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Introduction
DbVisualizer is a feature rich, intuitive and multi database tool for
developers and database administrators, providing a single powerful
interface across a wide variety of operating systems. With its simple
to use and clean interface, DbVisualizer has proven to be one of the
most cost effective database tools available, yet to mention that it
runs on all major operating systems and supports all major RDBMS that
are available. Users only need to learn and master one application.
DbVisualizer integrates transparently with the operating system being
used.
This document gives a overview, installation tips and general information about the product.
Note: All documents in the Users Guide are primarily focusing on the DbVisualizer Personal edition.
The screen shots throughout the users guide are produced on Windows XP using the Alloy look and feel.
Installing
Installing DbVisualizer is no different then installing other modern
products. The standard installation
procedure is performed using a graphical application and you just need
to click through the questions that are displayed. Follow the instructions
at the DbVisualizer web site if you need information how to start the installation
procedure specifically for your platform.
Installation structure
The installer and launcher for DbVisualizer is based on the install4jTM product (http://www.install4j.com).
The structure of the installation directory (referred as DBVIS-HOME throughout the users guide) contains the following.
(The exact content may differ between platforms):
.install4j/
doc/
lib/
resources/
wrapper/
dbvis.vmoptions
dbvis.exe
README.txt
uninstall.exe
There is basically nothing in this directory that is of general
interest except the dbvis.exe
file
which is used to start DbVisualizer. For information how to increase
the memory for the Java process that runs DbVisualizer and also how to
modify the Java version being used please read the on-line FAQ for latest information.
Java Properties
DbVisualizer relies on few Java properties that can be used to modify
characteristics of the application. These DbVisualizer specific
properties are available in the DBVIS-HOME/resources/dbvis-custom.prefs file.
Note: Modifying these properties are rarely needed as the default values are sufficient for most use.
The following are the properties handled by DbVisualizer:
Property
|
Description
|
dbvis.driver.ignore.dir=lib:resources:.install4j
|
Specify directories from
DBVIS-HOME that should not be listed in the Driver Manager "System
Classpath" list. Directories are separated with ":".
Accepted values:
one or several directory names starting from DBVIS-HOME.
|
| dbvis.grid.encode=false |
Specifies if encoding of data in
result set grids will be performed or not. If set to true then make
sure the dbvis.grid.fromEncode
and/or dbvis.grid.toEncode
is set too.
|
| dbvis.grid.fromEncode=ISO8859_1 |
Encoding used when translating
text data that is fetched from the database
|
| dbvis.grid.toEncode=GBK |
Encoding used when translating
data that will appear in the result set grid
|
| dbvis.formeditor.unlimitedfields=false |
Specify whether the form editor should ignore the max column length and allow any number of characters to be entered
|
| dbvis.usegetobject=false |
Specifies if the generic
ResultSet.getObject() method in JDBC will be used in favor of the data
type specific get methods or not. Default is false.
|
dbvis.savedatacolumns=false
|
Column layout changes such as
reordering and/or visibility is saved for all grids in the Objects
Views *except* for the "Data" grid. This property can be used to also
include the layout in the "Data" grid. Note: This will result in DbVis
saving the layout for each table that is displayed in the Data grid =
huge XML file...
|
dbvis.disabledataedit=false
|
Specifies if table data
editing should be completely disabled, i.e. the form and inline
editors. Note: This have only effect when used with a licensed edition.
|
| dbvis.showactionresult=false |
This defines whether the result for all actions should be displayed or only failures (default). |
Note: These properties may change in future versions of DbVisualizer. Some are also
experimental and may be removed or instead introduced in the
DbVisualizer GUI.
Install
license key for DbVisualizer Personal
If you have a license key file for DbVisualizer Personal then start DbVisualizer and open the Help->License Key window. Enter the name of the license file in the License Key File
field or launch the file chooser by pressing the "..." button to the
right of the license file field. Once the file is loaded press the Install License button.
