Useful Stored Procedure: sp_generate_inserts

There are many occasions when you need to populate a database with some initial data. Setting up a new database for a software package install or running unit tests are two of the reasons I need to do this frequently. I stumbled across this code: http://vyaskn.tripod.com/code/generate_inserts.txt which looks very promising. Unfortunately it is also unusable anyone who respects copyright due to this block:

Procedure:	sp_generate_inserts  (Build 22) 
		(Copyright © 2002 Narayana Vyas Kondreddi. All rights reserved.)

I am always puzzled by people who put really useful code on the Internet and then arrange for it to be unusable due to legal concerns. His site disclaimer is confusing in the extreme as it says that he isn’t responsible for damage, yet no-one could use the code anyway without infringing the stated copyright so no damage is possible. He says to contact him if you want to ship his code, so perhaps it isn’t too hard to get a license, but the paranoia evident in the last words of the disclaimer “Last but not the least, do not copy my content. Do not reproduce my content anywhere, in any form without my permission” somewhat makes me dubious that this code is intended as anything but a legal trap.

I think I will continue to use RedGate SQL Data Compare instead, thanks.