After downloading the latest alpha of TORa (Tool for Oracle Developers) to my shock and horror (ok, I'm exaggerating) I discovered, along with many others, that the copyright now says "Quest Software, Inc".
Why did that cause shock and horror? Quest Software are the folks who make TOAD, a similar tool albeit Windows-only. In fact, Henrik's creation was Quest Software's only real competition. Coincidentally, I was aware that they were trying to recruit Henrik for some time. One of their software developers told me they were looking to hire him when I went to a TOAD user's group meeting in Minneapolis.
So now it seems Quest Software has finally recruited Henrik into their fold. This is a great move for Quest Software and probably a good move for Henrik. Unfortunately, it sucks for the rest of us. What will happen with TORa? Not sure, but a lively discussion has already started on the TORa home page (under discussion forums).
Re:Alternatives?
Buck on 2004-01-30T02:00:43
One of my favorites is SQLTools. It can run SQL queries, bring up table defs, shows results in a separate grid, lets you export the results as text, CSV or straight to Excel, lets you browse and pull source for different schema objects, it slices, dices, makes hundreds of julienne fries.
:) Mind you, I'm still looking for the ultimate Oracle utility, but SQLTools comes pretty close. Re:Alternatives?
djberg96 on 2004-01-30T05:54:54
Interesting, but it isn't immediately clear to me that this works on platforms other than Windows. That's one of the main reasons I liked TORa - I could run it on my Solaris box.In any case, I doubt TORa is going away any time soon. It will probably be forked in the worst case scenario. Frankly, I'm surprised no one has written something in Java. Maybe I should check for an Eclipse plugin.
;)
I'm a heretic for even suggesting it, but I have found the SQL worksheet (one of Oracle's Java toys) to be decent.. I've used it on Win32, Linux and Solaris.. Even Enterprise Manager might give you some joy.
I've also tried out Orac (link), which isn't too bad. I do remember seeing a few basic Java based Oracle frontend tools (a quick google didn't yield anything, tho.. sorry)
Real men use the SQL prompt.. who needs anything else?
I couldn't resist that one.. sorry again *grin*. But it's true, honestly. Or maybe it's because I usually login remotely to work on servers which don't have X running, so I don't have a choice ?
Re:A few alternatives ...
djberg96 on 2004-01-30T20:45:39
Real men use the SQL prompt.. who needs anything else?Blech. Like I really wanna look at an explain plan on the command line. Besides, there are way too many options to remember for the command line. The ability to edit data directly through the schema browser rather than having to construct sql statements is *sooo* nice. Plus, tools like TOAD come with extra tools, like a SQL optimizer, and others I'm probably not aware of because I'm not a DBA.
Why would you be displaying a tool like TORA remotely? It's a client side tool. It should be on your local machine, unless you mean that you have to login to a remote machine *first* and then work from there.
Re:A few alternatives ...
tinman on 2004-02-01T04:50:23
Well, for explain plan in particular, I use a script like this one which pretty prints and indents properly. Yep, it's a nitpick. Not arguing with the fact that GUI tools (like Toad) are much easier to use and nicer to look at.
I like the sql prompt for much the same reasons as I prefer the command line, really.. and like vi, the SQL prompt is the only thing which you're guaranteed will be there when you login to a strange machine that you've never seen before
:) Some of my work in the past has been to remote databases, so it has required SSH in and then a prompt at the remote machine, as you guessed. Pity about TORA, though. I've used TOAD and SQL navigator (both made by Quest) and they're increasingly looking like the same product, albeit with different names
:( Some choice in the market would have helped.
