SqlSpec Features

All the features of SqlSpec are explained in great detail here. What follows is a summary.

SqlSpec generates documentation in two formats: HTML or CHM. HTML is useful for publishing your documents on the web or an intranet site. CHM is useful if you want a single, compact file containing all your documentation about one or more databases. The CHM is indexed so it is easily searchable for any keyword. This way you can easily determine which objects reference the "EmployeeID" column, for example.

Here are some screenshots:
gui page 1
gui page 2
gui page 3
console

SqlSpec will document the following objects in any SQL Server 2000 or 2005 database. Many objects, such as assemblies, are only applicable for SQL Server 2005.

• database properties
• server properties and configuration
• tables
• views
• stored procedures
• user defined functions
• user defined types
• triggers
• indexes
• primary/foreign key relationships
• constraints
• schemas
• assemblies
• symmetric and asymmetric keys
• certificates
• xml schema collections
• synonyms
• dependencies between all objects above

SqlSpec will document the following objects in any Oracle 9i or above database.

• schema properties
• server properties and configuration
• tables
• views
• materialized views
• stored procedures
• user defined functions
• user defined types
• triggers
• indexes
• primary/foreign key relationships
• constraints
• packages
• sequences
• synonyms
• dependencies between all objects above

SqlSpec will document the following objects in any DB2 database.

• database properties
• server properties and configuration
• tables
• views
• stored procedures
• user defined functions
• user defined types
• triggers
• indexes
• primary/foreign key relationships
• constraints
• packages
• sequences
• materialized query tables
• dependencies between all objects above

SqlSpec will document the following objects in any Sybase ASE database.

• database properties
• server properties and configuration
• tables
• views
• stored procedures
• SQLJ functions
• user defined types
• triggers
• indexes
• primary/foreign key relationships
• constraints
• dependencies between all objects above

SqlSpec will document the following objects in any PostgreSQL database.

• database properties
• server properties and configuration
• tables
• views
• stored procedures
• user defined functions
• user defined types
• triggers
• indexes
• primary/foreign key relationships
• constraints
• dependencies between all objects above

SqlSpec will document these objects for any Analysis Server 2005 database:

• database and server properties
• data sources
• data source views and associated tables and views
• cubes and their related objects:
  • cube dimensions and their attributes
  • measure groups and measures
  • kpis
  • calculations
  • actions
  • perspectives
  • partitions
• dimensions
• mining structures and models
• assemblies
• roles
• database permissions
• dependencies between all objects above

SqlSpec will document these objects for any MySQL 5.0 or above database:

• tables
• views
• procedures
• functions
• triggers
• indexes
• primary/foreign key relationships
• dependencies between all objects above
• server properties

SqlSpec will document these objects for any Access 97/2000/XP/2003 database:

• tables
• queries
• procedures (used to populate reports, etc)
• primary/foreign key relationships
• dependencies between all objects above

Further, there are several features that make SqlSpec stand out from the crowded field of database documentation tools available today:

• Show DDL/XMLA code for all objects documented.
• Ability to edit extended properies on a live server from the generated documentation. This turns your document into a powerful extended properties editor. You can think of it as a wiki for extended properties.
• Ability to define your own extended properties on columns, indexes, triggers, parameters, etc that appear integrated into the documentation.
• Ability to add your own branding logo to each page in the documentation.
• Run as a console application, useful for automating SqlSpec to generate documentation for your databases on a schedule, or integrating SqlSpec into your development process.
• Supports XML comments added to your stored procedures, user defined funtions, views, and triggers, similar to XML comments in C# code. These comments are parsed by SqlSpec and the content is placed in your documentation.
• Include external objects (such as COM objects, web services, web pages, or scripts) in the documentation. Specify dependencies of external objects on database objects and they will be included in the dependency graphs.
• Creates data model diagrams where any database object (or external object) can be represented.
• Specify an exclusion list so that certain objects (or just the SQL code for them) can be excluded from the documentation.
• Specify a custom navigation hierarchy to include arbitrary HTML files in the generated CHM.
• Generate dependency and primary/foreign key graphs in VML. Such diagrams are much easier to understand at a glance than a flat list of dependent objects.
• Document all SQL jobs on a SQL Server.
• Optionally documents all object permissions.
• Generate a call graph for sprocs and udfs that call other sprocs and udfs.