WinSQL Professional
User's Guide
Revision 3.8
Thank you for using WinSQL professional. WinSQL is a simple yet
powerful utility for programmers, DBAs and system
administrators.
This guide provides you detailed instructions on how to use the
program. Although the user interface is very intuitive and easy to
understand, you might find this guide useful when doing some
advanced features.
If you find any area in the document that needs improvement,
please contact us at support@indus-soft.com
Getting Started _________________________________________________________ 1
Requirements ______________________________________________________________ 1
Installation and setup ________________________________________________________ 1
Uninstalling WinSQL ________________________________________________________ 1
Configuring ODBC _____________________________________________________ 2
Opening the ODBC administrator _____________________________________________ 2
Different kinds of DSN _______________________________________________________ 2
User DSN _______________________________________________________________________ 2
System DSN _____________________________________________________________________ 3
File DSN ________________________________________________________________________ 3
Creating a new DSN _________________________________________________________ 3
Running Queries _______________________________________________________ 5
Connection options __________________________________________________________ 5
Server side cursor _________________________________________________________________ 5
Auto commit transactions ___________________________________________________________ 5
Opening more than one query sets _____________________________________________ 6
Displaying resultset in Grid or Text ____________________________________________ 6
Comments _________________________________________________________________ 7
SQL syntax ________________________________________________________________ 7
Supported functions _________________________________________________________ 7
How to use scalar functions __________________________________________________________ 7
String functions ___________________________________________________________________ 8
Numeric functions ________________________________________________________________ 10
Time, Date, and Interval functions ___________________________________________________ 11
System functions _________________________________________________________________ 13
Parameterized queries ______________________________________________________ 14
Syntax highlighting _________________________________________________________ 14
Limitation ________________________________________________________________ 14
Viewing and Printing Database Catalog ____________________________________ 15
Providing filters____________________________________________________________ 15
Browsing data _____________________________________________________________ 16
Applying Filter __________________________________________________________________ 16
Sorting records __________________________________________________________________ 16
Using Insert / Update record wizard ___________________________________________ 16
Using Strings and Dates in the wizard _________________________________________________ 17
Ignoring a field and NULL values ____________________________________________________ 18
Using new table wizard______________________________________________________ 18
Reverse Engineering a table design ____________________________________________ 19
Printing __________________________________________________________________ 19
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Publishing HTML Pages ________________________________________________ 20
Export templates ___________________________________________________________ 20
Creating new HTML template _______________________________________________________ 20
Using existing HTML template ______________________________________________________ 22
Generating test data ____________________________________________________ 22
Starting the wizard _________________________________________________________ 23
Example __________________________________________________________________ 23
Populating primary tables __________________________________________________________ 23
Let’s get started __________________________________________________________________ 23
Text file ________________________________________________________________________ 26
Number of records to generate ______________________________________________________ 27
Transaction support _______________________________________________________________ 28
Running queries while data is being generated __________________________________________ 28
Populating secondary tables ________________________________________________________ 29
Ignoring a field ____________________________________________________________ 29
Drawing Entity-Relationship Diagrams ____________________________________ 30
Toolbar buttons ____________________________________________________________ 30
Saving and Reading the file __________________________________________________ 31
Exporting Data ________________________________________________________ 32
Export templates ___________________________________________________________ 32
Starting a new export ______________________________________________________________ 32
Using existing templates ___________________________________________________________ 34
Export Template File Editor _____________________________________________ 35
Command Line Options _________________________________________________ 36
Usage: ____________________________________________________________________ 36
Examples _________________________________________________________________ 37
Incorrect usage ____________________________________________________________ 37
WinSQL Plugins ______________________________________________________ 39
XML file format _______________________________________________________ 39
Plugin Elements____________________________________________________________ 41
Extension nodes ____________________________________________________________ 44
Database Diff Report ___________________________________________________ 46
How does it work___________________________________________________________ 46
WinSQL reference guide
ii
Getting Started
Requirements
WinSQL is a 32-bit program and will only run on Windows 95, 98, NT, Windows
2000 and above. It uses ODBC to connect to any target database for which a
driver is available. WinSQL requires that you use version 3.x or higher as the
ODBC Manager. Although, version 3.x is required for the Manager, you can use
a driver that is compliant with version 2.x. However, if you use an older driver,
you may not be able to use all of the features of WinSQL.
Installation and setup
Most of the off-the-shelf products these days come with an installer. These
installation programs, besides copying files into the target folder also copy DLLs
and OCXs into your Windows/System32 folder and change your system
configuration. If these DLLs are ActiveX controls, they even have to register
themselves with the Windows Registry. If two vendors use a same name for their
files, it can result in breaking one or more programs on the system. One of the
features of WinSQL is zero installation solution, which means you do not have to
run any installation script that will change your system configuration. There are
no DLLs or OCX to register. You can manually copy the executable on your hard
drive; optionally, create a shortcut on your desktop and double click to run it.
Although, all you need is an executable file, the program can generate a few text
files in the directory where it is located. For example, if you create new string
formats for "test data generation wizard", WinSQL will create a file called
sFormat.dat in the same directory where the .EXE is located. Therefore, we
suggest that you copy the file in a new folder.
Uninstalling WinSQL
If you decide not to use WinSQL, you can simply delete the file from your hard
drive. However, WinSQL will create some entries in the Windows Registry.
These setting are located at:
“HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Indus\WinSQL”.
You can use REGEDIT or REGEDT32 to delete these settings.
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Configuring ODBC
Relatively speaking, configuring ODBC and creating and data source name is
probably the most difficult part in the whole setup. However, most likely since
programmers, DBAs and system administrators will use this tool, most of the
users would already know how to do it.
Opening the ODBC administrator
Double click the ODBC32 icon in the control panel to start the ODBC Manager.
Remember you can only use version 3.x or above in order to connect to the
databases. You can confirm the version of manager by clicking on the “About”
tab on the administrator. You can download the latest version from
http://www.microsoft.com/data/odbc
Different kinds of DSN
You can create three different kinds of data source names.
User DSN
These data sources are local to a computer, and may only be used by the current
user.
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System DSN
These data sources are local to a computer, rather than dedicated to a user. The
system, or any user having privileges, can use a data source set up with a
system DSN.
File DSN
These are file-based data sources that may be shared between all users that
have the same drivers installed, so have access to the database. These data
sources are not dedicated to a user and are not machine specific. WinSQL does
not support File DSNs.
Creating a new DSN
Depending on your needs you can decide what type of DNS would be suitable for
you. In the example below we will create a System DSN that will point to an MS
SQL Server database.
3

Click on the System DSN tab in the Data Source Administrator


Click the Add… button to add a new DSN.
