Embarcadero Releases New Eclipse SQL Development Tool

Following on its recent series of announcements of key hires from the Eclipse community, Embarcadero is debuting its new professional-grade SQL development tool, PowerSQL, today at EclipseCon 2008. PowerSQL dramatically improves productivity for Eclipse application developers charged with SQL development.

"With the growing sophistication of J2EE, Ruby on Rails and other development frameworks increasingly dependent on databases, application developers require more depth in knowledge and tooling for the underlying DBMS technologies," said Greg Keller, vice president of product management, Embarcadero Technologies. "PowerSQL brings developers what they expect in an IDE with tremendous depth equaling hundreds of man-years worth of experience in database SQL parsing, connection, debugging and general optimization to produce high-performance SQL."

Embarcadero PowerSQL, the company's fourth tool built on the Eclipse framework, is a SQL IDE (Integrated Development Environment) that can be installed as a standalone application (Eclipse RCP) or as an Eclipse plug-in. It offers native support for Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase and DB2 for LUW, as well as JBDC support for other prominent DBMSs such as MySQL. PowerSQL runs on both Windows and Linux operating systems. Its flexibility and compatibility, in addition to a low price-point, make it a must-have tool for application developers who are increasingly working with databases.

"We are seeing an upsurge in the number of traditional developers who are taking on more database work and using SQL on a somewhat regular basis," said John F. Andrews, president and CEO of Evans Data Corporation. "In fact, according to research we conducted in September 2007, SQL is the second most popular language among Eclipse users, with 64 percent using it at least some of the time."

Features of the new Embarcadero PowerSQL tool include:
• SQL Code Assist ensures 100% object name accuracy, even when not connected to a database, plus real-time SQL syntax validation
• SQL Project Insight provides project-level SQL file cataloging and search features to help streamline project organization and maintenance
• Migration Wizard imports data sources from Eclipse DTP (Data Tools Project) or Quest TOAD
• Data Source Explorer enables users to easily navigate, search, extract DDL, execute commands, and even browse an outline view without opening the SQL file
• Formatting Profiles ensure consistent, quality code layout for easy review and extension. Profiles can be customized and shared.

"Embarcadero continues to deliver on its commitment to Eclipse," said Mike Milinkovich, executive director, Eclipse Foundation. "By bringing new Eclipse-based tools to market like PowerSQL, more developers are able to experience the many benefits offered by Eclipse. Embarcadero is a great example of a company that is providing innovative solutions to the Eclipse community."

Pricing and Availability
Embarcadero PowerSQL is now available in three versions worldwide: Personal, Standard and Professional. North American pricing for Personal Edition begins with annual subscription-based options as low as $8.25 per month per developer. Embarcadero PowerSQL can be purchased online at www.embarcadero.com/store. For more information, visit www.embarcadero.com/products/powersql.

About Embarcadero Technologies
Embarcadero Technologies, Inc. delivers professional grade database tools that companies use to design, develop and manage databases and the data they contain. More than 12,000 customers worldwide and over 90 of the Fortune 100 rely on Embarcadero's cross-platform tools to reduce complexity, improve productivity and strengthen security. The company's flagship database tools include: ER/Studio, DBArtisan, Rapid SQL and Change Manager. Founded in 1993, Embarcadero Technologies is headquartered in San Francisco with offices in Melbourne, Australia, Munich, Germany and Maidenhead, United Kingdom. For more information, visit www.embarcadero.com.

Embarcadero, the Embarcadero Technologies logos and all other Embarcadero Technologies product or service names are trademarks or registered trademarks of Embarcadero Technologies, Inc. All other trademarks are property of their respective owners.

Source: PRWeb

Free Oracle 2 Day DBA Course

This course is designed to complement the Oracle 2 Day DBA documentation.

In this course you will find detailed information on the tasks outlined in the chapters of the Oracle 2 Day DBA manual, including step-by-step instructions.
List of Lessons

1. Introduction (No additional materials complement this chapter)
2. Installing Oracle and Building the Database
3. Getting Started with Oracle Enterprise Manager
4. Configuring the Network Environment
5. Managing the Oracle Instance
6. Managing Database Storage Structures
7. Administering Users and Security
8. Managing Schema Objects
9. Performing Backup and Recovery
10. Monitoring and Tuning the Database
11. Managing Oracle Software

Note: These lessons in this series can be performed on either Windows or Linux.

