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I have started working on a side project with a work colleague, using ASP MVC, Entity Framework 6 and SQL Server. We both work from our respective homes and rarely are able to work at the same time. To make matters a little more awkward we are both relatively new to designing databases, so often changes need to be made in the database design.

The above issue causes the developer who hasn't made the change to have a problem next time he pulls the code. So far to combat this issue we are maintaining another project which holds a copy of the sql script to reflect the last update made (probably a bad idea).

This way of working has so many problems, mainly, if one of us makes a change and forgets to make a copy of the database and add it to source control the other developer finds their code does not compile or errors are thrown when testing new functionality.

How do remote teams work efficiently in regards to this issue?

tony09uk
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  • I don't know that there's a good answer to this, at least nothing magic. It's just communication, really, as if you make changes, there's not a good way to easily fix the other guys problems. I'm assuming also that you're using local databases, compounding the problem. You might want to set up a common database that you both use. Also, it mostly sounds like you need to have a good format for describing changes you've made, and you have to be good about reading those descriptions. – CargoMeister Sep 08 '15 at 22:14
  • thank you. I had looked around but could find nothing so thought I was missing something as I know we wont be the only ones facing this issue. Guess we will just have to find a better way to communicate our changes – tony09uk Sep 08 '15 at 22:21
  • If this is code first, here is a good discussion on shared migrations. http://stackoverflow.com/questions/13314725/migrations-in-entity-framework-in-a-collaborative-environment – Steve Greene Sep 08 '15 at 23:15
  • We are both new to entity framework and were under the impression the easiest way to dip your toe in the water is using database first. But I will take a read anyway, thankyou – tony09uk Sep 09 '15 at 09:52

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Our small development team have been using Fluentmigrator which allows you to create SQL migration in .NET code.

Combining this with a good version control system should make you and your colleague's life a lot easier.

Robert
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