The next screen will display all the available ODBC drivers that you have
installed on the machine. For this example,
select SQL Server.
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
Please note that screen in the next step may differ from driver to driver.
For this example we are using version 2.65 of
Microsoft SQL Server driver.
Note: You may have
to click the
“Options” button to
see further options.
You must specify
the name of the
database that you
wish to connect to in
the DSN setup.

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Click the Ok button when done.
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Running Queries
Once you have created a DSN, you should be able to run SQL queries against
the database. First you have to connect to a database. You will see the newly
created DSN in the database connection box of WinSQL.
Notice that you will only see
the 32 bit DSN in this window.
This is because WinSQL
requires that you have a 32-bit
ODBC driver.
Connection options
Server side cursor
Some databases like MS SQL Server and Sybase does not allow opening
multiple statements at the same time unless a server side cursor is used.
Although, WinSQL does not use multiple statements, some implementation of the
driver might require server side cursors. This will degrade the performance of the
queries and therefore, if you are not sure, leave this option unchecked.
Auto commit transactions
When checked, all the transactions will be automatically committed. Some
databases, like Oracle, do not allow explicit transactions. Therefore, it may be
useful to turn this option off which will allow you to manually COMMIT and
ROLLBACK any transaction.
When this option is OFF, a red indicator appears on the status bar. This is to
remind you to COMMIT or ROLLBACK before closing the connection.
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Once the connection is established, you can write any SQL statement and click
the play button to run it.
As soon as you hit the run button, the query gets submitted to the database in a
secondary thread. This way even if it takes long for a result set to come back, the
client stays active to the user.
Opening more than one query sets
You can open as many query sets as you want. The number is limited only by
available memory on the machine. Click the “New Query Page” button on the
screen to create a new query set. You can go back to the previous one by
selecting it from the combo box. Starting from version 2, query set saves both the
contents of the query tab as well as the results tab.
Displaying resultset in Grid or Text
The program allows you to display text in two formats:


Grid control
Text control
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Comments
WinSQL recognizes two kinds of comments:

Line Comment

Enclosed Comment
if a line starts with two dashes, it is treated as a
comment line
Any text that is enclosed by /*
*/
Starting from version 3.5 you have an option of letting WinSQL parse the
comments before the SQL statement is submitted to the server. This allows you
to use comments even if the back-end database does not support them.
We recommended that you let the DBMS handle comments if they are
supported. This option can be changed by selecting Edit Options from the
menu.
SQL syntax
WinSQL does not have syntax of its own. It submits the query as-is to the backend database with a few exceptions. These exceptions occur in case of
Parameterized queries and comments.
Supported functions
Besides supporting all the functions that are supported by the back-end
database, WinSQL also supports ODBC scalar functions. In most cases, you will
not need to use these scalar functions since the back-end database usually has
a richer set. However, in some cases, for instance when the source is a text file,
you will find these functions extremely helpful.
How to use scalar functions
Following are the types of scalar functions:
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



String functions
Numeric functions
Time and date functions
System functions
The syntax for using scalar functions is as follows:
{fn FUNCTION_NAME( PARAMETERS ) }
The string {fn MUST precede the function name and a } must be followed after
the close-parenthesis.
Example:
select {fn SUBSTRING(first_name, 1, 3)} FirstThree, first_Name
from customers
where cust_id = 1049
This query displays a result:
FirstThree
---------Den
first_Name
------------------------Denzil
1 Row(s) affected
First field only displays the first 3 characters of the name.
Important: Your driver may not support all the functions listed below. Check the driver
help file for a detail listing.
String functions
Function Name
ASCII(string_exp)
Description
Returns the ASCII code value of the leftmost
character of string_exp as an integer
BIT_LENGTH(string_exp)
Returns the length in bits of the string
expression
CHAR(code)
Returns the character that has the ASCII code
value specified by code. The value of code
should be between 0 and 255; otherwise, the
return value is data source-dependent.
CONCAT(string_exp1,
string_exp2)
Returns a character string that is the result of
concatenating string_exp2 to string_exp1. The
resulting string is DBMS-dependent. For
example, if the column represents by
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string_exp1 contained a NULL value, DB2
would return NULL, but SQL Server would
return the non-NULL string.
DIFFERENCE(string_exp1,
string_exp2)
INSERT(string_exp1,
length, string_exp2)
9
start,
Returns an integer value that indicates the
difference between the values returned by the
SOUNDEX function for string_exp1 and
string_exp2.
Returns a character string where length
characters have been deleted from string_exp1
beginning at start and where string_exp2 has
been inserted into string_exp, beginning at the
start.
LCASE(string_exp)
Returns a string equal to that in string_exp with
all uppercase characters converted to
lowercase.
LEFT(string_exp, count)
Returns the leftmost count characters of
string_exp.
LENGTH(string_exp)
Returns the number of characters
string_exp, excluding trailing blanks.
LOCATE(string_exp1,
string_exp2, [start])
Returns the starting position of the first
occurrence of string_exp1 within string_exp2.
The search for the first occurrence of
string_exp1 begins with the first character
position in string_exp2 unless the optional
argument, start, is specified. If start is
specified, the search begins with the character
position indicated by the value of start. The first
character position in string_exp2 is indicated by
the value 1. If string_exp1 is not found within
string_exp2, the value 0 is returned.
LTRIM(string_exp)
Returns the characters of string_exp, with
leading blanks removed.
REPEAT(string_exp, count)
Returns a character string composed of
string_exp repeated count times.
REPLACE(string_exp1,
string_exp2, string_exp3)
Search string_exp1 for occurrences
string_exp2 and replace with string_exp3.
RIGHT(string_exp, count)
Returns the rightmost count characters of
string_exp.
RTIM(string_exp)
Returns the characters of string_exp with
trailing blanks removed.
SOUNDEX(string_exp)
Returns a data source – dependent character
string representing the sound of the words in
string_exp. For example, SQL Server returns a
4-digit SOUNDEX code; Oracle returns a
in
of
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phonetic representation of each word.
SPACE(count)
Returns a character string consisting of count
spaces.
SUBSTRING(string_exp,
start, length)
Returns a character string that is derived from
string_exp beginning at the character position
specified by start for length characters.
Returns a string equal to that in string_exp with
all lowercase characters converted to
uppercase
UCASE(string_exp)
Numeric functions
Function Name
Description
ABS(numeric_exp)
Returns the absolute value of numeric_exp
ACOS(float_exp)
Returns the arccosine of float_exp as an angle,
expressed in radians.
ASIN(float_exp)
Returns the arcsine of float_exp as an angle,
expressed in radians.
ATAN(float_exp)
Returns the arctangent of float_exp as an
angle, expressed in radians.
