ApexSQL Generate FAQ
General
Yes, by writing an UPDATE query and clicking on the Execute button, the command will be sent to the SQL Server and the existing records will be updated. For example, the update query below can be used to set the records in the ‘LastName’ column to ‘Armstrong’ for every record in the ‘FirstName’ column which is equal to ‘Ross’:
UPDATE Person.Person SET LastName = 'Armstrong' WHERE FirstName = 'Ross'
Note that the Query generator cannot be used to execute multiple SQL statements. Each statement must be executed individually
Yes. The Query generator supports multiple conditions in the SQL statements, so the AND, OR and LIKE conditions can be used in conjunction.
The Query generator can be used to import data from any database of any SQL Server instance.
No, the source column (from where the data is being extracted) and the target column (where the data is being inserted) need to have a matching data types.
Yes, the Query generator supports using the JOIN conditions. The existing records from different tables can be joined and inserted into the chosen column like in the example below:
SELECT FirstName FROM dbo.Table_1 INNER JOIN dbo.Table_2 ON Table_1.FirstName = Table_2.FName
In ApexSQL Generate there are four basic types of predefined generators which all contain many subcategories:
- Personal – names, user names, title, email, phone number, initials…
- Geography – addresses, cities, states, regions, postal code, countries…
- Business – company names, currency code, credit card numbers, URLs, file paths…
- Art – music genres, composers, painters, artistic movements, writers…
ApexSQL Generate uses an algorithm which compares the SQL data type of the column and the value type of the generator. After that, the application will check the name of the column and the table to setup the predefined generator. The user has the ability to change these settings at any time.
Options
Yes, ApexSQL Generate has the ability to recognize many kinds of CHECK constraints. For instance, if CHECK constraint is:
(upper([Gender])='F' OR upper([Gender])='M')
ApexSQL Generate will setup Regular Expression generator by default with the expression “F|M”, which means that only ‘F’ or ‘M’ characters can/will be inserted into the particular column.
If a column has a CHECK constraint, the range of generated values for that column can be limited. When CHECK constraints are disabled, the full range of data can be inserted into the column by allowing the SQL Server to ignore the constraint’s condition.
While inserting data into the database, ApexSQL Generate may fire INSERT triggers for certain tables which may degrade performance and trigger actions not intended from a bulk data insert operation. By checking the disable INSERT triggers option those actions can be avoided.