsc generates changeset's sections based on the files changed.

For example, if we have only changed a stored procedure, only a Procedures section is added to the changeset.

However, using a -fc or --full-changeset argument in CLI, we can ask pdcsc to include all sections in the template, even empty sections.

There are two especial sections that provide the user to define any custom statements or queries to be executed at the start (before) and the end (after) of executing the changeset.

• Custom Start: run before changeset script.
• Custom End: run after changeset script.

As it was said, pdcsc manages the changeset automatically, adding new items or removing deleted items if their files are deleted.

So, the user does not need to worry about anything.

The only thing he needs to focus on is his normal job, i.e. adding new tables, stored-procedure, editing existing user-defined functions, changing existing tables (adding a new column), defining new foreign keys, removing a stored procedure or table that will not be used any more, etc.

The only thing the user needs to do and should not forget is to issue a pdcsc command and update his branche's changeset.

He can then push his branch so that it is merged and his changes are applied to databases (based on cicd configs).

While pdcsc manages changesets automatically, developers can manually modify the changesets.

Although, this is not required, at times, a developer may want to encforce an object to be listed in a changeset even though it didn't have any changes in current branch.

An ideal changeset is a changeset that is idempotent regarding the changes it will apply on database.

This means that, if it is executed multiple times, it will not produce any side-effect or errors.

Let's show this in an exmaple.

Suppose we have the following changeset:

## =========== Custom-Start ===========
alter table Foo add Bar int null

The above changeset will add a column named Bar to a table named Foo.

The issue is that, if the changeset executes multiple times, it will generate an error on the second and following executions.

The reason is, Foo table already has a Bar column (first execution of the changeset added that). So, ALTER command fails.

The correct way of adding a column to a table is that we first check whether the table does not have that column already.

## =========== Custom-Start ===========
if not exists
(
  select 1
  from          sys.all_columns
  where object_id = object_id('Foo') and name = 'Bar'
)
  alter table Foo add Bar int null
go

This is just a simple check. A deeper check may want to check whether an existing Bar column has a correct type as well - it should be an int column - and if not, generate an error (someone may want to check default values, foreign keys and other things when applying a change).

As it is clear, the scope of this topic can be fairly wide.

Making a changeset idempotent is developers' responsibility and pdcsc does not have and is not able to provide such characteristic for changesets.

Anyhow, no matter how you satisfy it, it is highly recommended to make changesets idempotent.

Upon rendering a changeset, pdcsc processes sections and generates changeset script in the following order:

1. Custom-Start
2. Assemblies
3. Schemas
4. Types
5. Sequences
6. Tables
7. Relations
8. Functions
9. Synonyms
10. Procedures
11. Service Queues
12. Views
13. Indexes
14. Triggers
15. Statistics
16. Custom-End

pdcsc reads items listed in each section, looks up the file in Scripts folder, reads its content and appends it to the generated script.

The reason why Tables and Relations have two distinct sections and foreign key declaration should be put in a distinct script file is that a foreign key can be created only when the parent table exist.

If the script of a child table is executed before its parent table is created, creating the foreign key will definitely fail.

Thus, we should create all tables first, without any relations.

Then, create foreign keys one by one.

This is the way Generate Script feature in SQL Server Management Studio works.

# ***            Changeset feature/f01          ***
## ===================== Custom-Start =====================
if not exists (select 1 from sys.all_collumns where object_id = object_id('Products') and name = 'Visible')
  alter table Products add Visible bit null constraint DF_Products_Visible default (1)
go
## ===================== Tables =====================
dbo.Payments.sql
## ===================== Procedures =====================
dbo.usp_Products_report.sql
## ===================== Custom-End =====================
update Products set Visible = 1 where Visible is null

• This changeset adds a new column named Visible to a Products table at the start of its execution.
• In order for the changeset to be idempotent, it first checks whether Products table already includes the Visible column or not and adds it only when the table does not have such column.
• At the end, the changeset updates Visible columns in Products table whose value is NULL with 1.

In GitLab, we can create a custom CI/CD pipeline, and use pdcsc in it with pipeline command to ensure our database is updated automatically whenever a feature branche is merged.

Here is a sample gitlab pipeline:

stages:
  - build

variables:
  GIT_DEPTH: 0

before_merge_build:
  stage: build
  image: node:alpine
  script:
    - echo "Installing dependencies..."
    - apk update && apk add git
    - npm i @puya/pdcsc -g
    - |
      if [ "$CI_MERGE_REQUEST_SOURCE_BRANCH_NAME" = "dev" ]; then
        echo "updating database ..."
        pdcsc apply -c "pdcsc-config-${CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME}.json" -dbm -f
      else
        echo "checking branch changeset before merge ..."
        pdcsc pipeline -c "pdcsc-config-${CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME}.json" -dbm
      fi
  rules:
    - when: manual`

Notes:

