Easily show rows that are different between two tables or queries

Question

Imagine you have two different tables/queries that are supposed to have/return identical data. You want to verify this. What's an easy way to show any unmatched rows from each table just like the example below, comparing every column? Assume there are 30 columns in the tables, many of which are NULLable.

When there is no PK or there could be duplicates per PK, joining on just PK columns isn't enough, and it would be a disaster to have to do a FULL JOIN with 30 join conditions that properly handle NULLs, plus a nasty WHERE condition to exclude the matched rows.

Usually it is when I'm writing a new query against unscrubbed or not-fully-understood data that the problem is worst and the likelihood of a PK being logically available is extremely low. I cook up two different ways to solve the problem and then compare their results, the differences highlighting special cases in the data that I was unaware of.

The result needs to look like this:

Which   Col1   Col2   Col3   ... Col30
------  ------ ------ ------     ------
TableA  Cat    27     86               -- mismatch
TableB  Cat    27     105              -- mismatch
TableB  Cat    27     87               -- mismatch 2
TableA  Cat    128    92               -- no corresponding row
TableB  Lizard 83     NULL             -- no corresponding row

If [Col1, Col2] do happen to be a composite key and we order by them in our final result, then we can easily see that A and B have one row different that should be the same, and each has one row that is not in the other.

In the above example, seeing the first row twice is not desirable.

Here's DDL and DML to set up sample tables and data:

CREATE TABLE dbo.TableA (
   Col1 varchar(10),
   Col2 int,
   Col3 int,
   Col4 varchar(10),
   Col5 varchar(10),
   Col6 varchar(10),
   Col7 varchar(10),
   Col8 varchar(10),
   Col9 varchar(10),
   Col10 varchar(10),
   Col11 varchar(10),
   Col12 varchar(10),
   Col13 varchar(10),
   Col14 varchar(10),
   Col15 varchar(10),
   Col16 varchar(10),
   Col17 varchar(10),
   Col18 varchar(10),
   Col19 varchar(10),
   Col20 varchar(10),
   Col21 varchar(10),
   Col22 varchar(10),
   Col23 varchar(10),
   Col24 varchar(10),
   Col25 varchar(10),
   Col26 varchar(10),
   Col27 varchar(10),
   Col28 varchar(10),
   Col29 varchar(10),
   Col30 varchar(10)
);

CREATE TABLE dbo.TableB (
   Col1 varchar(10),
   Col2 int,
   Col3 int,
   Col4 varchar(10),
   Col5 varchar(10),
   Col6 varchar(10),
   Col7 varchar(10),
   Col8 varchar(10),
   Col9 varchar(10),
   Col10 varchar(10),
   Col11 varchar(10),
   Col12 varchar(10),
   Col13 varchar(10),
   Col14 varchar(10),
   Col15 varchar(10),
   Col16 varchar(10),
   Col17 varchar(10),
   Col18 varchar(10),
   Col19 varchar(10),
   Col20 varchar(10),
   Col21 varchar(10),
   Col22 varchar(10),
   Col23 varchar(10),
   Col24 varchar(10),
   Col25 varchar(10),
   Col26 varchar(10),
   Col27 varchar(10),
   Col28 varchar(10),
   Col29 varchar(10),
   Col30 varchar(10)
);

INSERT dbo.TableA (Col1, Col2, Col3, Col4, Col5, Col6, Col7, Col8, Col9, Col10, Col11, Col12, Col13, Col14, Col15, Col16, Col17, Col18, Col19, Col20, Col21, Col22, Col23, Col24, Col25, Col26, Col27, Col28, Col29, Col30)
VALUES
   ('Cat', 27, 86, 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g',' h', 'i', 'j', 'k', 'l', 'm', 'n', 'o', 'p', 'q', 'r', 's', 't', 'u', 'v', 'w', 'x', 'y', 'z', '0'),
   ('Cat', 128, 92, 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g',' h', 'i', 'j', 'k', 'l', 'm', 'n', 'o', 'p', 'q', 'r', 's', 't', 'u', 'v', 'w', 'x', 'y', 'z', '0'),
   ('Porcupine', NULL, 42, 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g',' h', 'i', 'j', 'k', 'l', 'm', 'n', 'o', 'p', 'q', 'r', 's', 't', 'u', 'v', 'w', 'x', 'y', 'z', '0'),
   ('Tapir', NULL, NULL, 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g',' h', 'i', 'j', 'k', 'l', 'm', 'n', 'o', 'p', 'q', 'r', 's', 't', 'u', 'v', 'w', 'x', 'y', 'z', '0')
;

