BacpacEditor

A .NET 8 command-line tool for editing SQL Server BACPAC files by removing specific database objects like stored procedures, views, functions, and more.

Why Use BacpacEditor?

When exporting a database as a BACPAC file, SQL Server includes everything.. tables, stored procedures, views, functions, triggers, constraints, and more. Sometimes you only want to import specific parts of the database, but BACPAC files don't allow selective imports.

Common scenarios where BacpacEditor helps:

• Data migration: You want to import only tables and data, not stored procedures or views
• Development environments: Remove production-specific stored procedures before importing to dev
• Clean database setup: Import only the schema without business logic (stored procedures/functions)
• Compliance: Remove sensitive stored procedures before sharing database exports
• Testing: Create test databases without certain objects that might interfere with testing

Setup

Prerequisites

• .NET 8.0 SDK or later

Build from Source

git clone <repository-url>
cd BacpacEditor
dotnet build

Usage

Basic Syntax

dotnet run -- <file-path> <selection-options>

Selection Options

Option	Description
--Views	Remove all views
--StoredProcedures	Remove all stored procedures
--Functions	Remove all functions (scalar, table-valued, etc.)
--Tables	Remove all tables
--Indexes	Remove all indexes
--Constraints	Remove all constraints
--Triggers	Remove all triggers
--Schemas	Remove all schemas
--Users	Remove all users
--Roles	Remove all roles
--AllObjects	Remove all database objects

Examples

Remove Views and Stored Procedures

dotnet run -- "database.bacpac" "--Views" "--StoredProcedures"

Remove Functions and Triggers

dotnet run -- "database.bacpac" "--Functions" "--Triggers"

Remove Everything Except Tables

dotnet run -- "database.bacpac" "--Views" "--StoredProcedures" "--Functions" "--Triggers" "--Indexes" "--Constraints"

Work with XML Files Directly

dotnet run -- "model.xml" "--Views"

How It Works

BACPAC Files

1. Extracts the BACPAC file (which is a ZIP archive)
2. Modifies the model.xml file to remove specified elements
3. Updates the origin.xml file with new checksums and object counts
4. Repackages everything into a new _modified.bacpac file
5. Cleans up temporary files

XML Files

1. Loads the XML file
2. Removes specified elements based on Type attributes
3. Saves the modified XML file