Database documentation is essential for development, maintenance, onboarding, and auditing. However, creating documentation manually for large SQL Server databases can take a lot of time and effort.

Using automated SQL Server tools helps simplify this process and generate accurate documentation in minutes.

Why Use SQL Server Tools for Documentation?

Modern SQL Server tools allow teams to:

  • automate documentation generation
  • reduce manual work and errors
  • improve database transparency
  • simplify collaboration between developers and DBAs
  • create searchable HTML or PDF documentation

How to Generate Documentation

Connect to SQL Server

Launch dbForge Documenter for SQL Server and select an existing SQL Server connection or create a new one.

Select Database Objects

Choose the database you want to document, for example AdventureWorks2012.

The tool analyzes and displays database objects including:

  • tables
  • views
  • stored procedures
  • functions
  • indexes
  • keys
  • dependencies

You can generate documentation for the entire database or only selected objects.

Customize Documentation

One of the advantages of these SQL Server tools is flexible customization.

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You can configure:

  • document title and header
  • >
  • included sections
  • object properties
  • descriptions

For tables and other objects, you can include sections such as:

  • Columns
  • Indexes
  • Foreign Keys
  • SQL Script
  • Depends On
  • Used By

The tool also supports editing descriptions pulled from SQL Server extended properties.

Generate HTML or PDF Documentation

After configuration, click Generate and choose the output format:

  • HTML
  • PDF

Both formats support search, which is especially useful for large databases.

Additional Features

dbForge Documenter for SQL Server integrates with SQL Server Management Studio and is included in the dbForge Developer Bundle for SQL Server.

The bundle combines multiple SQL Server tools for:

  • schema and data comparison
  • SQL development
  • source control
  • test data generation
  • database performance optimization

Conclusion

Automated SQL Server tools help teams quickly generate clear and professional database documentation while reducing manual effort