Overview of the SQL Documentation Tool

The SQL Documentation Tool creates comprehensive technical documentation for Microsoft SQL Server databases.

Reporting Formats

Reports are created in a number of formats:

• Standard HTML
• Microsoft's HTML Help
• RTF (Word compatible document)
• Text

Standard HTML

The HTML report is created using standard HTML and may be viewed in any web browser [view a sample].

Microsoft's HTML Help

HTML Help is the standard file format used by most Windows applications to present their help documentation.

The HTML Help format documentation created for databases by the SQL Documentation Tool is fully cross referenced and searchable, and provides comprehensive database documentation in a single file [view a sample].

RTF

The RTF format report is compatible with word processers such as Microsoft Word. The RTF report lists all of the tables within the databases in the project being documented [view a sample]. As such it can form the basis of written technical documentation for a database.

Text

The plain text report contains a listing of the principal items in the database - tables, views, stored procedures and full-text catalogs. It can, therefore, be used to form the basis of other written reports and documentation for the database. [View a sample].

Report Contents

The SQL Documentation Tool documents the following entities in a Microsoft SQL Server database:

• Tables
  • Column names
  • Whether column is a primary key
  • Column data types
  • Column lengths
  • Whether column is nullable
  • Table relationships to primary and foreign keys
  • Triggers associated with each table
  • Table indexes
  • Dependency information.
• Views
  • Column names
  • Column data types
  • Column lengths
  • Whether column is nullable
  • Dependency information
  • SQL script for creating each View.
• Stored Procedures
  • Column names
  • Column data types
  • Column lengths
  • Dependency information
  • The Create Procedure SQL script for creating the stored procedure.
• Functions
  • Column names
  • Column data types
  • Column lengths
  • Dependency information
  • The Create Function SQL script for creating the stored procedure.
• Triggers
  • Shows which table is associated with the trigger.
  • Shows which SQL actions (insert, update, delete) the trigger is associated with
  • Dependency information
  • The Create Trigger SQL script for creating the trigger.
• Full-Text Catalogs
  • Shows the full-text catalogs that may be associated with a database.
  • Shows the tables and table columns in each full-text catalog.
• For each database server documented, the SQL Documentation Tool can optionally include the following:
  • DTS Packages
    • Details of DTS Packages.
  • SQL Server Agent Jobs
    • Details of scheduled jobs.
    • Steps associated with each job.
    • Each job's schedule.

Note that SQL Server 2005 Express Editon does not support Jobs or DTS Packages.

For convenience the SQL Documentation Tool allows more than one database to be documented in a single help file - the databases can even be on different servers. This assists with the documentation of multi-database applications.

Suggested Uses

• The HTML format documentation can be easily incorporated into the company Intranet as a ready source of database technical documentation.

• The report contains the Transact SQL source code for Views and Stored Procedures, so if a view or stored procedure becomes accidentally deleted, it is possible to replace it without requiring an often complicated system restore.

• The text format reports can form the basis of the technical database documentation for a project.

• The HTML and HTML Help reports can be used by developers to build database connected websites without requiring access to the SQL Server Enterprise Manager. The reports contain useful information for developers, such as the table column names, data types, whether they accept null values etc.

• Bring new hires and contract workers up to speed on the structure of an application's database design.

Download SQL Documentation Tool Evaluation Version (6Mb ZIP file).