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Toad for Oracle:
Downloads:
Resources:
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Get to Know 9.0
Introduction
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| Even expert users of Toad have a hard time remembering where to find items in the application. Quick, tell me - where's the Rebuild Table window? How about Pinned Code? Once you download and install version 9.0 of Toad, get ready for a real shocker. Get past the first minute or two of panic and fright. Then realize this: within five minutes you can remember where the Rebuild Table window is because... yeah, it's an Optimization tool. |
Here's the method to our madness:
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When you want to make a new connection, Toad remembers your last nine connections and displays them off the Connect button dropdown with the user name, database, and defined connection color |
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Quickly end your current sessions |
How often do you find yourself working with an object in the editor, like writing a DML statement, then you find out you need to actually make a change to the physical makeup of the table?
Before, you could use Toad's F4 DESC window to access a portion of the Schema Browser's functionality for that object...but that didn't always solve the problem. Now in 9.0, you can use the Action Console.
What IS the action console? Simply put, anywhere you see or work with an Oracle object in Toad, simply do a mouse-right click on it and the Action Console will give you Toad's FULL arsenal of action items for that object. ALL the power of Toad in a simple RightClick.
What are you waiting for? Give it a try now.
Toad is Graphical User Interface tool for Oracle developers, DBAs, analysts, and anyone else that uses Oracle. Toad makes Oracle easy for Oracle professionals. Toad has many, many options which allows a user to fine-tune their experience with Oracle. Toad also allows the user to do things that may not be advisable...but then again, Toad is here to help you, not tell you what you SHOULD and SHOULD NOT do.
Expert Toad users are all aware of certain option configurations which may trip up the novice user. And there are SEVERAL options which can negatively impact the performance of Toad as it interacts with Oracle. In order to make Toad as easy to use as possible, the Toad Advisor (Help-->Toad Advisor) is being introduced for Version 9. The Toad Advisor has ALL of the knowledge of the Toad Developer, QA, and Support staff programmed in such that Toad can tell you if there is a problem with Toad!
Never lose your work in Toad again. Whether it be a power outage, network instability, the database or Toad encountering an unforeseen problem, Toad will now automatically save your work and prompt you to recover it when you restart Toad.

You can also view your documents under the 'File' menu.
Toad was born as a tool for Oracle application developers. Developers would need to work on their SQL statements for their embedded programs and their PL/SQL for their Oracle stored programs. Toad delivered an editor for each of those needs, a la the SQL Editor and the PL/SQL Editor. Toad even offered a fully functional offline text editor for occasions when a user wanted to work on something while not connected to Oracle.
For the 9.0 Release, Toad now offers users the power of all three editors in a single window, the Toad Editor. New users will no longer have to guess which editor they need to open to work on their projects. Existing users will no longer have to switch between windows to perfect their SQL which is embedded in their PL/SQL objects.

The first step to start using the editor is to find the main toolbar button
to open the Editor. It's in the same position as it was before, e.g. it's the
very first button.
- You will see this in the Editor
window, the toolbars, the window bar, etc.
Developers who enjoyed a segregated workspace for their PL/SQL programming will not have to adjust their workflows. Toad has an option to open a new editor tab when a PL/SQL object is loaded.
A Toad Editor tab can operate in the following modes:
When creating a new Tab, you can specify the tab type. The type of tab selected determines the type of parsing Toad will apply to the text and which Editor Output Panel tabs will be available. The SQL tab will have the classic SQL Editor output tabs and the PL/SQL tab will have the classic Procedure Editor output tabs.
The default tab type for new tabs can be configured. In the editor, mouse-right-click and choose 'Configure Editor Tab Types." From here you can define which desktops are applied for each tab type and what tab type you want as the default.
The new Toad editor now offers context sensitive execution. If you have an
editor tab that contains heterogeneous statements (a mix of SQL, SQL*Plus, and
PL/SQL statements) then the editor can identify the statement at your cursor
and perform the correct execution action. For instance, place your cursor in a
select and press the execute button, you get results in the grid. Place your
cursor in a CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE statement and press execute, the object
is compiled.
Toad's SQL script execution engine has been greatly enhanced in the following areas:
Data Grids
The user will notice that the Script Output grids now look and behave EXACTLY
as the Data Grids produced with single statement execution and the data grids
in the Schema Browser. Advanced datatypes are now also supported in the grids;
you can now double-click on a CURSOR value for example and access Toad's
Advanced PopUp editor for Oracle Cursors.
If you do not wish to have the data presented in the data grids, you can
disable them by going to View-->Options-->Editor-->Display-->Script Output and
un-checking 'Show Script Grids'.
Running History
Toad's Script engine now has an options History tab. In
View-->Options-->Execute/Compile, simply toggle on the
'Maintain Script History' item. Toad will now keep all of your Script Output
for your entire session in case you want to access the results for a statement
or script you executed earlier. Also take note of the 'Show Script Start/End
times' option which is also new for 9.0.
Layout and Presentation
The Script Output tab layout now has the Output and Query data grid tabs
aligned together across the top of the display panel. The toolbar for the data
grids now has the standard SaveAs button and the 'VCR' style navigation
buttons. The Output tab with the normal text output (what you would see in
SQL*Plus) is not a true editor, but you can select and copy the output line by
line.
Toad will now also catch errors and display their location as encountered
in the error popup dialog(s) and in the Output tab.

| Operation | v6-8.6 | v9.0 |
|---|---|---|
| Execute Statement (Editor contains 1 statement) | ||
| Execute Statement at Cursor | or SHIFT+F9 (w/o delimiters) | |
| Execute Multiple Statements | ||
| Compile PL/SQL Object at Cursor | ||
| Compile All PL/SQL in Tab | Not Possible | Mouse Right-Click in Navigator "Compile All" |
The editor now supports multiple statements per tab. No longer will you need to separate all of your objects across many tabs just to compile. You can now compile, execute, and debug objects that are in the same tab. You are still able to open Package Spec and Package Bodies to separate tabs when opening Packages from the database.
Toad Editor Toolbars
The toolbars for the Toad Editor now include all of the items from the SQL and
the PL/SQL Editor windows. To select which toolbars are visible on your Toad Desktop,
right mouse-click on the main toolbar and select the toolbars you wish to be
visible.
Toolbar Selector
Merged Toolbar
This is the default toolbar - all editor items are listed...by 'merged' we mean that all of the child toolbars are consolidated to a single toolbar. This is nice as you'll have all of your "More Buttons" available at the end instead of one for each seperate toolbar. This leaves more space for the actual buttons on the toolbar and should be easier to navigate.
You now have only two execute statement buttons. The first button on this toolbar maps to the 8.6 and previous 'Execute Statement' and 'Compile' actions. Next there's a new halt statement execution/debugging/data fetching button. Execute as script still has the lightning bolt icon, plus you also have a dropdown control for optionally running your scripts directly via SQL*Plus or QSR. Note: To execute an explain plan, you need to use the Ambulance button. Visiting the Explain Plan tab no longer automatically generates the Explain Plan.
Standard Toolbar
This toolbar has buttons for switching connections, creating new tabs, loading from database or file, print, make and strip code, etc.
Edit Toolbar
Has buttons for select all text, clear text, InitCap, Format, find, and replace.
The navigation panel has been greatly enhanced. Since the Editor supports multiple objects per tab, so does the navigation panel. The status and information for each object can be seen at all times, or if you want to conserve desktop space, you can hide the status columns and use the status panel which will show the same information for each object as you click on it in the navigation tree. You can right mouse-click on a PL/SQL object in the Navigator and choose to compile your objects or reload from the database. If you have a file loaded that contains PLSQL source for objects that also exist on the database then you have a Reload Object button on the toolbar to reload the source for the object at your caret. This way you can easily synch files to the source that exists on the database. If you cannot see the navigation panel in your Toad Editor, right mouse-click in the Editor, and select Desktop - Navigator to open it. To configure the layout of the Navigator, right mouse-click and select 'Navigator Panel Options.' You can dictate what level of detail information is displayed in the navigation tree, whether or not to group similar objects, or whether you want to alphabetize the list. |
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9.0 introduces an added dimension of editing with the highly anticipated code folding feature, which lets you collapse and hide portions of your code so that you can view more of the lines you need to see. Note in the image below, you can hover the mouse pointer over the plus sign or the first line of the folded code in order to see the hidden portion of code. You can then expand it when you need to work with the folded code.
Language management (see below) is the basis for code folding. Although some standard settings for code folding are included with Toad, the strength of this feature is found in the ease of configuration. You can set Toad to fold code where you want it to fold.

Arguably the greatest strength of the new integrated Toad Editor is its language management capabilities. You can set up Toad to parse any number of languages, including PL/SQL, Java, C++, HTML and others, including custom languages. Toad takes the language source, parses it according to the categories you've set up, then breaks it down into more manageable Tokens and Token types. It then applies the rules you have created, such as syntax highlighting properties and code folding, to make the Editor behave as you wish.
Managing languages has an effect on many areas of Toad; syntax highlighting is based upon defined command words, as is code folding and the Make Code functionality. The ability to set up sub languages means that you can define capitalization effects that apply only to your PL/SQL code, and not embedded Java, Perl, or other languages.

Debugging SQL Scripts vs Debugging Stored PL/SQL and Java
Now that the Procedure Editor and the SQL Editor have been merged, it's possible to have a single interface to Toad's powerful Debugging functionality. Toad has previously offered a Debugger for both your SQL*Plus scripts and stored PL/SQL code and is now additionally providing support for Oracle's JDWP debugger.
Debugging a Script which contains DDL for creating a PL/SQL object versus debugging the actual PL/SQL object code can have drastically different results. For example take the following text:
CREATE OR REPLACE PROCEDURE case2_proc (p1 IN OUT NUMBER) AS
n NUMBER;
BEGIN
n := p1;
p1 := n + 1;
END;
/
If a user were to use the Script debugger against this code, it would actually re-create the object in the database. If a user were to use the PL/SQL debugger, it would step through the actually lines of code for that object. Accidently using the Script Debugger could result in many of your database objects becoming invalidated, so the debugger buttons have different images depending on which debugger is enabled.
Selecting your DebuggerUnder the Debug menu, there are 3 debugger types which can be selected:
This toolbar is activated in the Editor if you have Toad Professional or Toad Xpert and have selected the DBMS or JDWP Debugger.
Script Debugger Toolbar
This toolbar is activated in the Editor if you have Toad Professional or Toad Xpert and have selected the Script Debugger.
One of the most frequent requests over the years has been for a Query Builder that can accept SQL Statements and build a model. With the 9.0 release, this is now possible!
You can now also easily convert your ANSI-SQL statements to Oracle-SQL statements and vice versa by using the Query Builder toolbar button toggle.
Why would I want to use the JDWP debugger?
If your job requirements include development and debugging of Java Stored Procedures, Toad can now assist you with its support for the JDWP debugger. Enabling JDWP debugging in Toad will allow you to trace from your PL/SQL code into a Java Stored Procedure, set watches or breakpoints in your Java code and execute Java statements stepwise during execution. Plus, JDWP also provides the same functionality for PL/SQL debugging.
Should your work only involve PL/SQL development and you wish to avoid the processing overhead inherent in JDWP debugging, Toad's standard DBMS Debugging functionality is still available to you.
How to Get Started with the JDWP Debugger
![]() | Toad will default to using the old DBMS_DEBUG interface for debugging. To debug with Java, enable the 'Use JDWP...' option. After setting this up, your debugging experience will mirror what you have seen before with Toad. You will still use the 'Set Parameters' window to initialize the execution of your object and you can begin debugging. Except now, you'll be able to step into Java code, or start out in Java code and step into PL/SQL. You will need to have the "DEBUG CONNECT SESSION" privilege granted to your user account, and your code will need to be compiled with Debug. Without this your code will not be able to be debugged. Note: You can now also profile your JDWP debugging sessions with Toad's Profiler. |
If you have not used CodeXpert before, now is a great time to get started. For the 9.0 Release, the CodeXpert engine has been tweaked and the user interface has been greatly improved. Here are the highlights:
| Remember, CodeXpert analyzes code against a set of rules for best practices. Quickly generate code metrics, identify poorly written SQL or PL/SQL, and generate CRUD Matrices to immediately see how your code touches the data in your database. |
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If you want to harness the power of CodeXpert and use it analyze all of the objects in your database or scan all of your PL/SQL source code files, then you will want to open the main CodeXpert window under Database-->Diagnose-->CodeXpert.
Once you have the window open, you can automatically load all of the objects for a given schema, or open multiple files from a directory.
You can also send files or database objects to the CodeXpert from the Project Manager, the Schema Browser, and the Object Search windows in Toad. After Toad scans the objects, you are able to view the output for all of your PL/SQL in a nice, easy-to-read grid or view HTML reports for each individual object.
You can also schedule to have the CodeXpert analysis produced at regular intervals by mouse right-clicking in the window and selecting 'Create Command Line Paramater File.'
Toad has offered its 'Toad Reports' reporting tool for many years. With the 9.0 release, Toad users will now be able to take advantage of the powerful FastReports interface introduced in the 8.6 release coupled with all of the pre-canned reports that Toad provides.
Let's get started!Watch a video demonstration.
Now, when a user wants a User Summary Report, they will be able to run it AND customize the content and format of the report PLUS change the query used to build the report. The FastReports engine allows the user to add detail data sets, insert graphs, add custom images, and control every aspect of the presentation of the report.
To set it up, follow these steps:
The supported 'save to file' extensions are: HTML, PDF, TXT, XLS, BMP, RTF, JPG, GIF, and CSV.
Toad's most popular window should now be even more powerful and easier to use in version 9.0. Here's a list of the highlights:
| For version 9.0, Toad is introducing a visual Explain Plan. No
more trying to read complex and confusing default explain plan layouts.
To view a plan in the Editor, use the Ambulance Toolbar Button to get the
execution plan for your statement.
You can then view your plan in several different formats, including an animated one. You can also Compare your plans, EXPORT them to XML, PRINT, or COPY them! |
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For 9.0, Toad is bringing even more of a RAC-centric view to its Database Administration monitoring and diagnostic tools.
Toad and RAC Refresher
Oracle's RAC technology lets you start an Oracle instance on multiple servers, and have all those instances open the same shared database (or shared set of data files). In this way, you can scale the size of your database server by adding more computers as you add users. Toad initially introduced support for Oracle 10g's RAC technology in the 8.5 release in 2005. Additional Information for RAC ConnectionsWhen you log into a RAC connection, Toad notes this fact and makes additional information available in some of its windows to help you manage that connection.
Captions
Connection bar
Top Session Finder Against All RAC Instance
Database Monitor with RAC Instance Picker
Toad offers a full lineup of utilities and tools that allow an Oracle professional to extract data from the database and load data back into the database. In the last several releases, Toad has introduced:
When working with large amounts of raw data in text files, Oracle's SQL*Loader utility is the most robust tool available. Unfortunately, it's a bit intimidating out of the box and does not have a Wizard interface. Toad adds value by providing its own interface for SQL*Loader, and that interface has been completely re-designed for 9.0.
Note: The SQL*Loader wizard is available at Database-->Import-->SQL*Loader Wizard.Here's a list of highlights:
Plan Change Analyzer
The Plan Change Analyzer tracks execution plan and Oracle cost changes for multiple SQL statements. It allows you to perform What-if analysis of index creation, database configuration changes, Oracle database migration or new deployments, and more.
Cross Index AnalysisThe Cross Index Analysis engine analyzes a set of SQL statements and determines the best common index for all of the selected SQL statements. The previous index advice engine was replaced with a more powerful artificial intelligence engine.
Index Impact Analysis called from Cross Index Analysis and SQL Optimization ConsoleAfter Cross Index Analysis provides index alternatives for multiple SQL, or index alternatives are provided by Index Expert in the SQL Optimization Console, Impact Analysis can be launched.
The new Index Impact Analysis function in the Plan Change Analyzer allows you to simulate the impact of creating new indexes on other SQL statements before the physical indexes are created.
Tutorial ChapterAdded a tutorial chapter to the online help with step-by-step instructions for each module.
Oracle Privileges ScriptA sample Oracle script for granting privileges to SQL Optimizer users is included in the online help.
Optimization Hints QuotaChanged the way the Hints Quota value is used in the optimization process to enable you to have more permutations when a SQL statement contains several SELECT statements.
Oracle's Statspack for gathering and monitoring performance metrics has evolved into the 10g Automatic Workload Repository (AWR). Toad's DBA module for version 9.0 has full support for AWR.
Oracle's built-in automatic advisory and tuning technology, Automatic Database Diagnostic Monitor (ADDM), is fully supported in Toad via the DBA Module for version 9.0.
Toad introduced support for Oracle's ADDM interface in the 8.6 release. For 9.0, it's been GREATLY enhanced and renamed. The new name is ADDM/AWR and is now available off of the Database -->Monitor menu flyout.
Note: AWR usage requires valid Oracle license for the Diagnostics Pack.New Reports:
ASM is an Oracle 10g technology that allows DBAs to manage their file systems and volumes regardless of the hardware or OS implementation. Go here to read more about ASM.
Toad's DBA Module is being enhanced in the 9.0 release to support 10g's ASM technology. New Menu item, Database-->Administer-->ASM Manager. From there you can view
You can also Create, Alter, and Drop diskgroups. Both 10g Release 1 and 2 are now supported.
Here is where we list all of the other cool stuff you may want to know about the 9.0 release.
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