There have been several papers and blogs from Quest on the issues of benchmarking successfully, however the condition persists where people experience trying issues with Benchmark Factory and obtaining satisfactory benchmark results. I still maintain that it’s primarily attributable to a lack of proper and complete precursory work. But people generally seem to need more than a notice to prepare more, so I’ve constructed the...

Written by Rene Woody  



After a SQL statement has been optimized in the Batch Optimizer in Quest SQL Optimizer for Oracle, you can view the text of the SQL alternatives and the execution plans in the Tuning Lab module. If the original SQL statement and alternatives have been executed, you can view the run time statistics as well.

 

 

1.      In the SQL in Selected Job window in the Batch...

The Code Insight feature rewrite for version 9.6 is perhaps the most dramatic change as it will affect every Toad user who writes SQL or PL/SQL.  

In a nutshell, for the 9.6 release, users can now start at the schema level, and use the ‘Dot Lookup’ feature to see all tables, views, synonyms, snapshots, PL/SQL objects etc. You can then drill down to the column level where possible.  

Here’s what it looks like...

For years now, agile development has been an extremely efficient way to get results while keeping the customer happy. However there are perils, especially for the database people. This article gives you a primer for what to expect, and how to succeed.

It’s that time of year once again. The Oracle Developer Tool Users Group (ODTUG) is quickly approaching (June 16th-19th in New Orleans – see below). For Quest, this is a really great show. It’s very well attended by and representative of our Toad customer base. It’s not uncommon for a vast majority of this show’s attendees to be Toad users.

 

This presents a great opportunity for both our customers and Quest....

We’ve done a lot in Toad© for Data Analysis to make it user friendly and intuitive. Naturally, what’s user friendly to one person may be a bit confusing to someone else. This post will show you how Toad for Data Analysis can be changed to something more comfortable or familiar.

If dead people are accessing your database, data breach is right around the corner. In this week’s blog, we discuss database access management concerns, and how to architect a compliance system to handle them.

Sometimes people will compare Toad against low cost competitors or freeware (remember, Toad offers a freeware version as well). The idea being that one can save money by going with a lesser product. That seems fiscally responsible – until you do the math that is. So, let’s work a simple example to demonstrate just how valuable Toad can be to...

Written by Rene Woody



This blog is a continuation of a series about the Batch Optimizer in Quest SQL Optimizer for Oracle. It covers the execution options settings for determining the criteria for selecting the best alternative, for terminating longer running SQL, and eliminating the effect of caching on the comparison run times. 

 

Selecting the Best Alternative

 

The best alternative...

Here we take a look at end users sending data back to the database. Is it a good idea? What are some of the reasons why your end users would want to do this? And, four key tips to consider when designing in this functionality.

There are so many useful little make or break features inside Toad, it’s very often difficult to pick one to highlight. A few weeks ago I started to divulge some things coming in Toad 9.7 (and already in the beta). One item I mentioned was the enhancements to the Database Browser, where most DBA screens and/or utilities...

For the last couple of weeks we’ve been talking about controls. Here we round out our series by talking about Segregation of Duties ( SOD ) as a way to keep things in control. Here are some key tips for designing systems that demonstrate control with SOD.

Often when writing a query you need to get data from a range of dates; when you start thinking about automating the SQL query it’s even more important. In this post I’ll show you a quick trick to let Toad for Data Analysis figure it out for you!  

For this example I’ll be working with Oracle though it’s no different for other platforms. In my Oracle database, if I wanted to get a list of the orders that were placed...

It’s not uncommon to discover databases that have simply evolved over time rather than having been built according to some overall design or “master plan”. And there seem to be no shortage of answers as to why this occurs. Sometimes DBA’s are just far too busy with a myriad of other tasks. Sometimes developers are under the gun for deliverables so quickly that there’s just not time. Or my favorite, this project started as just a couple new tables and then ballooned into a monster. Whatever the reason, the situation exists far too often in the real world of information systems.

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As many of you are aware Quest provides a tool known as Benchmark Factory, BMF for short. BMF is a load generation tool that also allows you to install small databases for testing. The tools out of the box can provide TPC-B, TPC-D, TPC-H, AS3AP and many other standard benchmarks as well as allowing goal and scalability tests from your own code, either manually entered or scanned from text or, in the case of Oracle, from active...

Written by Rene Woody  

This blog is a continuation of a series about the Batch Optimizer in Quest SQL Optimizer for Oracle. It covers the execution options settings that determine which SQL statements will be automatically executed by the Batch Optimizer process and the method used for their execution.

 

Executing Options

 

When the optimization process is finished, the execution of the...

Despite the best intentions of the DBA or the person who designed the data model, the collection of primary keys, unique indexes, constraints, and triggers are not a foolproof method of keeping duplicate records creeping into your tables and views. Any business rule in the database can be disabled. An even more likely scenario is the business rule changing after the fact.   So what’s a person to do when they need to clean up their records?

...