ATAN2(float_exp1,
float_exp2)
Returns the arctangent of the x and y
coordinates, specified by float_exp1 and
float_exp2.
CEILING(numeric_exp)
Returns the smallest integer greater than or
equal to numeric_exp.
COS(float_exp)
Returns the cosine of float_exp, where
float_exp is a angle expressed in radians.
COT(float_exp)
Returns the cotangent of float_exp, where
float_exp is an angle expressed in radians.
DEGREES(numeric_exp)
Returns the number of degrees converted from
numeric_exp radians.
EXP(float_exp)
Returns the exponential value of float_exp.
FLOOR(numeric_exp)
Returns the largest integer less than or equal
to numeric_exp.
LOG(float_exp)
Returns the natural logarithm of float_exp.
LOG10(float_exp)
Returns the base 10 logarithm of float_exp.
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MOD(integer_exp1,
integer_exp2)
Returns
the
remainder
(modulus)
integer_exp1 divided by integer_exp2.
PI()
Returns the constant value of pi as a floating
point value.
POWER(numeric_exp,
integer_exp)
Returns the value of numeric_exp to the power
of integer_exp.
RADIANS(numeric_exp)
Returns the number of radians converted from
numeric_exp degrees.
RAND([integer_exp])
Returns a random floating point value using
integer_exp as the optional seed value.
ROUND(numeric_exp,
integer_exp)
Returns numeric_exp rounded to integer_exp
places right of the decimal point. If integer_exp
is negative, numeric_exp is rounded to
|integer_exp| places to the left of the decimal
point.
SIGN(numeric_exp)
Returns an indicator of the sign of
numeric_exp. If numeric_exp is less than zero,
–1 is returned. If numeric_exp equals zero, 0 is
returned. If numeric_exp is greater than zero, 1
is returned.
SIN(float_exp)
Returns the sine of float_exp, where float_exp
is an angle expressed in radians.
SQRT(float_exp)
Returns the square root of float_exp.
TAN(float_exp)
Returns the tangent of float_exp, where
float_exp is an angle expressed in radians.
TRUNCATE(numeric_exp,
integer_exp)
Returns numeric_exp truncated to integer_exp
places right of the decimal point. If integer_exp
is negative, numeric_exp is truncated to
|integer_exp| places to the left of the decimal
point.
of
Time, Date, and Interval functions
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Function Name
CURDATE()
Description
Returns the current date.
CURTIME()
Returns the current local time.
DAYNAME(date_exp)
Returns a character string containing the data
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source – specific name of the day (for example,
Sunday through Saturday or Sun. through Sat.
for a data source that uses English, or Sonntag
through Samstag for a data source that uses
German) for the day portion of date_exp.
DAYOFMONTH(date_exp)
Returns the day of the month based on the
month field in date_exp as an integer value in
the range of 1 – 31.
DAYOFWEEK(date_exp)
Returns the day of the week based on the
week field in date_exp as an integer value in
the range of 1 – 7, where 1 represents Sunday.
DAYOFYEAR(date_exp)
Returns the day of the year based on the year
field in date_exp as an integer value in the
range of 1 – 366.
HOUR(time_exp)
Returns the hour based on the hour field in
time_exp as an integer value in the range of
0 – 23.
MINUTE(time_exp)
Returns the minute based on the minute field in
time_exp as an integer value in the range of
0 – 59.
MONTH(date_exp)
Returns the month based on the month field in
date_exp as an integer value in the range of
1 – 12.
MONTHNAME(date_exp)
Returns a character string containing the data
source – specific name of the month (for
example, January through December or Jan.
through Dec. for a data source that uses
English, or Januar through Dezember for a
data source that uses German) for the month
portion of date_exp.
NOW()
Returns current date and time as a timestamp
value.
QUARTER(date_exp)
Returns the quarter in date_exp as an integer
value in the range of 1 – 4, where 1 represents
January 1 through March 31.
SECOND(time_exp)
Returns the second based on the second field
in time_exp as an integer value in the range of
0 – 59.
Returns the integer number of intervals of type
interval by which timestamp_exp2 is greater
than timestamp_exp1. Valid values of interval
are the following keywords:
TIMESTAMPDIFF(interval,
timestamp_exp1,
timestamp_exp2)
SQL_TSI_FRAC_SECOND
SQL_TSI_SECOND
SQL_TSI_MINUTE
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SQL_TSI_HOUR
SQL_TSI_DAY
SQL_TSI_WEEK
SQL_TSI_MONTH
SQL_TSI_QUARTER
SQL_TSI_YEAR
where fractional seconds are expressed in
billionths of a second. For example, the
following SQL statement returns the name of
each employee and the number of years he or
she has been employed:
SELECT NAME, {fn
TIMESTAMPDIFF(SQL_TSI_YEAR,
{fn CURDATE()}, HIRE_DATE)}
FROM EMPLOYEES
If either timestamp expression is a time value
and interval specifies days, weeks, months,
quarters, or years, the date portion of that
timestamp is set to the current date before
calculating the difference between the
timestamps. If either timestamp expression is a
date value and interval specifies fractional
seconds, seconds, minutes, or hours, the time
portion of that timestamp is set to 0 before
calculating the difference between the
timestamps.
Important: Not all drivers support all of the
intervals.
WEEK(date_exp)
YEAR(date_exp)
Returns the week of the year based on the
week field in date_exp as an integer value in
the range of 1 – 53.
Returns the year based on the year field in
date_exp as an integer value. The range is
data source – dependent.
System functions
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Function Name
DATABASE()
Description
Returns the name of the
corresponding to the connection.
IFNULL(exp_value)
If exp is null, value is returned. If exp is not null,
exp is returned.
USER()
Returns the user name in the DBMS.
database
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Parameterized queries
Starting from version 2.0, WinSQL can accept parameters in the queries. Any
text that is following by two colons is considered as a parameter and the user can
supply the value for that parameter when the query is run. WinSQL remembers
the values for the old parameters so that the user does not have to type them
every time.
Tip: Once you have specified a value for the first parameter, you can hit ENTER to move
to the next one. WinSQL, will try to determine the data type for the parameter. You can
change the default data type by selecting one from the list.
Important: You cannot use parameterized queries to export data.
Syntax highlighting
WinSQL will highlight the text appropriately as you type your SQL statements. If
you like to change the format, select “Syntax Highlighting” from the edit menu.
Limitation
The result is limited to 32767 characters per field when the data is displayed in a
grid control and 4096 characters when displayed in the text control. Therefore,
the data will get truncated if you run a select statement that has one or more
fields of type BLOB. This will not happen if you try to export the field to another
database.
