Object Filter

On this page of the Project Wizard you select the objects that you want to include in the analysis operations.

FAQ: I have a very large database. Can I filter objects by their type (for example Procedure)?

ApexSQL Clean supports object type filtering. In the Object Filter step of the Dependency Analysis Wizard just check the Object types you would like to be analyzed (uncheck those you don't). For your convenience you can export the settings made here to an XML file and import them at a later time into future projects or use the file in Command Line Mode. This will increase the overall database analysis speed but then you will not be 100% sure if analyzed objects are really unreferenced - since you filtered out parts of the database.

As you can see from the screenshot below, ApexSQL Clean fully supports Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and the new object types that were introduced with this version of SQL Server. Note that these new object types are only visible and selectable when the SQL Server instance you have selected on the Login page is a Microsoft SQL Server 2005 instance.

For information about the available buttons in the Wizard step above click here. Information about the and buttons you may find in the sections below.

Object Types

In order for an object type to be included in the analysis process, you need to mark the corresponding checkbox for that particular object type. No object from an un-checked object types will not be included in the analysis process. Typically you will analyze all objects in a given database. However, there are cases when you wish to analyze only a subset of all available database objects. A possible scenario may be that you have a large (in terms of the number of objects) SQL Server database and wish to analyze only those objects that have been added or modified in the database during the last change management cycle. Limiting the number of object types to be analyzed may significantly save processing time and resources.

Use Filter

You can apply your own custom filter criteria to each object type that is selected. To create such a custom filter, mark the "Use Filter" checkbox for that object type. As soon as you have checked this box, ApexSQL Clean adds a corresponding entry to the Object Filter node in the Project Wizards treeview where you actually create your custom filter criteria.

FAQ: Object type filtering is great but I need to analyze only specific object and not all objects of that type. Can I do that?

Yes, you can. In the Dependency Analysis Wizard, go to the Object Filter page. For each object type listed there you can apply a custom filter. You enable this filtering by checking – Use Filter Checkbox next to object types you wish to analyze. This filter supports wildcard searches on object names, and you can limit the scope of your object selection for analysis to any degree of granularity you need.

Note that an already created filter is removed and needs to be recreated when you uncheck that specific object type. In this case you need to recreate the filter anew when you check that object type and click button again.

Other Options

If you want to script all object types, you may use the Check All / Un-Check All checkboxes below each column of object types. This will automatically select/unselect all object types in that particular object type column. Correspondingly to the Check All / Un-Check All boxes there are 2 more check-boxes where you can easily tell ApexSQL Clean that you want use or remove a custom filter for each object type.

Bitwise Set

There is another special information displayed on this page of the Project Wizard: The Bitwise Set value.

This value is automatically calculated by ApexSQL Clean and always represents the bitwise integer value for the currently selected combination of object types.

For example, consider the Bitwise Set value:

This value is the encoded combination of the following object types:

Selection Profiles

This form allows importing / exporting selection profiles to preserve saved selections of individual objects. For large, complex databases this could save significant time over having to reselect the options.

FAQ: I have object selections already set in a project file that I wish to import into a new project file. How do I do this?

If you have finished an object selection (probably even with some filters applied) that you wish to use for other project, you can easily export these settings to an XML file on your file system. Just click on the Object Filter page on the Export button to save the setting to a file.

Then open the new project and import the saved *.xml file clicking the Import button on the very same Object Filter page – it will overwrite any existing object selections with objects from the imported profile.

Import Profile

Click the button to import a previously exported profile of object selections. The Open dialog box displays. Choose the file name and click .

Export Profile

Click the button to export the current object selections to an ApexSQL Clean Selection (AXLP) Profile. The Save dialog box displays. Choose the filename and location and click .

All selection profiles are XML files that can be easily edit by yourself. A partial AXLP file example is shown below: