Actions menu in testing

We have already visited the Actions menu in the Overview screen, where we explored several script-related operations such as downloading the source script, source script as ZIP, commented staging script, and production script.

In addition to those script options, the Actions menu provides access to several powerful features that perform operations directly on the source and target staging databases. These operations are particularly relevant in testing scenarios but were previously unavailable until the necessary database connections were configured.

Now that both staging databases are set up, new testing-related options in the Actions menu become accessible. In this section, we will review and explain these functionalities in detail.

Refresh metadata

The Refresh metadata option establishes a connection to both the source staging and target staging databases and retrieves the latest metadata from each. This process refreshes SQL Tran’s internal understanding of the schemas and objects present in both environments.

Once metadata is fetched, SQL Tran updates:

• The state and lifecycle status of all objects in the current project.

• Relevant project statistics.

• Any affected dependencies or object relationships.

This operation should be performed whenever changes are made directly in the source or target staging databases outside of SQL Tran, ensuring the platform remains in sync with the current database state.

Source staging database options

Operations related to the source staging database (Azure Synapse Analytics in this example project) are grouped under the Source staging database sub-menu within the Actions menu. These operations include:

• Fully recreate all objects – Drops and recreates all SQL objects defined in the project for the source staging database. This ensures a clean and fully updated deployment of all source-side artifacts.

• Recreate new or changed objects – Creates only those objects that are newly added or have been modified since the last deployment, avoiding unnecessary changes.

• Drop all objects – Removes all project-related objects from the source staging database. This does not affect unrelated database contents outside of the current project.

• Seed synthetic data – Populates tables in the source staging database with automatically generated sample data. This is especially useful in cases where the schema is present but no production data is available for testing.

Target staging database options

Operations available for the target staging database (Fabric Warehouse in this example project) are similarly located under the Target staging database sub-menu in the Actions menu. These include:

• Fully recreate all objects – Drops and recreates all project-related objects in the target staging database to reflect the latest SQL Tran translations.

• Recreate new or changed objects – Deploys only those target-side objects that have been newly added or updated.

• Drop all objects – Removes all objects that belong to the current project from the target staging database, leaving other database contents untouched.

Scope of operations

All operations executed from the Actions menu apply only to objects within the current SQL Tran project.

For example, selecting Drop all objects will not remove all contents from the staging database. Instead, it removes only those objects that were originally created or managed by SQL Tran as part of this particular project.

This ensures safe operation within shared or multi-purpose staging environments.

Actions menu summary

Now that we have reviewed all newly available operations offered through the Actions menu, we are ready to proceed with preparing both the source and target staging databases for test execution.