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Viewing and Printing Database Catalog
Viewing database catalog can be very handy when writing SQL statements.
WinSQL displays this information is a hierarchical format.
Important: Catalog information depends heavily on the capability ODBC driver. WinSQL
queries these drivers and finds out what information is available. For example the CLI
drivers that comes with Informix client setup cannot display the parameters for a stored
procedure.
Providing filters
In some situations where the number of tables is very high, it may take a long
time to display all the tables and their fields. Catalog window provides two
filtering parameters that can restrict the total number of objects displayed. These
filters are:


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By user name - Will only display objects owned by this user
By object name - Will only display objects where the name starts with the
specified value
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Browsing data
Click the "Browse Data" node to browse the first few records in a table or view.
The default number of records is 100. However, this value can be changed in the
Options dialog box.
Applying Filter
You can restrict the records that appear in the browse data window by clicking
the right mouse button and selecting “Apply Filter” on the data grid. This opens
up a window that create the necessary where clause for the SELECT statement.
Sorting records
Simply click the header column of the grid control to sort the data. Click it again
to reverse the order.
Using Insert / Update record wizard
Double click an existing row in the Browse Data grid to bring up the Update
record wizard or an empty row to bring up the Insert wizard. You can also invoke
this wizard by clicking the right mouse button and then selecting "Update record"
from the pop-up menu.
This wizard allows the user to input the values in the grid and generates
appropriate SQL script.
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Using Strings and Dates in the wizard
WinSQL will automatically enclose the values with appropriate prefix and suffix
characters. Therefore, when typing the values in the grid, you DO NOT have to
enclose string values in quotes. Similarly, date can be entered in the format that
is understood by your system. This format is specified in the "Regional Settings"
available in Control Panel.
Example:
Column Name
FirstName
LastName
ID
CustSince
Data Type
VARCHAR
VARCHAR
INT
DATETIME
You Enter
Sarah
$$NULL
430
4/25/1963 3:00 PM
Based on these values, WinSQL will generate the query as follows:
INSERT INTO customers(first_name, last_name, id, custsince)
VALUES ('Sarah', NULL, '430', DATETIME (1963-04-25 15:00:00.) YEAR TO SECOND)
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Notice that it appropriately encloses the string value and format the datetime
field. This example assumes that the database is Informix and therefore,
formatting is done accordingly.
Ignoring a field and NULL values
Double click any row to ignore it. When a row is ignore, text in all the columns get
crossed out. In case of an INSERT, when a field is ignored, it will either put NULL
or the default specified in the table.
If you wish to explicitly set the value to null, type $$NULL in the grid.
Using new table wizard
You can open this wizard either by clicking the right mouse button in the catalog
window or by clicking the speed button. This wizard allows you to type new fields
and select their data types and based on the values, it generates the SQL
statement for you. Once you have entered all the fields, you can modify the SQL
statement to include additional information like primary key, foreign key or
tablespace information.
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Reverse Engineering a table design
You can generate the CREATE TABLE statement based on the schema. Please
note that this string is limited to the capability of the ODBC driver and may not
include all the properties of the table. For example, ODBC does not provide the
information about table spaces and therefore, this information is not generated.
Click the right mouse button on the tree view control in the catalog window and
select "Generate CREATE TABLE Statement" from the popup menu.
Printing
The catalog information can be printed through the printing wizard in WinSQL. By
answering just a few questions, you can print the complete schema of a
database in matter of minutes.
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Publishing HTML Pages
Starting from version 3.0, you can publish the result of an SQL query to linked
HTML pages.
Export templates
You can create export templates files with WinSQL. Once these files are created,
you can use them for future use. You will also need these files if you wish to run
the export routines from Command line.
The HTML publishing has default values for all the required fields. This allows the user to
hit the next button until the summary screen is visible.
Creating new HTML template
WinSQL exports data based on a SQL query. Therefore, you must select a query
in the query tab before clicking the export button. You cannot use parameterized
queries to publish HTML. Once you are satisfied with the SQL script, click the
“Publish as HTML” button to start the Wizard.
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Include files
WinSQL uses two files, header and footer, to enclose the exported data.
This allows the user to format the output to suit their needs.
Rules for header file:
 The header file must have the beginning HTML tags including
<html>, <title> <body> and others.
 The resultant data gets displayed into a table. Therefore, the header
file must end with a <table> tag.
Rules for footer file:
 Footer file must have the ending tags of an HTML page.
 It must begin with a </table> tag.
Example Header file
<html>
<head>
<title>SQL query result</title>
</head>
<body bgcolor="#FFFFFF">
<!—You can add more data here -->
<div align="center"><center>
<table border="0" cellpadding="2">
Example Footer file
</table></center></div></body></html>
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Table header, rows and columns properties
The next screen allows you to specify the properties for table header,
rows and columns. The value in these field must conform to HTML rules
and must have a ::DATA parameter. ::DATA will get replaces by the
actual value when the export routine is run.
Example:
Table Header:
<th bgcolor="#000000"><font color="#FFFFFF"> ::DATA </font></th>
Table Rows
<tr BGCOLOR="#FFFFCC"> ::DATA </tr>
Table Columns
<td> ::DATA </td>
Once all the necessary information has been entered, click the next
button until you get to the summary screen. Click the Finish button to
publish the results.
It is important to save the template if you need to run the publisher from a command
prompt.
Using existing HTML template
Simply select an HTML export template ( HET )file and click next until you get to
the summary screen. Click finish to publish the result.
Generating test data
Starting from version 3.5, WinSQL Professional allows you to create a test
environment. This feature can be very useful when some random data is required
during the development and testing phase of a project. Test data generation
wizard allows you to create millions of rows of meaningful data into a database.
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Starting the wizard
First, you must select the table in the catalog window for which you want to
generate the data. Once the desired table is highlighted, you can either click the
"Test data generation wizard" speed button or select it from the pop-up menu by
clicking the right mouse button on the table name.
Example
In order to understand all the steps easily, we will use an example database and
will create test records in all the tables. The E-R diagram of the table is shown
below.
In our example, we have used Microsoft SQL Server 7.0 and therefore all the
data types are shown accordingly.
Populating primary tables
Primary tables are those tables that do not have any foreign key constraints
defined. Therefore, the data can be generated without depending on other
entities. In our example, customers, employees and products fall into this
category.
Let’s get started
First, select the "customer" table from the catalog window. Then click the right
mouse button and select "Generate test data" from the popup menu.
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WinSQL reference guide
The first screen asks you if you want to create a new template or use an existing
one. Since we do not have an existing template, we will create a new one.
Note: The wizard has default values for all the required fields. Therefore, if you click the
next button all the way through, WinSQL will generate about 1000 rows in the table that
you selected.