INSERT dbo.TableB (Col1, Col2, Col3, Col4, Col5, Col6, Col7, Col8, Col9, Col10, Col11, Col12, Col13, Col14, Col15, Col16, Col17, Col18, Col19, Col20, Col21, Col22, Col23, Col24, Col25, Col26, Col27, Col28, Col29, Col30)
VALUES
   ('Cat', 27, 105, 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g',' h', 'i', 'j', 'k', 'l', 'm', 'n', 'o', 'p', 'q', 'r', 's', 't', 'u', 'v', 'w', 'x', 'y', 'z', '0'),
   ('Cat', 27, 87, 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g',' h', 'i', 'j', 'k', 'l', 'm', 'n', 'o', 'p', 'q', 'r', 's', 't', 'u', 'v', 'w', 'x', 'y', 'z', '0'),
   ('Lizard', 83, NULL, 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g',' h', 'i', 'j', 'k', 'l', 'm', 'n', 'o', 'p', 'q', 'r', 's', 't', 'u', 'v', 'w', 'x', 'y', 'z', '0'),
   ('Porcupine', NULL, 42, 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g',' h', 'i', 'j', 'k', 'l', 'm', 'n', 'o', 'p', 'q', 'r', 's', 't', 'u', 'v', 'w', 'x', 'y', 'z', '0'),
   ('Tapir', NULL, NULL, 'a', 'b', 'c', 'd', 'e', 'f', 'g',' h', 'i', 'j', 'k', 'l', 'm', 'n', 'o', 'p', 'q', 'r', 's', 't', 'u', 'v', 'w', 'x', 'y', 'z', '0');

Answer 1

You don't need 30 join conditions for a FULL OUTER JOIN here.

You can just Full Outer Join on the PK, preserve rows with at least one difference with WHERE EXISTS (SELECT A.* EXCEPT SELECT B.*) and use CROSS APPLY (SELECT A.* UNION ALL SELECT B.*) to unpivot out both sides of the JOINed rows into individual rows.

WITH TableA(Col1, Col2, Col3) 
     AS (SELECT 'Dog',1,1     UNION ALL 
         SELECT 'Cat',27,86   UNION ALL 
         SELECT 'Cat',128,92), 
     TableB(Col1, Col2, Col3) 
     AS (SELECT 'Dog',1,1     UNION ALL 
         SELECT 'Cat',27,105  UNION ALL 
         SELECT 'Lizard',83,NULL) 
SELECT CA.*
FROM   TableA A 
       FULL OUTER JOIN TableB B 
         ON A.Col1 = B.Col1 
            AND A.Col2 = B.Col2 
/*Unpivot the joined rows*/
CROSS APPLY (SELECT 'TableA' AS what, A.* UNION ALL
             SELECT 'TableB' AS what, B.*) AS CA     
/*Exclude identical rows*/
WHERE  EXISTS (SELECT A.* 
               EXCEPT 
               SELECT B.*) 
/*Discard NULL extended row*/
AND CA.Col1 IS NOT NULL      
ORDER BY CA.Col1, CA.Col2

Gives

what   Col1   Col2        Col3
------ ------ ----------- -----------
TableA Cat    27          86
TableB Cat    27          105
TableA Cat    128         92
TableB Lizard 83          NULL

Or a version dealing with the moved goalposts.

SELECT DISTINCT CA.*
FROM   TableA A 
       FULL OUTER JOIN TableB B 
         ON EXISTS (SELECT A.*  INTERSECT  SELECT B.*) 
CROSS APPLY (SELECT 'TableA' AS what, A.* UNION ALL
             SELECT 'TableB' AS what, B.*) AS CA     
WHERE NOT EXISTS (SELECT A.*  INTERSECT  SELECT B.*) 
AND CA.Col1 IS NOT NULL
ORDER BY CA.Col1, CA.Col2  

---

For tables with many columns it can still be difficult to identify the specific column(s) that differ. For that you can potentially use the below.

