Serialization Example

SchemaCrawler allows export of a full database schema to JSON or YAML via the serialize command. The serialized output can be used for offline analysis, schema comparison, or integration with other tooling.

How to Run

Before running this example, complete the setup in Getting Started.

1. Run the command:

schemacrawler \
  --server postgresql \
  --host postgresql \
  --database schemacrawler \
  --user schemacrawler \
  --password schemacrawler \
  --info-level standard \
  --command serialize \
  --output-format json \
  --output-file share/schema.json

Replace with the connection options for your chosen database. See Getting Started.

The schema will be exported to a file in the specified format in the current directory. You can use JSON or YAML formats. For details on formats, loading serialized catalogs offline, and format limitations, see SchemaCrawler Serialization.

How to Experiment

1. Export to YAML instead of JSON.

2. Change --info-level to detailed or maximum to capture more schema detail in the serialized output.

3. Compare two serialized exports (e.g., from different database versions) using a standard diff tool to identify schema changes.