• Here, we assumed we have one stage branch, named dev.
• We merge our feature branches to dev, not main.
• The dev branch is our development stage where incomplete features are pushed and tested.
• This way, we do not push incomplete/not-tested features directly to main branch.
• Whenever we are ok with our dev, we merge it to main branch (bringing features to production).
• Upon merging dev to main, previous features are already merged into dev, there is no need to use pipeline switch.
• We use apply switch instead and update master database (apply changeset files from dev upon master database).
• In our pipeline, we explicitly specify config file for pdcsc through -c switch.
• Name of the config file depends on the source branch that is going to be merged.
• If it is dev, we are merging dev into main.
• So, target branch (CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME) is main. We specify a config file named pdcsc-config-{CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME}.json which would be pdcsc-config-main.json. So, the master database will be updated.
• If the source branch is not dev, we are mereging a feature branch.
• So, we know that our target branch is dev.
• This time, the config file pdcsc-config-{CI_MERGE_REQUEST_TARGET_BRANCH_NAME}.json would be pdcsc-config-dev.json.
• So, the development database will be updated.

Note that, we should have pdcsc-config-dev.json and pdcsc-config-main.json files in our repo.

pdcsc-config-dev.json

{
  "database": {
    "database": "MyDb_dev"
  },
  "masterBranchName": "origin/dev"
}

pdcsc-config-main.json

{
  "database": {
    "database": "MyDb_main"
  },
  "masterBranchName": "origin/main"
}

We can create a Docker container, install Node.js and Git in it, so that these steps are not executed over and over again. This can speed up pipeline execution.

stages:
  - build

variables:
  GIT_DEPTH: 0
  DOCKER_REGISTRY: "our-node-and-git-docker-address:port"

before_merge_build:
  stage: build
  image: "${DOCKER_REGISTRY}/our-docker-registry/node-git"
  script:
    ...

Using apply argument we can execute all changesets against a database and update it with the latest changes we have.

pdcsc apply -d MyDb

This command is especial in a way that it does not need even a git repo, cicd tool, any branch, etc.

The only thing pdcsc requires when using this command is a ./Changes folder where changeset scripts are located and enough config files that tell pdcsc what database it should apply the changesets on.

So, this command can be issued on the machine that can access target database.

In fact, this command can be handy tool for support teams that may need to manually update a customers' database.

pdcsc uses a table named dbo.Changesets in databases in order to save history of executed changesets.

After a changeset executes successfully, pdcsc inserts its name into dbo.Changesets table. This is called journaling.

Before pdcsc executes a changeset on a database, it checks dbo.Changesets table to see whether the changeset is already executed or not.

If such table does not exist, it shows an error and exits.

pdcsc apply -d MyDb

Output:

Journal table dbo.Changesets not found. Use -f or --force to create journal table.

Using -f or --force cli argument, we can ask pdcsc to create such table if it does not exits.

pdcsc apply -d MyDb -f

This behavior (manually use -f or force mode) is intentional in order to avoid updating an old database that is far behind our changesets (we may need to execute other updates on the database first).

There is also a create-journal command that creates the journal table as well.

pdcsc create-journal

The name of journal table can be customized in pdcsc config file through changesetsTableName prop.

The apply command has 3 modes which can be customized through -m argument:

• Test: test changesets against a backup of the database. This is useful when we want to make sure whether changesets will work correctly on the database or not.
• TestAndUpdate (default): test changesets first and if they are ok, apply them on database.
• Update: execute changesets directly against the database.

Ideally, we should use a TestAndUpdate mode as it is the default mode. However, if we are completely sure about our changesets or the test phase takes a long time (database is very large or under heavy load and backup/restore will take a long time), we can directly execute them on the database.

Example 1: only test changesets on a backup of database, not directly on database.

pdcsc apply -d MyDb -m Test

Example 2: apply changesets directly on database, do not test them beforehand.

pdcsc apply -d MyDb -m Update

By default, pdcsc apply creates a script bundle out of changesets and executes the whole bundle in one go against a database backup.

Using -11 or --one-by-one cli argument we can ask pdcsc to test changesets one by one.

This can better highlight faulting changesets in case of errors.

pdcsc apply -d MyDb -11

By default, pdcsc renders .sql file of a changeset automatically when using roll command.

Using render cli argument we can manually render a changeset as well.

MANUALLY RENDERING A CHANGESET IS NOT RECOMMENDED AND SHOULD BE AVOIDED AT ALL COSTS. RENDERING A CHANGESET SHOULD ONLY AND ONLY BE DONE EXACTLY IN THE BRANCH IT WAS CREATED AT.

IF YOU RENDER A CHANGESET IN ANOTHER BRANCH, THE GENERATED .sql MAY NOT BE CORRECT, MAY NOT BE EVEN GENERATED AND MAY NOT WORK OR MAY LEAD TO UNWANTED ERRORS, BUGS AND DISASTERS AT WORST CASE.

Suppose we are in branch feature/fix-product-update and we fix a sproc named usp_Product_update.

We generate a changeset, make a PR and the Team Lead who performs code reviews merges the branch.

