SqlDbx
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Hi,
I'm a journalist writing about alternatives to SQL Server Management Studio, and I found SqlDbx was positioned as such. I'm fooling around with SqlDbx now, but I'd like to get some comments from more experienced users out there. Does anyone have thoughts about how SqlDbx compares to SSMS or serves as a substitute/alternative to SSMS? I'm writing for developer-oriented media outlets, so I'd love to get comments from developers or about developer-related functions (as opposed to DBA). Any and all comments are welcome. Thanks.
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SqlDbx is an extraordinary data IDE. Before SqlDbx we used very expensive data IDEs like DBArtisan. SqlDbx does *everything* that DBArtisan does and it does it at literally 1/10th the DBArtisan price. Actually, SqlDbx does quite a bit *more* than DBArtisan ... I especially like the SqlDbx ability to automatically generate new CRUD operation statement sets from existing Result grids. It does this transitively too -- which is a huge convenience to any data developer. SqlDbx is also extremely accommodating to the real-time data community ... providing explicit support for the KDB+ data product set. Outside of SqlDbx, I don't know of a single other generic data IDE product that provides explicit support for KDB+. It is no wonder that SqlDbx is the overwhelming data IDE of choice at just about all the major Wall Street investment banks (Goldman, Merrill/BofA, Lehman/BarCap, Credit Suisse, etc) SqlDbx is the only data IDE to use in these environments ... it being the only data IDE that is both 100% sound and 100% complete wrt to accommodating *every* data use case. It does everything and it does it well. It does it the best.
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SqlDbx is one of the best data IDE I have used in my career. I have used Toad and other Data IDEs provided by Database vendors. Nothing compares to SqlDbx. Its design is simple and very intuitive to use and provides a lot of features that other Data IDEs do not provide. I have noticed my productivity has increased when using SqlDbx because all the tables, views, stored procedures are visible and can generate SQL statements by right clicking on one of them. The other feature I like is that it supports multiple databases and can open multiple sessions with each database. The best part is I got the IDE almost virtually free through one of our consultant at Merrill.
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I too have used MgmtStudio/Toad/DBArtisan in the past, and like SQLDbx MUCH more. I have purchased licenses for all developers in my shop.
Some of the top features I like are:
Single executable file; no installation necessary. There's nothing like putting the .exe on the desktop, and being up-and-running. No need to find the person who guards the SQLServer installation disk, who then needs to actually find the disk itself, then obtain administrative permissions to perform the install. Then you get moved to another location, and go through the whole process again.
Auto Saving of Session State - You can have multiple connections to various databases, each with multiple scripting windows open...just close SQLDbx, and re-open later to find all of your connections/scripts just as you left them.
Favorites - Indispensable when working on databases with thousands of objects. Keeps you from constantly scrolling around to find your needed objects.
Right-click over #Temp to get menu for "SELECT * from #Temp" and "DROP TABLE #Temp". Also, right-click over any table name for 'SELECT *'.
Auto-Filtering (right-click/Filter when in data grid)
Table rowcounts automatically displayed
Very fast intellisense. And, it had this feature long before MgmtStudio added it!
Import/Export from Excel; imports scripted.
Show Column Types - No more tracking down source data-types from proc or query results.
Drag/Drop QuickDiff
Generation of DML via selection from data grid. (Select data, right-click/Generate)
Rgds,
Allen
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SqlDbx is the only DB tool I use. It has a small foot print and yet with more features than others. And it's lightning fast! Why bother with anything else?
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I have been a user of SqlDbx for the past 5 years and haven't had the need to look at any other tool. I have previously used DbArtisan, Rapid SQL, Toad and MS MgmtStudio and none come close to the speed, flexibility and feature set of SQLDbx. Those other tools just get more complex, heavy and slower as newer versions come out. I can't believe the mess MS made of MgmtStudio.
I currently work with MS SQL Server, Oracle, DB2 and Sybase and SqlDbx handles all these databases perfectly. Key feature that keep me loyal to this product are
- Speed of query retrieval and grid population. Ever try to return 50K+ row in DBArtisan/Rapid SQL...it takes seconds in SqlDBx and doesn't hang you PC like the other products do.
- Scripting and in-place editing in the results grid
- Quick filtering, sorting and grid transposing
- quick intellisense
- sql query history and template generation and saving
If your looking for a tool to maximize your productivity then SqlDbx should be at the top of your list.
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One of the features of SqlDbx which I like a lot is something I call one click interface.
Here's the comparison between SqlDbx and SSMS. Let's say I need to connect and execute stored procedure.
SSMS
1. Connect.
2. Click Databases, select database, select Programmability, select Stored Procedures. By now I am 5 levels deep in tree and it occupies a lot of screen real estate.
3. Scroll to stored procedure to execute.
4. Right click and select Execute Procedure..
5. Parameter dialog shows up. Why when I press tab it goes through all the fields? Why it shows up even stored procedure does not have any parameters? Why can't I leave numeric fields blank so they will be set to NULL. Ok done with params.
6. Press OK. Good finally see results, but why it shows stored procedure execute code? I did not ask for it. All I wanted is to execute procedure.
Now SqlDbx
1. Connect
2. Click Procedures
3. Scroll or Ctrl+F procedure
4. Right Click and select Execute
5. Parameter dialog shows up only if procedure needs values. Tab works correctly. Can leave blanks for nulls
6. Press OK. See results only. No confusion.
That is just one example of how straightforward most of the functionality.
SqlDbx is the only tool we were able to roll to our technologically challenged users who need direct access to database.
My personal top features
1. Session management
2. Intellisense
3. Export / Import from Excel
4. Quick Diff
5. Script variables and Speed Typing
6. Favorites
My only major complain is the poor documentation.
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I am a fan of SqlDbx. As others have already stated. It is fast, easy to use. I would like to add that it is very stable. I have never had it crash. The single binary is also a key feature. I hate applications that require an installation process - all they tend to do is put some stupid entry in the registry and make it hard to move the binary.
I recommend SqlDbx to all my friends and none of them have every complained.
The last time I used SSMS I was always frustrated with how much memory it required and the poor performance. SSMS is a good tool, but not as good as SqlDbx.
SqlDbx supports many DB Systems and works the same with all of them. No need to learn a new interface when you change jobs or you company decides that they are switching from Sybase to Oracle, or Sybase to SQL Server.
I cannot say enough about SqlDbx has increased my database development productivity.
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Hi!
I just wanted to thank you for such an excellent product.
It was a life saver for me, I was struggling to install SQL Server Tools in my Windows 7 machine and got frustrated. I needed to run a couple of queries and was about to punch the damn machine.
With your SQLDBX I did what I needed just by double clicking it!
Thanks a lot!
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