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Introduction
The SQL Bookmark feature was one of the original ideas when
DbVisualizer was first designed. The background is that most SQL tools
offer quite good support to edit and test SQL statements. But when the
final optimized and really awesome SQL is complete then you're all
alone. (We used to use a standard text editor and the famous copy/paste
capability to transfer SQL's from and to SQL*Plus ;-) )
The key concept behind the bookmark management is to offer a way to
save SQL statements between invocations of DbVisualizer and
make it easy to execute them. Another important requirement is to organize SQL statements in folders for structural and
grouping purposes. The core of the bookmark management is the Bookmark
Editor. It is here the bookmarks are organized.
The bookmark editor depends heavily on the SQL Commander since when
requesting to execute an SQL Bookmark the bookmark editor will pass the
actual SQL along with the connection data to the SQL Commander. It is
then the SQL commander that is used to edit and test the SQL until it
is complete.
What's a bookmark in DbVisualizer?
An SQL Bookmark is generally an SQL statement that is saved between
invocations of DbVisualizer. In addition it also keeps related
information needed to execute the SQL and present the result
accordingly once it is requested.
- SQL statement
- Bookmark name
- Database Connection
- Catalog (aka Database)
- Chart settings (optional)
The bookmark management is primarily used to save SQL statements that
are used often or for whatever reason there might be. There are
different types of bookmarks and DbVisualizer automatically creates
bookmarks in the following function areas:
- Each SQL that is executed in the SQL Commander is saved as an SQL
bookmark in the History folder
- Each monitored SQL statement in the Monitor feature is an SQL
bookmark and is added to the New folder
(Read more about this in the following sections).
The Bookmarks Main Menu
The bookmarks main menu in the DbVisualizer window contains the
following choices:
Figure: The Bookmark main menu
All except the Bookmark Editor choice are disabled if you are not in the SQL
Commander tab.
Menu
Choice
|
Description
|
Bookmark
Editor
|
Requests to display the Bookmark Editor. |
Add
Bookmark to Folder
|
This is composed of a sub menu
in which all folders
are displayed. This list displays the paths for all folders (i.e the
folder hierarchy from the root). The root folders are Personal, New
or History (read more about these in the sections below). Once a
folder has been selected the following dialog is displayed. Here you
can change the default name and add an optional note.
|
Replace
Bookmark
|
This option is used to
replace the chosen SQL bookmark with the
SQL and connection data that is in the current SQL Commander editor.
The replace bookmark menu consists of the root folders and last in the
menu possibly the name of the last SQL bookmark that was passed from
the bookmarks editor. If you want to replace the data for that SQL
Bookmark just select its name in the menu.
 |
Get
Bookmark
|
Get Bookmark shows the same menu
hierarchy as Replace
Bookmark except that it is used to fetch the chosen SQL Bookmark and
insert it into the current SQL Commander editor. |
Bookmark Editor
The bookmark editor is the core of the bookmark management and is used
to organize SQL bookmarks in folders and to do various adjustments.
Bookmark list
The
editor is based on a tree list with the same structure as the tree that
appears in the Bookmarks main
menu options. The tree has three root folders that cannot be changed,
moved or removed. There is basically no difference between these root
folders except that they are used in different contexts in
DbVisualizer.
- Personal
This root folder is supposed to hold the structure of
favorite SQL bookmarks. By
putting SQL
bookmarks in folders you get a better organisation and overview of your
bookmarks. All
nodes in the root folder are manually maintained.
- New
Creating Row Count Monitors
in
the Database Objects->Data
tab will add these monitors (as SQL Bookmarks) to the New root folder.
- History
All SQL statements or scripts that are executed in the SQL
Commander
are automatically added in the History
root folder. The latest executed
statement appear first in the list.
(The number after the root folder names indicates the number of SQL
bookmarks that are in that root folder).
Figure: The Bookmark Editor
You cannot create folders or SQL
bookmarks in the New or History root folders. The way to
work with these
folders is to copy the SQL bookmarks you want from them into the appropriate location
in the Personal root folder.
The tree of folders and SQL bookmarks is contains the following
information:
Column
in list
|
Description
|
Name
|
The name of the node (folder or
SQL bookmark). Modify the name by selecting the column and click once
to get into editor mode.
The Edit->Change Name menu
choice can be used for the same purpose. If a SQL bookmark was created
by some other function in DbVisualizer then the name will be the first
40 characters of the SQL statement.
|
Database
Connection
|
The database connection column when clicked displays a list of all defined database connections. The
list indicates whether a connection is established or closed. It is
here you specify using another database connection for an SQL bookmark.
|
Catalog
|
This column lists the Catalog
(aka Database) that was current when the bookmark was created. You can
change the Catalog by clicking in it. A list of accessible catalogs is
then displayed.
Note: The list of catalogs is empty if the Database Connection
is not established.
|
Monitor
|
Check this box to enable the SQL
bookmark to become a monitor and thereby appear in the Monitor
main tab. SQL's that returns results are the most obvious candidates
for being monitored.
|
Contain
Variables
|
This column is read only and
indicates whether the SQL statement includes any DbVisualizer
variables. (I.e $$variable name$$)
|
Multi SQL
|
This column is also read only
and indicates whether the SQL statement is composed of several SQL
statements (aka script). This is determined by looking for statement
delimiters in the SQL.
|
New and History root
folders
The number of SQL bookmarks that may be added
by DbVisualizer to the New and
History root folders are
specified in the Tool
Properties->Bookmarks
category. Bookmarks in these folders can be removed one by one or each folder can be cleared using the File->Clear all New entries
or File->Clear all History entries.
SQL Editor
Monitor information
The monitor sub tab controls the total number of rows that will be
kept in the result grid until rows are automatically removed.
This feature is specific to the monitor feature. Please see Charts and Monitors for more information.
The Note field
The note field can be used to write a short note about the SQL
Bookmark. This note will appear as a tool tip in the Bookmarks main menu.
Executing an SQL bookmark or folder of SQL
bookmarks
The SQL editor in the bookmark editor can be used to modify the SQL but
it is not the place to execute SQL statements. Instead it is the SQL
Commander that is used to execute SQL's. Select the Edit->Pass
SQL to SQL Commander menu operation to copy the selected SQL
bookmark into the SQL Commander. The SQL Commander is then
used to execute and edit the SQL. Once you are satisfied with it then
select the last entry in the Bookmarks menu:
Figure: The Bookmark->Replace sub menu
If the last entry displays "No current bookmark" then it indicates that
the currently edited SQL was not passed from the Bookmark Editor. You
can use the other menu choices to locate the actual bookmark that will
be
replaced.
The Pass SQL to SQL Commander
operation can also operate on a folder. Doing this will result in a
script of all direct child SQL bookmarks that are located in that
folder.
Each of the SQL statements will be delimited by the delimiter as
specified in Tool Properties.
Figure: Selecting a folder for execution
Once the Pass SQL
to SQL Commander is selected the following will appear in the
SQL Commander editor:
Figure: The SQL Commander editor
Note that the Database
Connection and Catalog
lists are empty. You need to select these from the lists when a script
of SQL bookmarks is passed from the Bookmark Editor.
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