Request your Free Oracle 2 Day DBA Course material today.

What is PL/SQL?

PL/SQL (Procedural Language/Structured Query Language) is Oracle Corporation's proprietary server-based procedural extension to the SQL database language. (Some other SQL database management systems offer languages similar to PL/SQL.) Its syntax strongly resembles that of the Ada programming language.

Functionality
PL/SQL supports variables, conditions, arrays, and exceptions. Implementations from version 8 of the Oracle RDBMS onwards have placed an emphasis on object-orientation.

The underlying SQL functions as a declarative language. Standard SQL—unlike some functional programming languages—does not require implementations to convert tail calls to jumps. SQL does not readily provide "first row" and "rest of table" accessors, and it cannot easily perform some constructs such as loops. PL/SQL, however, as a Turing-complete procedural language which fills in these gaps, allows Oracle database developers to interface with the underlying relational database in an imperative manner. SQL statements can make explicit in-line calls to PL/SQL functions, or can cause PL/SQL triggers to fire upon pre-defined DML events.

PL/SQL stored procedures (functions, procedures, packages, and triggers) which perform DML get compiled into an Oracle database: to this extent their SQL code can undergo syntax-checking. Programmers working in an Oracle database environment can construct PL/SQL blocks of such functionality to serve as procedures, functions; or they can write in-line segments of PL/SQL within SQL*Plus scripts.

While programmers can readily incorporate SQL DML statements into PL/SQL (as cursor definitions, for example, or using the SELECT ... INTO syntax), DDL statements such as CREATE TABLE/DROP INDEX etc require the use of "Dynamic SQL". Earlier versions of Oracle required the use of a complex built-in DBMS_SQL package for Dynamic SQL where the system needed to explicitly parse and execute an SQL statement. Later versions have included an EXECUTE IMMEDIATE syntax called "Native Dynamic SQL" which considerably simplifies matters. Any use of DDL in Oracle will result in an implicit commit. Programmers can also use Dynamic SQL to execute DML where they do not know the exact content of the statement in advance.

PL/SQL offers several pre-defined packages for specific purposes. Such PL/SQL packages include:

• DBMS_OUTPUT - for output operations to non-database destinations
• DBMS_JOBS - for running specific procedures/functions at a particular time (i.e. scheduling)
• DBMS_XPLAN - for formatting "Explain Plan" output
• DBMS_SESSION
• DBMS_METADATA

Oracle Corporation customarily adds more packages and/or extends package functionality with each successive release of the Oracle DBMS.

About this Terminology
This terminology is from The Wikipedia which is published under the GNU Free Documentation License.

Oracle Coherence

Oracle Coherence is a JCache-compliant in memory distributed data grid solution for clustered applications and application servers. Oracle Coherence makes sharing and managing data in a cluster as simple as on a single server. It accomplishes this by coordinating updates to the data using cluster-wide concurrency control, replicating and distributing data modifications across the cluster using the highest performing clustered protocol available, and delivering notifications of data modifications to any servers that request them.

Learn how developers can easily take advantage of Oracle Coherence features using the standard Java collections API to access and modify data, and use the standard JavaBean event model to receive data change notifications. Functionality such as HTTP Session Management is available out-of-the-box for stateful Web applications.

Request Your Free Software Download!

Installing Oracle 10g

Learn how to install Oracle 10g in this video tutorial.

PL/SQL Best Practices

Renowned Oracle PL/SQL expert, Steven Feuerstein, presents "PL/SQL Best Practices" -- offering high-level principles to guide our work.

AquaFold Releases Enterprise Sybase, MS SQL, Oracle, Server Database Administration Tools for Windows, Linux and OSX

AquaFold, Inc. has released Aqua Data Studio 6.5, a powerful upgrade to its already versatile, multi-platform application that provides complete database administration and query tools for Oracle, DB2, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, Sybase, Informix, and PostgreSQL on Linux, OSX and Windows. Within this single application, database managers can save time and money in the design, development and maintenance of enterprise relational databases.