Uninstalling the license key
There may be situations when uninstalling the license key is desirable. Do this by removing (or renaming) the following file:
Operating System
|
File Name |
Windows
|
C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\.dbvis\dbvis.license |
| UNIX/Linux |
/home/<user>/.dbvis/dbvis.license |
| Mac OS X |
/Users/<user>/.dbvis/dbvis.license |
Useful Resources
Resources related to DbVisualizer that are useful
- The home of DbVisualizer
- The FAQ which is
regularly updated with frequently asked questions and known problems
- The User Guide
- The Databases and JDBC Drivers online page. This page gives information about supported databases and JDBC drivers
- The Minq forums
- The on line problem report
form. This is the recommended channel for product support and general questions
Starting DbVisualizer
Starting DbVisualizer depends on what platform being used.
- Windows
Locate the DbVisualizer sub menu in the Start menu. Select the DbVisualizer entry in that menu
- Linux/Unix
Open a shell and change directory to the DbVisualizer
installation directory. Execute the dbvis program
- Mac OS X
Double click on the DbVisualizer application or DbVisualizer.app application bundle.
Command line arguments
DbVisualizer supports a range of command line arguments. These are
listed in the Help->Usage
Information menu choice in DbVisualizer.
Usage: dbvis [-help] [-up <path>] [-sqlfile <path>]
[-windowtitle <title>]
[connect options] [remote options]
General Options:
-help Display this help
-up <path> Use an alternate user preferences file
-sqlfile <path> Load file into the SQL Commander editor
-windowtitle <title> Additional window title
-execute Will execute SQL file automatically
-invisible No windows will be displayed
Driver Connect Options:
-driver Setup and connect using the following Driver options:
-alias <name> Database alias
-drivername <name> Driver name
-path <path> Path to driver class
-class <class> JDBC Driver class
-url <url> Connection URL
-userid <user> Userid to connect as
-password <pw> Connect password
JNDI Connect Options:
-jndi Setup and connect using the following JNDI options:
-alias <name> Database alias
-drivername <name> Driver name
-path <path> Path to initial context class
-class <class> Initial context class
-url <url> Provider URL
-lookup <name> Lookup name
-userid <user> Userid to connect as
-password <pw> Connect password
Remote Options:
-attachremote Attach to remote DbVisualizer instance
-enableremote Enable remote attachment
-host <host> Remote host name (default: localhost)
-port <port> Remote port (default: 8787)
|
The Main Window and Common Components
The DbVisualizer user interface screenshot below is
organized with the database objects tree to the left and two tabs at the right.
Database Objects Tree
This tree keeps (at the top level) all the Database Connection objects (or
folder objects with their purpose to organize Database Connections).
Use this tree to navigate and explore the database. Clicking on an object will change
the view in the Object View tab to show details about the selected
object.
Object View
This tab shows detailed information
about the selected tree node. Every object type have their own
representation in the object view tab.
SQL Commander
The SQL Commander is used to execute SQL statements and scripts.
Figure: The
DbVisualizer main window
Standard Components in the User Interface
The following section presents some generic topics that are worth knowing when you
using DbVisualizer.
Grid, Graph and Chart
Grid, graph and chart are three terms that are often used in the
application and in the documentation. The following explains what they
represent.
Figure: The grid, graph and chart terms
Note: The reason the documentation refer to grid rather then table is
that table may be mixed with a database table.
Context Sensitive Components
All components in the user interface are context sensitive i.e.
buttons, menu items, etc.These are enabled only if they can
be used in the current scope.
Tool tips
Tooltips are used to explain a component. They are also used to
express status information about components. An example is the grid column
header tooltip that shows information about the column.
Figure: Tooltip
example
Grids
Grids are used heavily in DbVisualizer and requires a brief
introduction.
Figure: Grid
overview
The screenshot shows the grid and controls
that are
available in the Database
Objects->Data tab but the differences are
minor compared to the standard grid.
Right click menu
The generic right click menu contains the following operations:
Figure: Grid
right click menu
Menu
Choice
|
Description
|
Select All
|
Selects all cells (aka rows and
columns) in the grid
|
Select Row
|
Selects all cells in the row
|
Copy Selection
|
Copy all selected cells onto the
system clipboard
|
Copy Selection (With Column Header)
|
Copy all selected cells including column header onto the system clipboard
|
Export
|
Launch the export dialog
|
Export
Selection
|
Export the selection using the
standard export feature
|
Fit Column
Widths
|
Automatically fit all column
widths according to the widest cell value
|
Default
Column Widths
|
Set the column width equally for
all columns
|
Find
|
Launch the find dialog
|
Browse Row
in Form
|
Displays all data for the
selected row in a form.
