Toad® for SQL Server

Beta Version 4.0.0.707

Beta Release Notes

Released: July 01, 2008

Contents

Welcome to Toad for SQL Server

Toad for SQL Server is a database development and administration solution that provides productivity features for rapidly creating and executing queries, automating database object management, developing SQL code, and instant access to SQL Server expertise.

Developers and administrators have access to a community of users, peers, and experts to help solve development and administration issues and assist in developing applications and feedback for improving Quests products.

All of this comes with the backing of Quest Software, a healthy and growing corporate entity that can provide the necessary training, support, and superior customer service demanded by IT management.
 

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New v4.0 Functionality

• Data Grid: Read-Only by Default
  • The data grid in the Editor and the Data tab are now read-only by default. Read-only is indicated in the grid by the red circle in the lower-left corner of the data grid. Right-click on the red circle and see that the "Read only" entry is checked. To make the data grid editable, select the "Read only" entry. The circle will change its color to green and now when you right-click on the green circle, the "Read only" entry will be unchecked.

   

•  Object Explorer - New option to indicate whether generated SQL will be formatted
  • By default, any code being generated from the Object Explorer through the Generate SQL functionality will not go through the formatter. If you prefer the SQL to go through the formatter, go to the Tools->Options, Explorer->General option page and check the "Automatically format generated SQL" option.

   

  

• Version Control - Team Foundation Server support
  • Along with Visual SourceSafe, CVS, and Subversion support, we have added support for Team Foundation Server. We welcome any feedback you have on this new feature.

   

• Editor - Code Completion
  • When you type "SELECT * FROM somedatabase.owner." besides a list of tables and views, you will see functions that return a table type.
  • Local and global variables: Code Completion will trigger off of the @ symbol. It will only show local variables, so you won't see any of the global variables in the list. However, if you type @@, then you'll see a list of global variables and not the local variables.

   

• Document Recovery
  • Toad for SQL Server will now make backup copies of your editor files while working. If, for any reason, the application does not terminate normally, the next time you bring up Toad for SQL Server, it will indicate that editor files have been recovered and will automatically populate them in an editor so you can either save or discard these changes. The feature is on and will save a backup copy every five minutes. It will also automatically save a backup copy whenever an editor executes T-SQL. There is an option under the Tools->Options, Environment->General option page to disable as well as to modify how often it will save the backup copy:

   

• Stored Procedure - Run Functionality
  • Right-clicking on a stored procedure in the Database Explorer and selecting Run will prompt you to give values for parameters. After that, it will send the T-SQL to an editor and run it. You can then give different values or change the script in the editor itself rather than, as we had it before, having to re-select this action and re-enter changed values if you wanted to re-run it.

   

• Code Snippets - "Surround With" Functionality
  • In the editor, there is the Ctrl+Space shortcut key mapping to invoke the expansion code snippets.. We've now included the Ctrl+Shift+Space shortcut key mapping to invoke the surround with code snippets. Highlight the text you want the template to "surround" and then use the shortcut key for quick access.

   

• Renaming of Certain Functionality
  • Toad Insight has been renamed to Code Completion (Option page for it is Editor>Code Completion)
  • Embedded SQL has been renamed to Application Code (Option page for it is Editor>Application Code)
  • Explain Plan functionality renamed to Execution Plan to be more SQL Server-specific.

• 2005 Maintenance Plans
  • There is a prerequisite only for this functionality, which is to have Integration Services installed on your machine. It currently will throw an exception if you don't have it installed, which we are in the process of handling it more gracefully:-) If installed though, you can now manage 2005 maintenance plans.

   

• Schema, Server, Data Compares
  • The Print functionality for the compares now print out a report rather than a screenshot of the compare. For example, here is the part of the report for Schema Compare:

• Table Editor
  • Table editor: Shortcut keys for adding and removing a column. Insert and Delete keys already worked for adding and removing columns. The Alt+A shortcut key for adding a column and the Alt+R shortcut key for removing a column have been added. Also, if you are on the last column and press the down arrow key, a column will be added.

