System and method for database structure comparison

A software program product embodied in a computer readable storage medium readable by a data processor, wherein the software program product comprises one or more instructions configured to cause a data processor to perform the method comprising:

• retrieving, by a database structure comparison computer, a first database from a first database computer;
• retrieving, by the database structure comparison computer, a second database from a second database computer;
• providing, by the database structure comparison computer, a first tree structure representative of the structure of the first database and a second tree structure representative of the structure of the second database, wherein the tree structures include nodes representative of database objects in the respective databases;
• generating, by the database structure comparison computer, an individual cyclic redundancy check (CRC) value and a cumulative CRC value for each node in the first tree structure and each node in the second tree structure;
• comparing, from top to bottom, by the database structure comparison computer, the individual CRC value and the cumulative CRC value associated with a parent node in the first tree structure with the individual CRC value and the cumulative CRC value associated with a corresponding parent node in the second tree structure wherein comparing the cumulative CRC value and the individual CRC value for a node comprises:
• beginning with a parent node in each tree structure, comparing the individual CRC values of the parent node and, if the individual CRC values do not match, comparing the characteristics of the parent node and comparing the cumulative CRC values and, if the cumulative CRC values match, not comparing the cumulative or individual CRC values of the parent nodes' sub-nodes, and if the cumulative CRC values do not match, comparing the cumulative CRC values of the parent nodes' sub-nodes;
• identifying, by the database structure comparison computer, differences between the first database and the second database based on the comparison of the individual and cumulative CRC values,
• wherein if the cumulative CRC value for a parent node in the first tree structure matches the cumulative CRC value for a corresponding parent node in the second tree structure, child nodes of the matching parent nodes are not compared,
• wherein if the individual CRC value for a parent node in the first tree structure matches the individual CRC value for a parent node in the second tree structure, the cumulative CRC value for that parent node in the first tree structure is not compared with the cumulative CRC value for the parent node in the second tree structure;
• and
• sending, to a database administrator computer, information related to the database comparison.

A method executable by a processor, comprising:

• retrieving, by a database structure comparison computer, a first database from a first database computer;
• retrieving, by the database structure comparison computer, a second database from a second database computer;
• analyzing the first database to create a first tree structure representative of the structure of the first database using structure data associated with the first database, wherein the first tree structure includes a set of first nodes each first node representing a corresponding database object of the first database;
• analyzing the second database to create a second tree structure representative of the structure of the first database using structure data associated with the second database wherein the second tree structure includes a set of second nodes each second node representing a corresponding database object of the second database;
• calculating an individual CRC value and a cumulative CRC value for each first node based on the database object corresponding to the first node and for each second node based on the database object corresponding to the second node;
• comparing, from top to bottom, the individual CRC value and the cumulative CRC values associated with first nodes in the first tree structure with the individual CRC value and the cumulative CRC values associated with second nodes in the second tree structure wherein comparing the cumulative CRC value and the individual CRC value for a node comprises:
• beginning with a parent node in each tree structure, comparing the individual CRC values of the parent node and, if the individual CRC values do not match, comparing the characteristics of the parent node and comparing the cumulative CRC values and, if the cumulative CRC values match, not comparing the cumulative or individual CRC values of the parent nodes' sub-nodes, and if the cumulative CRC values do not match, comparing the cumulative CRC values of the parent nodes' sub-nodes;
• identifying differences between the first database and the second database based on the comparison of the individual and cumulative CRC values, wherein if the cumulative CRC value for a parent node in the first tree structure matches the cumulative CRC value for a corresponding parent node in the second tree structure, child nodes of the matching parent nodes are not compared and wherein if the individual CRC value for a parent node in the first tree structure matches the individual CRC value for a parent node in the second tree structure, the cumulative CRC value for that parent node in the first tree structure is not compared with the cumulative CRC value for the parent node in the second tree structure;
• and
• sending, to a database administrator computer, information related to the database comparison.