Question

I have a reporting database for which most of its tables/views/functions are based on my ecommerce database (they all get created in the reporting db when replication is initialized). There are a few tables/views/functions that belong only in the reporting database, so I have a separate database project in VS2010 for that db.
My problem is this: When I check in a view that references tables that are not in the reporting db project (they’re only in the ecommerce db project), I can’t build without getting unresolved reference errors.
Is there any way around this without adding the tables from the view to the Tables folder in the reporting db project? I’d rather not do that because then my team has to remember to update the tables in the reporting db project when they are updated in the ecommerce db project.

Answer 1

The basic procedure for sharing files between projects:

1. In Solution Explorer right click on the reporting database project and select the Add Existing Item option.

2. In the ‘Add Existing Item – Database’ dialog box select the file you wish to share.

3. Click the down arrow on the ‘Add’ button and then click ‘Add As Link’.

You should be able to add multiple files as links in one go. For example, if you have a Tables folder in your ecommerce database and a Tables folder in your reporting database:

1. Right click on the Tables folder in the reporting database.

2. Select all files or a subset of the files from the Tables folder in the ecommerce database.

3. Click the down arrow on the ‘Add’ button and then click ‘Add As Link’.