   

• Object Explorer
  • System Objects folder has been moved to the end of all the children nodes by default. To change where it's put, go to the Explorer->General option page, and change the "Show sub folders" option.

   

• All Object Editors
  • Previewing the script in the object editors is off by default, so now the "Show Script" button is an "Execute" button. To change this option, go to the Database:General option page, "Always preview script in object editors" option).   

• Query Visualization
  • The Query Builder now allows you to enter a SELECT statement in the Query tab and reverse engineer it into a visual representation on the Diagram tab.

Simply type or paste a SELECT statement into the editor on the Query tab and click on the "Model the SQL statement in the Query tab" toolbar button to draw a diagram of the objects and relations in the SQL statement. The statement can contain calculated columns, WHERE, HAVING, GROUP BY, ORDER BY clauses, and sub SELECT statements.

Errors in the SELECT statement will be flagged in the editor and added to the Output window.

• We've renamed the Object Palette to Object Explorer and the Database Browser to Database Explorer.

• Export Wizard (accessible from the Tools->Export Wizard main menu)
  • Excel options have been grouped together and only display when the Output Format is set to "Excel Instance" or Excel File".

   

• When exporting to an existing Excel instance, there are two new options. You can export to a new worksheet or specify a particular cell to start the export.

• Automation (accessible from the Tools->Automation main menu)
  • Three new Automation Tasks:
    1. Export Wizard task - You can automate exporting data.
    2. Execute To Editor task - You can give a .sql file as input and this task will produce a .tef file that gives results. You can then open the .tef file in the Toad editor to view.
    3. Delete Files task - Allows you to delete one or more files.

     

• Query Builder (accessible from the Tools->Query Builder main menu)
  • Besides select statements, you can generate insert, update, and delete statements. Notice that the execute button disables for any statement other than a select statement. You can send the statement directly to an editor from the context menu. Once you drag and drop more than one table or view on the Query Builder, it disables this action because now only the select statement applies. Also, if you have it set to generate insert, update, or delete statements with a single table or view already in the Query Builder, it disables you from dropping another table or view on the Query Builder since it can only apply to a single table or view.
  • The tabs are now along the bottom in the Query Builder. They can be dragged and docked to your liking.

   

• Database Explorer's Data tab
  • Find and Replace now works in the Data tab. In this example, we have found any "CA" string in the Data tab (what a surprise...it turns out that they are all in the "state" column :-) Also, you can Shift-Click and/or Ctrl-Click to pick random cells in the Data tab, and it will only search the selected cells.

To continue the example, let's do a "Replace All," and change "CA" to "CATEST". It now looks like this:

    Notice that the Data tab now has "Submit" and "Reject" buttons at the bottom. These changes will not be made to the database until you select the "Submit" button or you can just reject the changes by selecting the "Reject" button. Also, the rows that were changed are indicated by the delta symbol in the left-hand side gutter of the editor.

    The Shift+Click and Ctrl+Click also has another use. You can pick a disparate set of cells like this:

    Now if you do a Copy Cells or Ctrl+C, and select a different row, and do a Paste or Ctrl+V, the copied cells will be copied exactly in this pattern starting at that row. Toad is smart enough to copy it to the correct columns no matter what cell you actually have selected for that row. In this example, we have selected the row with the name "Ann Dull", and after the paste, the data looks like:

Notice that the Data tab now has "Submit" and "Reject" buttons at the bottom. These changes will not be made to the database until you select the "Submit" button or you can just reject the changes by selecting the "Reject" button. Also, the rows that were changed are indicated by the delta symbol in the left-hand side gutter of the editor.

• Data Diff Viewer
  • If in either the Database Explorer's Data tab or an editor's Results view, you can compare result sets from the active editor or another editor. In this example, there are three result sets for the active editor and another editor that has one result set. Selecting a result set will compare the current result set with the selected one.

   

  

        In this example, after selecting "Set 2", the Data Diff Viewer is invoked:

    There is also an option off of the "Compare To->History" submenu to save the current data. This is useful from the Database Explorer's Data tab when, over time, the data might be changing and can then be compared against this data that was saved.