Version 6.5 includes new Source Control Support for Subversion and CVS. With Source Control, multiple users can store, check in and update scripts and other files from within Aqua Data Studio, eliminating the need for other versioning software. This will free system memory, and create a more efficient server update process. ADS also now has a SQL Debugger for Sybase and Oracle which allows users to locate and eliminate problems in SQL statements, eliminating the rigorous searching usually required to locate and correct errors in Sybase and Oracle.

One of the most powerful new features added to the Query Analyzer is its Excel supported Grids, Pivot Grids and Graphs/Charts which allow the grouping and summarizing of selected columns and rows of data into reports. Pivot Grids and Graphs display on multi-level split-panes which allow full control over size configurations persisting over multiple runs of the same query in the same query panel. Their configurations are saveable and reloadable into existing pivot tables for quick and efficient access later. The results can be visualized in three dimensional, fully rotatable graphs, and can be exported directly to, and from, Excel.

Version 6.5 includes a complete set of enhancements for Schema, Directory and File difference tools, including Object Permissions, Filtering by File Size, Background Processing, Refresh, Data Compare, Save as HTML, Preview in Browser, Difference Count and, for File Diff, the ability to Drag & Drop files into the tool. There is also a new Results Difference tool which gives users the ability to view differences between two result sets obtained from either the same or two different queries. The Results Difference tool also allows users to view where columns and rows have been added or deleted and where cells have been edited in different result sets.

In addition, there is now support for auto-completion across multiple databases which allows users to complete a table in a database other than the one they are currently working in. Users can now share the autocompletion schema data across different query windows through the new Global Auto Completion Cache which increases speed by minimizing memory consumption. There are a variety of client side command enhancements which are supported by Query Analyzer scripts, and a new Morph to Delimited List which allows users to convert a block of text into a delimited list with the appropriate options for completing a query or other documentation.

Aqua Data Studio 6.5 is available for immediate download at http://www.aquafold.com/downloads.html A complete list of new features and descriptions may be viewed at http://www.aquafold.com/features_6_5.html The cost of a single-user commercial license is $399(USD). Multi-license purchase discounts are also available and can be viewed here http://aquafold.com/licensing.html

About AquaFold, Inc.
AquaFold, Inc. is a provider of software tools for relational databases. More than 300,000 users from over 90 different countries use AquaFold's products to design, develop and administer databases in Oracle and other popular programs. For more information visit http://www.aquafold.com

Source: PRWeb

Common Mistakes in Oracle PL/SQL Programming

You did WHAT?

You wrote an explicit cursor? You declared a variable using the VARCHAR2 datatype? You raised an exception to skip over unnecessary lines of code?

If slip-ups like these sound familiar (or if you don't know why these are mistakes), join Quest for a one-hour Webcast featuring guest speaker, Steven Feuerstein, as he examines common mistakes in Oracle PL/SQL programming. Learn how to correct mistakes to improve the maintainability and performance of your application.

This Webcast will also demonstrate CodeXpert — a powerful feature available within Toad® that will help you avoid common mistakes and ensure you implement PL/SQL best practices in your daily activities.

About the Steven Feuerstein
Steven Feuerstein is considered one of the world's leading experts on the Oracle PL/SQL language, having written nine published books on PL/SQL (all from O'Reilly & Associates). Steven has been developing software since 1980, spent five years with Oracle (1987-1992) and serves as a Senior Technology Advisor to Quest Software.

Learn to Build Robust, Efficient, and Secure PHP/Oracle Solutions

PHP Oracle Web Development is a new book from Packt that helps users combine the power, scalability, and reliability of the Oracle Database with the ease of use, short development time, and high performance of PHP. Written by experienced author, Yuli Vasiliev, this book is built entirely around example code, covering the most popular and up-to-date topics on using PHP in conjunction with Oracle.

When building a PHP/Oracle application, users have two general options. The first is to use an Oracle database just to store data, performing all the operations on that data on the client side; the other is to use the database not only to store data, but also to process it, thus moving data processing to the data.

