Microsoft SQL Server: How to export data from a database and import them to another database?

Question

How can I export all of my rows in a table to sql script in Microsoft SQL Server 2005 and then import them to another database?

Thanks in advance

Answer 1

If you moving it to another sql db you can right click the database you want and choose tasks -> generate scripts. That will launch aa wizard - follow along, choose the option to script all tables and data. Then execute that script in the new db(assuming that you've already created one with the same name)

Answer 2

If you can't find a data import/export tool that will work in your particular circumstances, it's possible to write plain SQL SELECT queries that will generate SQL INSERT statements. In this way it's possible to "export" all your data to a script file that can be run against the destination database. It's kind of an ugly hack, but it's simple and it works if you don't have a lot of data to move. See my answer to this question for details: Export SQL Server 2005 query result to SQL INSERT statement?

Note that this method assumes that the destination table already exists. But it's pretty straightforward to generate table creation scripts, as J Cory's answer has already shown.

Answer 3

There's a command line tool available to dump your data from particular tables into a SQL script that be executed against a different database:

http://blog.sqlauthority.com/2007/11/16/sql-server-2005-generate-script-with-data-from-database-database-publishing-wizard/

I don't believe SQL Management Studio Express supports data scripting (as your screenshot on J Cory's answer shows), but the full version does support that feature. In either case, the command line tool should accomplish what you need.