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Resolved Issues and Enhancements

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Known Beta Issues

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Third Party Known Issues

The following is a list of third party issues known to exist at the time of Toad for SQL Server release.

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System Requirements

Client Requirements

Before installing Toad for SQL Server, ensure your client system meets the following minimum hardware and software requirements:

Server Requirements

Before installing Toad for SQL Server, ensure your server meets the following minimum hardware and software requirements:

User Privilege Requirements

The following user privileges are required for installing and running Toad for SQL Server:

• Only Power users and Administrators can install Toad.
• If a Power user installs Toad, a Restricted user can run the application but cannot
  see the Toad shortcut icon on the desktop or the Toad menu option in the Windows Start menu. As a workaround, Restricted users can create a shortcut to the application and place it on their desktop from the install directory.
• If an Administrator installs Toad, the Administrator can share the Toad shortcut icon on the desktop and the Toad menu option in the Windows Start menu with any user on the computer.
• In order to run Toad, the .NET security policy must be set to Unrestricted. To modify the security policy:

1. From the Windows Start menu, select Settings | Control Panel.

2. Double-click Administrative Tools.
3. Double-click Microsoft .NET Framework 2.0 Configuration.
4. Click + to expand My Computer, and then select the Runtime Security Policy node. A list of tasks for the node display in the right panel.
5. Click Evaluate Assembly from the list of tasks in the right panel. An Evaluate an Assembly window displays.
6. Browse to the location of Toad.exe in the File field.
7. Click Next to view permissions for Toad.exe.
8. Set the permission to Unrestricted.

• In order to set or modify Toad Security settings, users must have privileges to create the QuestSoftware.ToadSecurity table if it does not exist. If the table does exist, users must have privileges to insert, update, and delete the QuestSoftware.ToadSecurity table.
   

Debugging Requirements

Verify the following general requirements to ensure that the Debugger operates properly for all SQL Server installations:

• Disable all firewalls or open corresponding ports. Windows XP SP2 includes an embedded Windows firewall that should be disabled or ports opened as well.
• Stop any antivirus software that can lock the corresponding components, settings, etc.
• Check your security policy because it may include an access lock to the remote server. Note that the security policy can be applied to the domain or local computer.

Note: Currently, you cannot debug SQL/CLR code.
 

SQL Server 2005 Prerequisites

To debug locally, perform the following on the client machine:

1. Install the SQL Server 2005 Workstation Component option of the SQL Server 2005 installation.
2. In Toad, commit or rollback the connection before starting the debugging session.

To debug remotely, perform the following:

1. On the client machine, install the SQL Server 2005 Workstation Component option of the SQL Server 2005 installation.
2. Copy and register the ssdebugps.dll (debugging host component) on both the client and server. This file is located by default in the following directory on the server where SQL Server 2005 is installed:

C:\Program Files\ Common Files\Microsoft Shared\SQL Debugging

To register this file, open a command prompt and enter the following command: regsrv32 ssdebugps.dll

Note: If you are unable to locate this file, you can run the remote debugging setup component (rdbgsetup.exe). This file is located by default in the following directory on the server where SQL Server 2005 is installed: C:\Program Files\Microsoft SQL Server\90\Shared\1033

3. Make sure the following permissions are set:

• Your Windows login must be a member of the SQL Server sysadmin group on the computer where Toad is installed and the computer where SQL Server 2005 is installed.

• Your Database login (Windows or SQL Server Authentication used when connecting to SQL Server 2005) must be a member of the sysadmin role. To add your Windows login to the sysadmin role, execute the following:

sp_addsrvrolemember 'Domain\Name', 'sysadmin'

where Domain\Name is your Windows login

4. In Toad, commit or rollback the connection before starting the debugging session.

Platforms Tested for Debugging Support

The following platforms have been tested for debugging support.

Note: The Service Pack on the client must match the Service Pack on the server unless specified otherwise.