While building the key business logic of a database-driven PHP application inside the database is always a good idea, users should bear in mind that not all of the databases available today allow you to do. The Oracle database, which offers record-breaking performance, scalability, and reliability, does. The partnership of Oracle and the open-source scripting language PHP is an excellent solution for building high-performance, scalable, and reliable data-driven web applications.

This 100% practical book is crammed full of easy-to-follow examples. It provides all the tools a PHP/Oracle developer needs to take advantage of the winning combination. It addresses the needs of a wide spectrum of PHP/Oracle developers, placing the emphasis on the most up-to-date topics, such as new PHP and Oracle Database features, stored procedure programming, handling transactions, security, caching, web services, and Ajax.

Through numerous examples, this book will show readers how to build simple and efficient PHP applications on top of Oracle, efficiently distributing data processing between the Web/PHP server and Oracle Database server.

Although PHP Oracle Web Development covers only the most popular and up-to-date topic areas on the use of PHP in conjunction with Oracle, the author does not make any assumption about the skill level of the reader. Packed with information in an easy-to-read format, the book is ideal for any PHP developer who deals with Oracle. For more information, please visit: www.PacktPub.com/PHP-Oracle-Web-Development-XML-Ajax-Open-Source/book

Minq Software Ships DbVisualizer 6.0

Minq Software today announced the general availability of DbVisualizer 6.0, a world leading, cost effective, cross platform database tool that increases user productivity by providing a single solution to speed development, testing and administration of relational databases. DbVisualizer offers a robust set of features to assist database developers and DBAs perform tasks such as object browsing, creating, running SQL statements and SQL scripts, viewing and editing data. Additionally, this tool includes features such as a the powerful table references graph, query builder, SQL formatter, result set charting and SQL bookmarks feature.

DbVisualizer supports all major commercial databases including Oracle, DB2, Mimer, SQL Server, Sybase ASE, Informix and open source alternatives such as MySQL, PostgreSQL and JavaDB/Derby. DbVisualizer is optimized for the Windows XP, Mac OS X and Linux/UNIX operating systems.

The new release adds the Table Data Navigator which is powerful tool to navigate foreign keys based on data selections. This is useful when browsing normalized tables with keys to other tables, click an entry in one table, choose the link to follow and the target table will be displayed with the matching data. The new Table Editor supports visual creation and editing of table definitions including columns, indexes, primary, foreign keys, constraints and non standard features specifically for the supported databases. The Data Editor is a central feature that has been revised from ground up, and now supports multiple row operations, transaction control, easy copy/paste with the most popular spreadsheet applications, enhanced filtering, sorting and printing. In addition, this new version is optimized for Windows Vista, DB2 version 9, Java 1.6 and comes with an option to install JDBC drivers for MySQL, PostgreSQL, Sybase, SQL Server, DB2, Mimer and JavaDB/Derby.

"The new features and changes are sweeping and I think we've done a great job putting it all together, still keeping the tool focused and consistent", says Roger Bjärevall, product manager for DbVisualizer at Minq Software.

Availability and Pricing
DbVisualizer is available in two editions, DbVisualizer Free and the commercial DbVisualizer Personal edition starting at $149 per user.

For more information, visit http://www.dbvis.com

About Minq Software
Minq Software is a Swedish software company developing, marketing and selling database software, performance assurance and response time monitoring products. Founded in 1998, it has been a successful provider of load testing and database solutions.

Source: PRWeb

Testing Oracle 10g RAC Scalability

Oracle Real Application Clusters (RAC) offer businesses the ability to create an environment where more than one database server, or node, can be setup to manage an Oracle database. Organizations often face multiple challenges when implementing RAC and maintaining RAC configurations, including:

• Determining how many database servers are needed for sustained optimal performance in a cluster
• Defining the proper testing methodology of a cluster configuration for load testing, scalability and availability

This Webcast will provide you with:

• A proven methodology for determining the most optimal configuration for your Oracle RAC environment.
• A real-world scenario in which Quest's solutions were leveraged for Oracle RAC to conduct diagnostic and benchmark tests on Oracle Real Application Clusters.