Note: this is just a read
only form as editing is not allowed.
|
Describe Data
|
Show detailed information about the columns in the grid
|
Calculate Selection
|
Displays some metrics about the current selection. This is especially useful for numeric fields. Read more in Calculate Selection below.
|
| Show/Hide Cell Browser |
Displays or hides the cell browser. This browser shows the
selected cell value below the grid. Useful when browsing complex data
or images |
Show/Hide Quick Filter
|
Displays or hides the quick filter pane. Read more about Quick Filters in the Database Objects Explorer document.
|
| Set Quick Filter for Selection |
Sets the selected value as the current quick filter |
Column Visibility
|
Displays the column visibility menu. Use this to control what columns should be displayed in the grid. Read more in Column Visibility below.
|
(The menu may contain additional entries based on the current scope).
Calculate Selection
The Calculate Selection feature
is used to perform some calculations on the current selection. It
is primarily used to calculate on selections keeping numbers. The following is
an example of what it shows.
Figure: The calculate selection popup
Property
|
Description
|
Number of Cells
|
shows the number of cells in the selection. |
Valid Numbers
|
lists the number of valid numbers in the selection. |
Null Values
|
shows the total of null values in the selection. |
Bytes
|
shows the total number of bytes in the selection after that the data has been translated to text |
Sum
|
shows the total summary of the selection |
Min
|
shows the minimum number in the selection |
Avg
|
shows the average value of the selection by doing sum / number of valid numbers |
Max
|
shows the maximum number in the selection |
Either click the red cross icon or anywhere in the popup to close it.
Column Visibility
The Column Visibility feature is used to control what columns
should appear in a grid. The column visibility dialog is displayed either
by choosing the Column Visibility right menu choice in the grid or by
clicking the button above the vertical scrollbar in the grid.
Figure: The column visibility dialog
The column visibility dialog shows all columns that are available in the
grid. The check mark in front of a column name indicates that the
column is visible in the grid while an unchecked box indicates that it
will be invisible. Columns can be made invisible either by selecting a checked
column name in this list or by using the Remove Column
menu choice in the grid column header menu. The order of the
columns can also be adjusted in this dialog. Just select a row and then
move it up (left in grid) or down (right in grid).
The Default Layout resets the grid by making all column visible and put them in their default locations.
Note 1: Modifying column
visibility in conjunction with column resizing and column ordering is
saved between invocations of DbVisualizer for all grids in the various Object Views except the Data tab.
Note 2: If modifying column visibility in the Data tab then these changes will persist throughout the session i.e if you for example remove the column Name in the Data tab for the table EMPLOYEE then will Name not appear if doing a reload or subsequent shows of the Data tab for
that table. You must manually make it visible again or simply select Default Layout to bring it back. Another solution is to restart the application.
Problem resolution
There are situations when problems, errors or even bugs occur. The
runtime environment for DbVisualizer is rather complicated when it
comes to tracking the source of a potential problem since it's not only
DbVisualizer that may cause the problem but also the actual JDBC
driver(s).
There are a few things that you can do before reporting problems
based on at what stage the problem occurs:
- Make sure you are using the latest version of Java 1.4
- Make sure you are using at least the version
of the JDBC driver that we've tested DbVisualizer with
- Read the DbVisualizer FAQ.
- Check the on-line Forums.
- Read the DbVisualizer Users Guide.
If you cannot find a solution to resolve the problem then please do the
following and email us the debug output:
Use the DbVisualizer problem report form
or email support@dbvis.com. We
appreciate detailed reports as well as screenshots when possible.
How to satisfy the DbVisualizer support team
Quite often we get incomplete problem reports and need to follow-up for
additional information. If an error or problem occur then you can do
the following to let DbVisualizer create system details that you then
paste into a support email or in the problem report form:
- Select the Connection tab
- In the Connection Message area select the right click menu
- In the menu select Copy
- This will copy system details to the clipboard. Then paste the
details into an email or in the problem report form mentioned above.
- A bonus is if you provide screen shots! An image says more then ... you know.
Figure: The connection message right click menu
Copyright © 2006 Onseven Software AB. All rights reserved.