As a follow on to last week’s blog about controlling with reconciliation, in this blog we look at another common control – approvals. Here are some key tips for designing systems that demonstrate control with approvals.

Introduction  

At the peak there were an estimated 65 million landmines planted in killing fields world wide. In the 1990’s it was estimated that while 2.5 million landmines were being deployed per year only 80,000 were being removed. According to current estimates this may have turned around in recent years with more being removed than have been deployed per year. Of course with 250 million of the nasty devices stockpiled...

When using either Toad’s Stats Pack Browser or AWR Browser screens (both part of the optional DBA module and/or bundle), the plethora of graphs can sometimes be a wee bit overwhelming – as shown in the screen snapshot below. So how is any DBA in an urgent situation or hurry to both successfully and expediently interpret such database activity?

 

That’s where Toad’s basic mantra once again comes into play – making...

As many of my readers likely know by now, I have been working for the past several years on the Quest Code Tester development effort.  

Code Tester is the most powerful PL/SQL test automation tool available. You describe the expected behavior of your programs and Code Tester generates your test code, which can then be run from the UI or via a script. With Code Tester, you can build comprehensive regression tests and...

In the compliance world, reconciliation is more than just making sure your data loaded properly. Here are some key tips to using reconciliation as a control in your compliance data system.

I’ve seen some people on competing product discussion boards say things like Toad’s schema browser Is far too bloated – with too many tabs and images sucking up all the precious real-estate. But like anything else in Toad, if you don’t experiment with and utilize all the cool options it offers – you could very easily arrive at this quite mistaken conclusion. So now let’s examine just how one configures the schema browser for...

Written by Rene Woody  



This blog is a continuation of a series about the Batch Optimizer in Quest SQL Optimizer for Oracle. The Batch Optimizer process is fully automated with the default settings in the Batch Optimizer options. If you would like, you can have any one of the three steps (searching for SQL,...

A few months ago, I posted on this blog an explanation of how to use Toad's Code Templates to standardize development and improve productivity. I included an XML document that contains over 20 templates that I thought you might find useful. I also asked my readers to produce XML transformations so that the XML document could be "output" in the format that Toad recognizes (and SQL Navigator as well).

 

I am happy...

When audits are involved, you are guilty until proven innocent. Here are 4 key strategies to employ in the design of your compliance data system, that will prove your company’s innocence.

I know – Toad 9.6 was just released this week – on Aprils Fool’s day no less. But we’ve already been hard at work on the next release (and the beta should start in a few weeks).

 

In last week’s blog, I asked you guys - our customers - to submit ideas for what should be added in Toad 9.7, because as we’ve always said, “Toad is your product, thus you should drive it.” So far though (and to my great disappointment), no one has commented. So I’m going to “prime the pump” by leaking some things prior to the first 9.7 beta, to hopefully stimulate you guys to chime in – and help us to drive Toad to where you want it to go.

...

On March 26, 2008 I gave a webcast on physical tuning named “Goal! Success through Storage.” Due to some delays starting it overran a bit so I wasn’t able to answer questions afterward as I usually do. So, here are the answers to all the questions that weren’t handled by Darren Mallet (who handles the questions online when I am webcasting, thanks Darren!)

 

During the webcast I discussed topics such as choosing...

An introduction to Compliance Data Systems – a data system for the auditors. Here we explore the need, and see where it fits into the technical architecture.

Recently, my Toad World blog asking whether we needed to update the Toad Handbook generated as many or more replies than all my other past blogs combined. So it obviously seems best to ask you guys – our customers and users – for more opinions and ideas.

 

I’m hoping this week’s post will open up quite a lively exchange. Every time we ask people what they’d like to see in the next version of Toad – we get the stock answer of just fix bugs. And we’ve heard you loud and clear – that remains a key focus for each and every release. But if you had to pick your one new, must have feature – what would it be?

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The Toad World visitors may have noticed a recent surge in the number of videos available for viewing in the past few days.   Toad World will debut a collection of 12 or so Coffee Break Bytes (video tutorials) to highlight the new features for the 9.6 release due out on April 1.  

I think these videos very nicely compliment John’s 9.6 3-part blog series. However,...

Written by Rene Woody

 

We all know that it is important to create SQL statements that perform well in our database environment, but all too often, after creating a SQL statement that retrieves the correct results, the optimizing of the SQL statement is left for another time. Frequently, that time never arrives. Quest SQL Optimizer for Oracle automates the SQL optimization process so that it can be done for...

Inaugural entry for John Weathington’s Quest for Compliance. Here we get introduced to John, get clear on some compliance related definitions, and get acquainted with the impact compliance has on DBAs, database developers, and IT managers.

I often get asked by both new and exiting customers to aid them in the cost justification process for purchasing Toad or upgrading their licenses. I thought since I get asked this so often, maybe a short blurb on the topic would be generally beneficial.

 

To write this blog, I’m using Microsoft Word. When I’m done, I’ll be emailing it to our Toad World site manager using Microsoft Outlook. Very few people would...

