How to: Script Out the Dependencies for a Database in Visual Basic .NET

This section describes how to script a table and its dependencies in Visual Basic .NET.

The code example shows how to discover the dependencies and iterate through the list to display the results.

Scripting dependencies for a database

  1. Start Visual Studio 2005.

  2. From the File menu, select New Project. The New Project dialog box appears.

  3. In the Project Types pane, select Visual Basic. In the Templates pane, select Console Application.

  4. (Optional) In the Name box, type the name of the new application.

  5. Click OK to load the Visual Basic console application template.

  6. On the Project menu, select Add Reference item. The Add Reference dialog box appears. Select Browse and locate the SMO assemblies in the C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\SDK\Assemblies folder. Select the following files:

    Microsoft.SqlServer.ConnectionInfo.dll

    Microsoft.SqlServer.Smo.dll

    Microsoft.SqlServer.SqlEnum.dll

    Microsoft.SqlServer.SmoEnum.dll

  7. On the View menu, click Code.-Or-Select the Module1.vb window to display the code window.

  8. In the code, before any declarations, type the following Imports statements to qualify the types in the SMO namespace:

    Imports Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Smo
    Imports Microsoft.SqlServer.Management.Common
    Imports System.Collections.Specialized
    
  9. Insert the code that follows this procedure into the main program.

  10. Run and build the application.

Example

'Connect to the local, default instance of SQL Server.
Dim srv As Server
srv = New Server
'Reference the AdventureWorks database.
Dim db As Database
db = srv.Databases("AdventureWorks")
'Define a Scripter object and set the required scripting options.
Dim scrp As Scripter
scrp = New Scripter(srv)
scrp.Options.ScriptDrops = False
scrp.Options.WithDependencies = True
'Iterate through the tables in database and script each one. Display the script.
'Note that the StringCollection type needs the System.Collections.Specialized namespace to be included.
Dim tb As Table
Dim smoObjects(1) As Urn
For Each tb In db.Tables
    smoObjects = New Urn(0) {}
    smoObjects(0) = tb.Urn
    If tb.IsSystemObject = False Then
        Dim sc As StringCollection
        sc = scrp.Script(smoObjects)
        Dim st As String
        For Each st In sc
            Console.WriteLine(st)
        Next
    End If
Next