Now, if we switch to branch feature/create-reports and we have not pulled our main branch to receive the changes, if we manually render the changeset of feature/fix-product-update branch, the generated .sql file is definitely incorrect, since we are creating usp_Product_update sproc using the copy in our own branch which is not up-to-date.

That is why, it is never recommended to manually render a changeset and this should be done in scarse cases and performed only by DBAs who know what they are doing.

We should specify the changeset we want to render through -cs cli argument.

pdcsc render -cs 20250412082457_b6775a321_feature-add-otp

If -cs is not specified, pdcsc shows list of all changesets found in ./Changes folder and asks the user to choose which one to be rendered.

Versioning is a mechanism that developers use to better maintain software products.

Adding version to a software executable part or a library is not a problem.

It is the database that providing versioning for that it is a little tricky.

SQL Server has a Extended Pproperties feature by which we can add version to our database.

Its advantage is that we can see it visually in a program like SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).

However, using extended properties is a little awkward.

pdcsc provides another simple solution for this need.

Last executed changeset in someway can be simply assumed as a version for a database.

There are two ways to see what last executed changeset is in a database:

1. Look into journal table (dbo.Changesets) and find the top 1 record (order by Date descending).
2. Use dbo.GetAppVersion sproc.

The first approach is not reliable that much, since journal table can be manually deleted or its records manipulated.

The dbo.GetAppVersion sproc is a utility sproc that pdcsc provides for this same purpose: database version.

It returns changeset's timestamp and name.

Here is a sample of this sproc's source in a feature branch named feature/otp that is executed in 2025/06/12 15:46:02:

create or alter proc dbo.GetAppVersion as select '20250612154602' as applyDate, '20250612154602_7e02da54_feature_otp' as changeset

By invoking this sproc using a script like below, we can see what the last executed changeset is:

exec dbo.GetAppVersion

Sample Output:

Each time a changeset is executed on a database, dbo.GetAppVersion is created/altered.

Thus, we can always know what version a database is.

pdcsc provides a appVersionSprocName property in its config by which we can use another name for our database versioning sproc.

{
  "database": { ... },
  "appVersionSprocName": "dbo.ProductVersion"
}

There is also a appVersionSprocTemplate property by which we can completely customize how we want to implement versioning for our database.

For example suppose we prefer Extended Properties for versioning our database.

If this property is not empty, pdcsc ignores GetAppVersion method and simply appends that to the bottom of a changeset upon rendering.

There are two interpolation parameters that the custom appVersionSprocTemplate can have:

• {ts}
• {changeset}

pdcsc replaces these parameters with a changeset timestamp and its name respectively.

Here is example of a custom script for database version that uses extended properties:

{
  "database": { ... },
  "appVersionSprocTemplate": "
go
if exists
(
	SELECT 1 FROM fn_listextendedproperty(NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL)
	WHERE NAME = 'ProductVersion'
)
	EXEC sp_updateextendedproperty @name = N'ProductVersion', @value = N'{ts}'
ELSE
	EXEC sp_addextendedproperty @name = N'ProductVersion', @value = N'{ts}'
go

if exists
(
	SELECT 1 FROM fn_listextendedproperty(NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL, NULL)
	WHERE NAME = 'LastChangeset'
)
	EXEC sp_updateextendedproperty @name = N'LastChangeset', @value = N'{changeset}'
ELSE
	EXEC sp_addextendedproperty @name = N'LastChangeset', @value = N'{changeset}'
"

}

1. Do not store database password directly in pdcsc-config.json so that it is not stored in your source-control. Instead, use customized configs in the way described in Config customization section.
2. Use a dev and/or test stage in your development workflow and do not directly push/merge on master/main branch.
3. Employ a Sql Server DBA and Team Lead in your team who performs code review on feature branch merging and accepts merge only when he feels everything is all right.
4. Use a separate database for dev/test and main/master branches.
5. If possible, use a separate server for main/master database, other than dev/test server.
6. In your pipelines, use pdcsc pipeline for merging feature PRs and pdcsc apply for merging dev/test branches with main/master branch.
7. Do not change/alter main/master database directly. Let cicd pipelines and pdcsc update your database automatically.
8. Merge dev/test branch with main/master branch only when you really intend to bring changesets to production.
9. Do not use sa and/or sysadmin users in dev/test stages.
10. Use a less privilaged user in dev/test stages who can access only to development and test databases, not master/main database.
11. Use sa and/or sysadmin users in main/master branch who only DBAs have access to.
12. Never change/manipulate old changesets that fall behind other branches.
13. Never render existing changesets in a branch other than the branch they were created in. This can produce incorrect script, resulting in bugs, errors, data loss or any other bad consequence.
14. Do not remove feature branches immediately upon merge in your pipelines.
15. Keep feature branches for a period of time (like two or three weeks), so that you can refer to them and render their changes later if needed.
16. Dispose of feature branches only when you are sure the branches are ok and have no error and you will not return back to them in the future.