Click the next button to go the second screen.
Use this screen to pick a field and select the data format that you wish to
generate. All fields are listed on the left-hand side list box. There are four sources
of data:




Random
Formatted
A database table
Text file
Random
This option will generate completely random data. Although the text will
not make any sense, this is the fastest method to generate data. This is
the default value for all the fields except if there is a unique index on the
field, in which case unique numbers will be generated.
Formatted
This option allows you to select the format of the data. Depending on the
data type of the field, available options can change. For instance if the
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data type is datetime, you can specify the starting and ending date.
Moreover, you can also specify if you wish to include time along with
date.
String Formats
Following table specifies the rules for specifying format for
strings.
Keywords
/
#
$
^
@
%
~
*
Description
Escape character
Numeric values
Uppercase characters only
Lowercase characters only
Alphanumeric with upper case letters
Alphanumeric with lower case letters
Alphanumeric with mixed case letters
This character MUST appear at the end and it
means that one or more characters can appear
on the right hand side of the generated string
A database table
This option is useful if you have a foreign key constraint define that
references another table.
WinSQL queries the ODBC driver to find out if there are any foreign key
constraints defined. If found, the program automatically selects this
option with appropriate values for the fields. This feature however,
depends heavily on the capabilities of the ODBC driver. For example the
ODBC driver for MS Access does not return this information to the
application and therefore users will manually have to specify these
values.
Cached records
When records are read from either a table or text file, WinSQL
reads a certain amount of rows in the memory. These records
are called cached records. The default number of records in
cache is 1000. Once enough records are generated, the program
discards all the rows and refreshes the cache.
Percentage per cache
This is the percentage of total records that should be assign from
a batch of cached records.
The following figure explains the concept graphically.
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Total Records:
Number of cache records:
Percent per cache:
Target
table
1000
1000
40
Source
table/file
400
1000 records
1000
1750 records
750
In the above example, we have to insert 1000 records in the target table and
there are 1750 records in the input file/table. The specified percent cache is 40%
which means that WinSQL will read 1000 rows from the table or text file and
randomly pick records 400 values. Then, discard the cache data and fill it again
with new values. However, the second time it comes around, there are only 750
records left in the input source. Therefore, the remaining 60% of the data will be
created using the 750 records that are in the cache.
Text file
Use this option to read data from a text file. This text file MUST have one row per
line and can have multiple columns separated by a | (pipe) character. You can
either sequentially read the file or assign records randomly. In case of sequential
read, there MUST be enough records in the input file. You can download
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WinSQL Option Pack that comes with sample text files from http://www.indussoft.com/winsql
Token number
Data in one text file can be a source for multiple columns. Consider the
following scenario. You want to insert city, state & zip information in a
table. If these three fields came from three different text files, there would
be no relation between city, state and zip. This can cause New York City
to become part of California with a zip code of Orlando, Florida. To avoid
this situation, WinSQL can read multiple fields from a text file. These
fields are separated by a | (pipe) character and are called tokens. A
sample text file can look like:
New York City|New York|10001
Woodbridge|Virginia|22192
Palo Alto|California|94301
Now lets come back to our example. The first field, cust_id is a AGN
(automatically generated number) for which the database is responsible for
assigning values. It is recommended that you don’t change the values for this
field.
The second and third fields are first name and last name respectively. We will
use a sample data file (SDF) as a source for the data. You can either generate
this file yourself or download the option pack from http://www.indus-soft.com that
has sample files.
Highlight “firstName” from the list on the left-hand side. On the right, click “Read
from a text file” button. Click the browse button to select FirstName.sdf. Leave
the remaining fields to its default values. Next, select “lastName” and repeat the
same procedure.
Now click “city” on the left and select “Read from text file” button. Select
“cityState.sdf” as a source. Repeat the same procedure for “state” and “zip”,
however, type 2 and 3 for token numbers.
Lastly, click “phone” in the list box. Select “Formatted Data” and pick “US
Telephone Numbers” from the combo box. If you need any other format, you can
add as many as you like by clicking the button right next to the combo box. Once
satisfied with all the values, click the next button.
Number of records to generate
Next screen allows you to specify the number of records you wish to generate.
There is no limit as to how many records you generate.
Important: If you chose the input source to be a text file for any field and also checked the
sequential flag, you MUST have enough records in the SDF file or else WinSQL will start
over from the beginning of the last batch and will create duplicate records.
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WinSQL reference guide
Transaction support
Optionally, you can generate data within a transaction. This allows you to
ROLLBACK in case of any errors. By default, this option is off. Before turning this
option on, you must refer to your database documentation regarding transaction
support. Some databases, like Informix, allow you to temporarily disable
transactions, in which case you will not be able use this feature.
Running queries while data is being generated
This feature allows you to run a query after a certain number of records are
generated. This could be useful if you need to backup the transaction log so that
more records can be inserted.
Repeat the above steps for employee and products tables.
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Populating secondary tables
Once all the primary tables are populate, data to satisfy foreign keys relationship
in the secondary tables is now present. You should follow the same steps to
generate data for these except for one difference: Now you can select a table as
an input source. If your ODBC driver supports foreign key functionality, WinSQL
will automatically select appropriate input source that will point to a primary key in
another table.
In our example, lineItem is the last table in the dependence-hierarchy since it
depends on the orders table. Therefore, the next candidate for data generation
should be the orders table.
Ignoring a field
If you need WinSQL to ignore a field for any particular reason, simply double
click the column name in the list box. This will cross out its name and display it in
a gray color.
Although ignoring a field is almost like setting the NULL percentage to 100, there
can be situations where they can differ. Consider the following example:
You have a table that is defined as:
create table myTable(
id
autoNumber primary key,
name
varchar(30),
phone varchar(15)
)
In the case where the name fields is ignore, WinSQL will generate the following
code:
insert into myTable(phone)
values("555-1212")
However, if the field is set to produce 100% NULL values, the generated SQL will
look like:
insert into myTable(name, phone)
values(NULL, "555-1212")
In the above example it does not matter if the name field is ignore or set to NULL.
In either case the output is same. However, if the table definition looked like
following, there would be a difference.
create table myTable(
id
autoNumber primary key,
name
varchar(30),
phone varchar(15) default '555-1212'
)
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Drawing Entity-Relationship Diagrams
Select "Draw E/R Diagram" from the Tools menu to create a new E/R Diagram.
Toolbar buttons
Button
Description
Add New Table - Click here to display a list of Tables and Views
in your database. In the list select and double click a table to add
it in the diagram.
Add New Relation - Creates a Master-Detail relationship
between two tables. After you click this button, the mouse cursor
changes to a hand. You MUST select the master table first and
then the detail table.