As of April 1, 2008, if you are a current on maintenance and are using at least version 9.6 of Toad for Oracle, you will have complete access to our PL/SQL, Stored Java Source, and SQL*Plus script debugger regardless of your edition of Toad. Since the debugger made its debut in version 6.3 released all the way back in February of 2000, the functionality has been offered as a premium in Toad for Oracle.

Well, a few things...

In my ten plus years as a database consultant before joining Quest Software I had the opportunity to visit hundreds of client sites. At client sites I performed analysis of their environments to help them improve the performance of their database systems. In this blog I want to talk about the top ten performance-related issues that I saw over and over again. The following table lists them in order of occurrence:

...

An increasingly common question these days is does Toad support Oracle RAC (i.e. Real Application Clusters)? And if so – how, when and where?

 

HOW: There is nothing special required to support a RAC connection, other than a properly constructed tnsnames.ora file. Probably the best source for a correct RAC aware tnsnames.ora file should be your DBA. But I've included an example below. Some people ask why three...

Written by Rene Woody  

Quest SQL Optimizer can do an extensive transformation of the syntax of a SQL statement while still maintaining the exact same result set. This exhaustive transformation can produce hundreds of SQL alternatives. So it is necessary to have some insight as how to find a SQL alternative that is better than your original SQL statement without spending too much time. This is especially true when...

  Collaborate08, annual conference of the International Oracle User Group, and several other national and international user groups, will be held in Denver this year, from April 13th to the 16th. I am going to present three papers, including (for the first time) Weird PL/SQL. I thought you might enjoy reading about some of the weirdnesses of PL/SQL in my ToadWorld blog, so here's an excerpt from the beginning of my whitepaper:

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It’s almost that time again as another exciting new release of Toad draws closer !  

We’ve decided that, rather than let you wait until this release of Toad before you see what’s new, we’ll give you a little fore-taste now !  

The emphasis on this release is to simultaneously continue to add value through enhanced individual and team-oriented productivity and automation, increased support for improving code...

It’s almost that time again as another exciting new release of Toad draws closer !

 

We’ve decided that, rather than let you wait until this release of Toad before you see what’s new, we’ll give you a little fore-taste now!

 

The emphasis on this release is to simultaneously continue to add value through enhanced individual and team-oriented productivity and automation, increased support for improving...

If you’re a loyal reader, you may remember a blog I published WAAAAAAAY back in July of last year. A few things have changed since then. Users now have 2 different Toad tools to help them get data from Excel merged into the data they already have access to in the Oracle database.  

A Brief Problem Description

...

The Toad Handbook is over four years old now. Even the more recent second edition of the Toad Pocket Reference is over two years old. And there’ve...

It’s almost that time again as another exciting new release of Toad draws closer !  

We’ve decided that, rather than let you wait until this release of Toad before you see what’s new, we’ll give you a little fore-taste now !  

The emphasis on this release is to simultaneously continue to add value through enhanced individual and team-oriented productivity and automation, increased support for improving code...

One key task for many DBAs is maintaining a database version control or change revision history. Database version control affords the DBA the ability to restore the database to any prior state, or to detect unplanned database revisions that cause the database to be out of compliance with its specification. One could argue that the latter scenario would unlikely happen in a well controlled production environment – however sometimes...

Did you know that Toad’s Database Probe screen is customizable? That’s why it’s vastly superior to the simple Database Monitoring screen. Here’s a basic screen snapshot:       Maybe I don’t think it’s a big deal that the SGA’s REDO LOG buffer can be pretty big these days – especially since it kind of sets itself...

Ever wonder which indexes are being used in your database? Well Oracle 9i introduced the capability to track index usage. But you had to learn new ALTER INDEX command syntax to support this and then how to query V$OBJECT_USAGE view to see the index usage information. Well I’m too darn lazy, and why not be – as with most things in Oracle, Toad cleanly exposes this feature and increases its usability.

 

Let’s say...

I was working the other day to rebuild my Linux 32 bit cluster in preparation for doing some tests between OEM and PAO for some internal training. I planned to use raw for my cluster configuration and voting files for CRS and ASM for the rest of the shared files. The 32 bit cluster had been up and operating fine and I had completed the testing I was doing so I retasked the drives to build a 64 bit cluster. I dropped the database...

Sometimes people will request that Toad have a certain special new feature, often special to the task at hand which they’re trying to accomplish. Keeping in mind my recent Toad blog about SQL*Plus compatibility, there are very often easy ways to use existing Toad features to do what they want.  In fact, many times it’s simply...

Just how popular is PL/SQL?  

And how many PL/SQL developers are there "out there"?  

These are surprisingly hard questions to answer. Officially and even unofficially, Oracle Corporation's point people on PL/SQL do not have any idea (or refuse to say) how many PL/SQL developers there are.  

I take the approach of doing some rough extrapolations from numbers of books I and other PL/SQL developers have...