(though just on relatively small tables as otherwise this method likely won't have adequate performance)

SELECT t1.primary_key,
       y1.c,
       y1.v,
       y2.v
FROM   t1
       JOIN t2
         ON t1.primary_key = t2.primary_key
       CROSS APPLY (SELECT t1.*
                    FOR xml path('row'), elements xsinil, type) x1(x)
       CROSS APPLY (SELECT t2.*
                    FOR xml path('row'), elements xsinil, type) x2(x)
       CROSS APPLY (SELECT n.n.value('local-name(.)', 'sysname'),
                           n.n.value('.', 'nvarchar(max)')
                    FROM   x1.x.nodes('row/*') AS n(n)) y1(c, v)
       CROSS APPLY (SELECT n.n.value('local-name(.)', 'sysname'),
                           n.n.value('.', 'nvarchar(max)')
                    FROM   x2.x.nodes('row/*') AS n(n)) y2(c, v)
WHERE  y1.c = y2.c
       AND EXISTS(SELECT y1.v
                  EXCEPT
                  SELECT y2.v) 

Answer 2

This can be handled using EXCEPT and/or INTERSECT. http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/ms188055.aspx

First find all records that are in table1 that are not in table 2, then find all records that are in table 2 that are not in table one.

SELECT * FROM table1
EXCEPT
SELECT * FROM table2

UNION

SELECT * FROM table2
EXCEPT
SELECT * FROM table1

There is undoubtedly a more efficient way to do this, but it is the first "quick and dirty" solution off the top of my head. Also, I do not recommend using a * wildcard, but it suits here for brevity.

Alternately, you could use an INTERSECT operator and exclude all the results from it.

Answer 3

It is easy to accomplish with a third party tool like Data Compare, or just do it on the client. In the context of unit testing stored procedures, we just wrote some C# code.

Here is the C# code we are using, quoted from an old article:Close those Loopholes - Testing Stored Procedures

   internal static class DataSetComparer
   {
      internal static bool Compare(DataSet one, DataSet two)
      {
         if(one.Tables.Count != two.Tables.Count)
            return false;

         for(int i = 0; i < one.Tables.Count; i++)
            if(!CompareTables(one.Tables[i], two.Tables[i]))
               return false;

         return true;
        }

      private static bool CompareTables(DataTable one, DataTable two)
      {
         if(one.Rows.Count != two.Rows.Count)
            return false;

         for(int i = 0; i < one.Rows.Count; i++)
            if(!CompareRows(one.Rows[i], two.Rows[i]))
               return false;

         return true;
      }

      private static bool CompareRows(DataRow one, DataRow two)
      {
         if(one.ItemArray.Length != two.ItemArray.Length)
            return false;

         for(int i = 0; i < one.ItemArray.Length; i++)
            if(!CompareItems(one.ItemArray[i], two.ItemArray[i]))
               return false;

         return true;
      }

      private static bool CompareItems(object value1, object value2)
      {
         if(value1.GetType() != value2.GetType())
            return false;

         if(value1 is DBNull)
            return true;

         if(value1 is DateTime)
            return ((DateTime) value1).CompareTo((DateTime) value2)
                                                              == 0;

         if(value1 is byte[])
         {
            if(((byte[]) value1).Length != ((byte[]) value2).Length)
               return false;

            for(int i = 0; i < ((byte[]) value1).Length; i++)
               if(((byte[]) value1)[i] != ((byte[]) value2)[i])
                  return false;

            return true;
         }

         return value1.ToString().Equals(value2.ToString());
      }
   }

Answer 4

Here's a way to show what was asked for:

SELECT
   Which = 'TableA',
   *
FROM (
   SELECT * FROM dbo.TableA
   EXCEPT
   SELECT * FROM dbo.TableB
) X
UNION ALL
SELECT
   'TableB',
   *
FROM (
   SELECT * FROM dbo.TableB
   EXCEPT
   SELECT * FROM dbo.TableA
) X
ORDER BY
   Col1, Col2, Col3, Col4, Col5, Col6, Col7, Col8, Col9, Col10, Col11, Col12, Col13, Col14, Col15, Col16, Col17, Col18, Col19, Col20, Col21, Col22, Col23, Col24, Col25, Col26, Col27, Col28, Col29, Col30
;