As I promised earlier, the focus of this blog entry will be using the Editor in Toad for Data Analysts. The Editor is where you can enter your own SQL code to query the database. Since you’re already familiar with Toad for Oracle’s Editor, you’ll notice some similarities in Toad for Data Analysts. Hopefully, these similarities will allow you to begin using the Editor as quickly as possible.

 

We’ll use the menus again for activating the Editor. Simply select Tools | Editor

You should be aware of a couple of toolbar menus that I have active. One is the Connections toolbar and the other is the Editor toolbar. The Connections toolbar allows me to specify the database connection I’d like to perform the SQL execution against. So, if I’ve connected to multiple data sources, I can choose which one I want to query. The Editor toolbar gives me access to icons to format code, execute SQL, etc. It also allows me to specify the current schema. This is the same current schema selection concept you’ve experienced in Toad for Oracle. To activate these toolbars, right-mouse click to the right of the Help menu to load the toolbar selection interface.

Make sure that Connections and Editor are selected. They’ll then be visible as toolbars in Toad for Data Analysts.

I can have multiple Editors active in Toad for Data Analysts. These appear as tabs and I simply continue to load them using the Tools | Editor menus.

 

 

Yes, you certainly do! For a full list of what’s available, load the Help system and type “shortcut” into the Index tab.

One thing that is worth mentioning is the object lookup feature. In Toad for Oracle, if I need the details of an object I am working with, in the Editor, I can highlight the object and press the F4 key. This loads the object’s details in a pop-up window. In Toad for Data Analysts, the process is the same, but the details load in a window on the bottom of the Editor screen as opposed to loading in a pop-up window.

 

 

Yes, you do! You can load them by selecting the Editor | Code Snippets menu. These menu selections make the Snippets menu active within Toad for Data Analysts. This menu is a fly-out that you can select and pin once the menu is active.

Because Toad for Data Analysts allows you to work with multiple data sources, we have snippets available for various data sources. You can add your own by right-mouse clicking, in the snippets window, and creating your own folders and snippets. In fact, I can load available snippets for the current connection, in the Editor window, by using the “Ctrl+Space Bar” combination on my keyboard. This should be familiar behavior given your Toad for Oracle experience.

Yes! In fact, the keyboard shortcuts are the same in Toad for Data Analysts and Toad for Oracle! F5 executes scripts and F9 executes statements. You can also use the toolbar icons if you prefer.

 

When you execute your code, remember to check the bottom portion of the Editor menu for any results sets. This is similar behavior to the Query Builder.

 

 

Yes! Formatting code can be done using the double yellow arrow icon, in the Editor toolbar above, or using the Editor | Format Code menu. The formatting options are located in the Tools -> Options menus as shown below:

 

 

 

Hopefully, you’ve become very comfortable understanding and using some of the major features in Toad for Data Analysts. In many cases, Toad for Data Analysts is similar to Toad for Oracle, so you’ve probably had no trouble taking advantage of this great solution from Quest Software. I strongly encourage you to continue to explore the menus within Toad for Data Analysts and take advantage of the numerous features we haven’t discussed. We’ve truly just scratched the surface! Oh, and remember your best friends “F1” and “right-mouse click”. They’ll help you along the way!

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