Zoom In - Click this button to enlarge the size of the image on the
screen as well as the printed output.
Zoom Out - Click this button to reduce the size of the image on
the screen as well as the printed output.
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Saving and Reading the file
Click the save button to save the diagram to the disk. The default Extension for
the file is .WER which stands for WinSQL E/R Diagram. Similarly, use the Open
file button to read a previously created diagram.
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Exporting Data
Exporting data to a different data source can be a very useful feature for many
users. WinSQL not only export the data but, to a certain extent, can even create
the schema for you. Besides exporting normal fields like characters, integers and
date-time, it can even export BLOB types to the target database.
Export templates
Starting from Version 2, you can create export templates files with WinSQL.
Once these files are created, you can use them for future use. You will also need
these files if you wish to run the export routines from Command line.
Starting a new export
WinSQL exports data based on a SQL query. Therefore, you must select a query
in the query tab before clicking the export button. You cannot use parameterized
queries to export data. Once you are satisfied with the SQL script, click the
export button to start the Export Wizard.
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Export Options:



Export to an external text file.
You can customize the export format in
the following steps. These format
options include delimiters and headers.
This option does not use ODBC to
create the text file. If you select to export
data through this option, only 512
characters will get transferred for each
field. If the size of the field is greater
than 512 bytes, it will get truncated.
Therefore, this is not a good choice to
transfer BLOB fields.
Export to an existing table.
Use this option if the table already exist
in the target database. If you are trying
to export the data in the same database,
consider using an SQL UPDATE
statement rather than using the Export
Wizard.
Export to a new table.
Use this option if the table does not exist
in the target database. WinSQL will put
together the CREATE TABLE statement
matching the data types as close as
possible. You can manipulate the
generated script to add constraints or
change the data types.
Creating a new table in the target database
If you decide to export the data into a new table, WinSQL can generate
the SQL for you.
It is important that you
do not change the
name of the target
table in the script. If
you need to change the
name, click the “Back”
button and replace the
name in the prior step.
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WinSQL reference guide
WinSQL tries to match the data types as close as possible. However
sometimes you might want to change the type for any reason.
Furthermore, you can add any referential integrity constraints you wish.
Matching the source and target fields
It is very important that the order of source and the target fields have a
one-to-one correspondence.
Use the arrow buttons to move a target field up or down until it matches
with the corresponding source field. If the fields don’t match, either the
data will get exported to incorrect columns or the export process will fail.
By double clicking a row you can exclude a column from the data
transfer.
Saving the export template
Once you are satisfied with all the options and settings, you can save the
template file for future use. If you specify a file name that already exists,
WinSQL will overwrite the file with the new format.
Using existing templates
Using an existing template is pretty straightforward. Select a WinSQL template
file (WET), and click the next button and finally the finish button.
Important: If you are using an existing template that was created on some other machine,
make sure that both the source and target DSN exists
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Export Template File Editor
Export template embeds all the necessary information to connect to the source
as well as target database. Therefore, when you run an export routine from
command line you do not need to provide the connection string parameters.
However, there may be times when you need to modify this file, for instance
when the database password gets changed. You can use this editor to modify
the file. Select "Export Template File Editor" from the Tools menu to open up the
editor and then load appropriate .wet file.
IMPORTANT: Changing the .wet file incorrectly may corrupt the transfer routine.
Therefore, avoid changing the SQL statement in the template.
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WinSQL reference guide
Command Line Options
Starting from Version 2.0 WinSQL supports extensive command line options,
which makes WinSQL a very useful utility. You can both run an SQL script that is
saved in a file or run an export task. This way WinSQL can be executed from a
DOS batch file or a scheduler that can run external task.
If your back-end server support external command, you can even call WinSQL
from a stored procedure or trigger. For example you can use the xp_cmdshell
stored procedure in Sybase to launch WinSQL to export data to an Informix
database.
Usage:
WinSQL <filename> | <option-Value>

filename

option-Value
This is the name of an text file holding the SQL
script. This will just open the text file in the editor
but will not run it.
Using these pair of option-value, you can run an
SQL query against the database. Refer the
following table for a complete listing of the
options.
Options
-a
Value
NULL
Meaning
Close WinSQL automatically after the task
is complete.
-d
DSN Name
Contains the name of the ODBC DSN. If
there is a space in the name, it must be
enclosed in quotes.
-g
NULL
Runs WinSQL in debug mode. Will create a
debug.log file that can be used to pin point
any potential problem.
-o
Output file
This file is used to store any error messages
or data returned from the server as a result
of a query execution. If this option is not
specified, there will be no output generated.
-q
Query File
Name of the file that holds the SQL query.
-p
Password
User password for database connection
-u
User Name
User name for database connection
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-x
Export template
Name of the export template file.
-h
Publish HTML
Name of the HTML template file
-?
NULL
Displays a help dialog box displaying all the
command line options
Examples
Following example shows how to run any SQL query from the command line. It
will open a file called "updateStudents.sql" and connect to the database using
specified DSN, User Name, and Password. All the error messages or any output
data will go to "output.txt" file and WinSQL will close itself once the query is
complete.
WinSQL "-dStudent DSN" –uAdmin –pAdmin –qc:\updateStudents.sql –oc:\output.txt -a
Following example just open a file in the editor. It does not run it.
WinSQL c:\student.sql
Following example export
"StudentTemplate.wet"
the
data
based
on
a
template
file
WinSQL –xStudentTemplate.wet
Notice that you do not have to provide a user id, password and dsn name when
specifying a template file. This is because all this information is embedded in the
file itself. If you need to change any parameters in the template file, use the
Export Template File Editor under the Tools menu.
Important: There should not be any space between the option and its value
Limitation: You can only run one SQL statement from the command prompt. If you have
multiple statements separated by a terminator, it could generate errors and the query may
not run.
Incorrect usage
Following examples are incorrect.
Example 1.
WinSQL –xStudentTemplate.wet –dStudentDSN –uAdmin –pAdmin
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You cannot specify any other parameter along with –x. The template file stores
all the necessary connection parameters.
Example 2
WinSQL –dStudentDSN –uAdmin –qc:\updateStudents.sql –oc:\output.txt -a
Here the –p option for password is not specified. If WinSQL does not see a –p
option, it will prompt the user by displaying a dialog box. If the password is blank
or your database does not need a password, you must still provide this
parameter with no value specified.
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WinSQL Plugins
Plugins enhances the capability of WinSQL. ODBC is a generic API and
therefore, does not support database specific functions. Most of this functionality
is achieved by querying the system tables (also known as system catalog).
Plugins provide the script for these queries, which are in plain text and in XML
format.
XML is becoming the de facto standard for configuration files and to store small
documents. Many programmers and system administrators are already familiar
with its semantics and syntax. Therefore, WinSQL uses XML to create plugins,
which makes its editing very easy.
XML file format
The following shows a complete example of a plugin for Oracle 8i.
<?xml version="1.0" encoding="iso-8859-1" ?>
<WinSQLDatabaseType dbName="Oracle 8" dbAlias="Oracle 8i"
version="3.8">
<view supported="yes">
<viewDDL supported="yes">
<query>
<sqlString>
<![CDATA[
select text from ALL_VIEWS
where OWNER = ? and VIEW_NAME = ?
]]>
</sqlString>
<paramList>
<param position="1" datatype="VARCHAR2"
value="WinSQL_SCHEMA" tag="1"/>
<param position="2" datatype="VARCHAR2"
value="WinSQL_OBJNAME" tag="1"/>
</paramList>
</query>
</viewDDL>
</view>
<!-- The storedProcedure element tells WinSQL how to process a
Stored procedure -->
<storedProcedures supported="yes">
<storedProcDDL supported="yes">
<query>
<sqlString><![CDATA[ select TEXT From SYS.ALL_SOURCE
Where TYPE = 'PROCEDURE' And OWNER = ? And NAME = ?
order by line
]]></sqlString>
<paramList>
<param position="1" datatype="VARCHAR2"
value="WinSQL_SCHEMA" tag="1"/>
<param position="2" datatype="VARCHAR2"
value="WinSQL_OBJNAME" tag="1"/>
</paramList>
</query>
</storedProcDDL>
</storedProcedures>
<triggers supported="yes">
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<triggerDDL supported="yes">
<query>
<sqlString><![CDATA[
select TRIGGER_NAME, 'E', 'CREATE TRIGGER ' || DESCRIPTION,
TRIGGER_BODY
from ALL_TRIGGERS
where OWNER = ? and TABLE_NAME = ?
]]></sqlString>
<paramList>
<param position="1" datatype="VARCHAR2"
value="WinSQL_SCHEMA" tag="1"/>
<param position="2" datatype="VARCHAR2"
value="WinSQL_OBJNAME" tag="1"/>
</paramList>
</query>
</triggerDDL>
</triggers>
<extendedNodes>
<extension level="1" name="Sequences" displayType="WinSQL_TreeView"
hasChildren="yes" useInDBDiff="no">
<query>
<sqlString><![CDATA[
select SEQUENCE_OWNER || '.' || SEQUENCE_NAME,
sequence_name, sequence_owner
from SYS.ALL_SEQUENCES where SEQUENCE_OWNER like ?
order by SEQUENCE_OWNER, SEQUENCE_NAME
]]></sqlString>
<!-- Level 1 extensions can ONLY have WinSQL_SCHEMA as a
parameter -->
<paramList>
<param position="1" datatype="VARCHAR2"
value="WinSQL_SCHEMA" tag="1"/>
</paramList>
</query>
<extension level="2" name="Sequence Detail"
displayType="WinSQL_ListView"
hasChildren="no" useInDBDiff="no">
<query>
<sqlString><![CDATA[
select * from ALL_SEQUENCES
where SEQUENCE_OWNER = ? and SEQUENCE_NAME = ?
]]></sqlString>
<paramList>
<param position="1" datatype="VARCHAR2"
value="WinSQL_PARENTVALUE" tag="3"/>
<param position="1" datatype="VARCHAR2"
value="WinSQL_PARENTVALUE" tag="2"/>
</paramList>
</query>
</extension>
</extension>
<extension level="1" name="Last Error" displayType="WinSQL_TreeView"
hasChildren="yes" useInDBDiff="no">
<query>
<sqlString><![CDATA[
select distinct NAME from SYS.ALL_ERRORS
]]></sqlString>
<!-- Level 1 extensions can ONLY have WinSQL_SCHEMA as a
parameter -->
<paramList> </paramList>
</query>
<extension level="2" name="Error Detail"
displayType="WinSQL_GridView"
hasChildren="no" useInDBDiff="no">
<query>
<sqlString><![CDATA[
select * from ALL_ERRORS where NAME = ? order by SEQUENCE
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40
]]></sqlString>
<paramList>
<param position="1" datatype="VARCHAR2"
value="WinSQL_PARENTVALUE" tag="1"/>
</paramList>
</query>
</extension>
</extension>
</extendedNodes>
</WinSQLDatabaseType>
The example shows the basic outline of the document. The root element is
WinSQLDatabaseType, which has four subelements: view, storedProcedures,
triggers and extensions. The elements are described in more detail below.
Plugin Elements
Element name:
<view>
This node gets the SQL query that was used to generate the view.
Children node(s) -
viewDDL
Attribute name
supported
Description
Can be “yes” or “no. If views are supported, this value must be “yes”.
The value is case sensitive.
Element name:
<viewDDL>
Children node(s) –
query
Attribute name
supported
Description
Can be “yes” or “no. If querying a system table can return the script for
a view, this value should be “yes”. The value is case sensitive.
Element name:
<storedProcedure>
Children node(s) -
storedProcDDL
Attribute name
supported
Description
Can be “yes” or “no. If stored procedures are supported, this value must
be “yes”. The value is case sensitive.
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WinSQL reference guide
Element name:
<storedProcDDL>
Children node(s) Attribute name
supported
query
Description
Can be “yes” or “no. If querying a system table can return the script for
a stored procedure, this value should be “yes”. The value is case
sensitive.
Element name:
<triggers>
Children node(s) -
triggerDDL
Attribute name
supported
Description
Can be “yes” or “no. If triggers are supported, this value must be “yes”.
The value is case sensitive.
Element name:
<triggerDDL>
This node holds the query node required to get the information regarding the triggers on a
database.
Children node(s) -
query
Attribute name
supported
Description
Can be “yes” or “no. If querying a system table
can return the script for a trigger, this value
should be “yes”. The value is case sensitive.
Element name:
<query>
Children nodes
storedProcDDL
This element is used in many places within the document. It is used to specify an SQL statement
that is run against the database to fetch any data. Below is a snippet from the XML document.
This snippet contains <query>, <sqlString> and <paramList> nodes
<query>
<sqlString>
<![CDATA[
select text from ALL_VIEWS
where OWNER = ? and VIEW_NAME = ?
]]>
</sqlString>
<paramList>
<param position="1" datatype="VARCHAR2"
value="WinSQL_SCHEMA" tag="1"/>
<param position="2" datatype="VARCHAR2"
value="WinSQL_OBJNAME" tag="1"/>
</paramList>
</query>
Children node(s) -
WinSQL reference guide
sqlString, paramList
42
Attribute name
none
Description
Element name:
<sqlString>
Holds the SQL query within a CDATA section. Run time parameters are specified by a ?.
SQL string for views and stored procedures
This query should only return 1 column. If more than one column is returned, the remaining
columns will be ignored. Concatenating all the rows will create the value of the script.
SQL string for triggers
In case of triggers, this query should return 3 columns. The first columns should be the name of
the trigger. If names are not supported, query must return ‘Not Available’. The second column is
the type of trigger. It could be Update, Delete or Insert. The third column is the text containing the
SQL script
SQL string for extension
There are two kinds of extensions. Level 1 and level 2. In case of level 1, there can be only one
parameter, which is the schema or the owner of the object. The number of columns returned by
the query depends on the display type of the extension. Refer to displayType node for further
details.
Attribute name
none
Description
Element name:
<paramList>
Holds the param node
Children node(s) -
param
Attribute name
None
Description
Element name:
<param>
Holds information regarding the parameter of the query.
Attribute name
position
Description
This is a numeric value that represents the parameter number, which
starts from 1
dataType
This is the data type of the parameter. It MUST be a valid datatype of
the backend database. You can get a list of valid datatypes from the
catalog tab of WinSQL. For example if you are changing the plugin for
MS SQL Server and one of the datatype is a CHAR, writing
CHARACTER
instead
of
CHAR
will
generate
errors.
value
This signifies the meaning of the parameter. It tells WinSQL where to
get the value at run time. Possible entries are:
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WinSQL_SCHEMA – This is owner of the object
WinSQL_OBJNAME – This is the name of the object
WinSQL_FULLOBJNAME – This is the schema followed by a period
and the name of the object
WinSQL_PARENTVALUE – This value is only useful in the extension
node where level is 2. This is the result from a parent query. The tag
attribute specifies the column number.
tag
This attribute is only useful in the extension node where level is 2. This
specifies the column number of the parent query.
Extension nodes
Extension nodes provide the SQL statement to fetch database specific feature
like sequences in Oracle. There are two kinds of extension nodes:
 Level 1
 Level 2
When a user clicks on the Tree View control on the left of the catalog tab, level 1
query gets executed. Level 2 provides a drill-down query for level 1.
Following code is an extract of the extension node from the example above.
<extension level="1" name="Last Error" displayType="WinSQL_TreeView"
hasChildren="yes" useInDBDiff="no">
<query>
<sqlString><![CDATA[
select distinct NAME from SYS.ALL_ERRORS
]]></sqlString>
<!-- Level 1 extensions can ONLY have WinSQL_SCHEMA as a parameter
<paramList> </paramList>
</query>
<extension level="2" name="Error Detail"
displayType="WinSQL_GridView" hasChildren="no" useInDBDiff="no">
<query>
<sqlString><![CDATA[
select * from ALL_ERRORS where NAME = ? order by SEQUENCE
]]></sqlString>
<paramList>
<param position="1" datatype="VARCHAR2"
value="WinSQL_PARENTVALUE" tag="1"/>
</paramList>
</query>
</extension>
</extension>
-->
First lets examine the attributes of the <extension> element.
Attribute name
level
Description
This is the level number of the extension. It must be either 1 or 2
name
This is only valid for level 1. It is the text that appears in the tree
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44
view control in the catalog tab
displayType
This is the target for the query result. There are four possible
values for this attribute:
WinSQL_TreeView – Use this to display results in tree view
control, which appears on the left-hand side of the catalog
window. Only the first the column is displayed in the window.
However, the query can return more than one column. This is
useful if you want to use data from the second column to appear
in the WHERE clause of level 2 query.
WinSQL_GridView – Use this to display results in a grid control,
which appears on the right-hand side of the catalog window. The
query can return as many rows and columns that are necessary.
Field name will be displayed as column headers
WinSQL_ListView – Use this to display results in a list view
control, which appears on the right-hand side of the catalog
window. The query can only return one row of data. If more rows
are returned, their results will be discarded.
WinSQL_TextView – Use this to display results in a text box.
The query can only return 1 column but multiple rows. The result
of every row is concatenated with the previous row. This is useful
to display SQL queries.
45
hasChildren
Can be either “yes” or “no”. A yes means that there is a level 2
extension for this node
useInDBDiff
Can be either “yes” or “no”. If yes, it means that this extension will
be used DBDiff report.
WinSQL reference guide
Database Diff Report
This feature allows you to compare the schema of two databases. This feature is
very useful if you have more than one database in your environment. WinSQL
creates a report in HTML format that describes the differences.
IMPORTANT: The report created is a one-way report, meaning it compares the
first database, called a pivot, with the second. Consider the following example
where we have two databases called development and production.
Development
Production
In the example above, if the development database is selected first and made a
pivot database, the report will be generated with respect to the development
database. In other words it will only report objects that exist in Development but
are missing or does not match in Production database. Therefore, it will report
that contract table is missing from Production, but will not report the existence of
employee table and empid field in orders table.
Tip: If you need to generate a two-way report, simply run the wizard twice and switch the
order of the databases.
How does it work
Start the wizard by selecting “Database Diff” from the tools menu. Select the new
template button and click next.
Tip: Remember to select the correct database type if a plugin is available
The first database is considered the pivot DB.
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Click on the connection buttons to establish a database connection. Select the
user name if required and click Next.
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Select appropriate options and the target HTML file. Click Next when done.
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WinSQL uses Cascading Style Sheets to format the HTML report, which is a very
convenient way of modifying the look and feel of the report. You have an option
of using a built-in style sheet or specify an external sheet.
IMPORTANT: File names specified in this screen must use relative path with respect to
the output HTML file. For example if the output HTML file is in the folder
C:\MyReports\DBDiff.htm, DBDiff.css, check.jpg and cross.jpg must also be in the same
folder.
Extended Attributes
These are optional attributes that you could specify that modify the look and feel
of the HTML report. The table below summarizes these options.
Attribute
Header file
Footer file
Match image
Mismatch image
Purpose
If this option is specified, WinSQL will omit the
<HTML> and <BODY> tags and will replace it
with the contents of this file.
If this option is specified, WinSQL will omit the
</HTML> and </BODY> tags and will replace it
with the contents of this file.
This must point to an image file that will be
used to display a matching condition. It should
be a small image, approximately 16 x 16 pixels
in either GIF or JPEG format.
This must point to an image file that will be
used to display a mismatching condition. It
should be a small image, approximately 16 x
16 pixels in either GIF or JPEG format.
Once finished inserting the values, click next. Verify the options on the summary
screen and again click Next. At the last screen, you have an option of saving all
the steps as a template. Finally, click Finish to run the report.
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