Get to Know V8.0
Introduction
With each new release of Toad comes a new set of functionality for a user to learn. But the first hurdle is usually finding the new functionality. Now, a 'good' user would read through the Release Notes and the Help to discover the new functionality, but we all know this often is not a realistic goal for busy IT professionals. This document will give a quick walk-through of some of new dramatic and time-saving features being introduced in Toad version 8.0.
Note: This tutorial/walk-through was written using Toad BETA release version 8.0.0.8. The walk-through will be updated as the release cycle continues, so be sure to check back for updates often.
New Schema Browser Functionality
The Schema Browser functionality list grows almost exponentially it seems as each new release becomes available. For example, in 8.0 we have several new object types, i.e. 'Recycle Bin' for 10g instances. This walk-thru will focus on the new time-saving techniques introduced for 8.0.
Jump To's
Click here to see a screenshot of the Schema Browser (SB). When working with a unfamiliar trigger, you may wish to investigate the object on which the trigger is programmed to fire. In this case, the trigger, 'Trigger_1' (with this name, no wonder the trigger is unfamiliar) fires before an INSERT on the table 'TABLE_WITH_TRIGGER'. We have a label above the trigger information called 'On.' If you mouse-over the label data, in this case 'TABLE_WITH_TRIGGER', it will highlight blue and underline. You can then click them for a F4 (DESC) window or CTRL Click to jump the SB to that object. This is extremely useful when a particular schema may have thousands of objects.
Styles
The Schema Browser (SB) has for several releases now offered three different visual styles. However now in the 8.0 release, each style has been fully developed and all offer the same functionality sets, i.e. Multi-Select, Customization, etc.
By clicking on the Browser Style drop-down button on the main SB toolbar, we can see which style is active, in this case 'Drop-down'. We can also change the style on the fly, whereas in previous releases this change meant going to View->Options and re-starting the SB Window.
The Configure functionality has also been moved from the Tab View (accessible via a right-click over the tab controls) to this Style-Dropdown as ALL the styles are now completely configurable, i.e. Labels, Ordering, Available Object Nodes.
History
How many times have you been browsing your database in the Schema Browser (SB), when you wish you could go back to something you've already browsed, but could not find it again? The SB now keeps a History list. Click here to see a screenshot. It keeps track of every item you click on in the LHS, and you can quickly return to any of them!
If you:
- close the browser
- switch modes (treeview, tabbed, drop-down)
- open another browser
....then the history is preserved and it still works! If you change your SB to a connection that had history, the old history is restored. Back to Top
XML Support
As most of you should know by now, Toad has been introducing more support for Oracle's Advanced Data Types in the past several releases. With 8.0, this endeavor is much closer to completion with the arrival of a grid and editor that can fully handle XML! You can now query XML columns and edit their contents, open XML files into a XML editor, and even bring up an XML Editor on CLOB datatypes that contain the XML page header!
Click here to see a screenshot of a SQL Editor session querying a table called 'XWAREHOUSES'. This table contains a column of type SYS.XMLTYPE. In the results grid for this column we see the text '(ORAXML)'. To view the contents of this column in the new XML Editor, Double-Click on the column contents for the particular row you wish to view/edit.
The following editor is also available from the Toad Text Editor 
and from CLOB values that contain the following XML Header '
The XML editor is a very powerful tool. It works like most of the other editors in Toad - you can
- traverse records with the 'arrow' navigation buttons
- post or rollback your changes
- save or print the record, and much more.
There is also an Options dialog for the editor where you can configure synchronization of Tree Data to the Source Code and more.
You can also right-click in the XML tree section and delete, duplicate, or move nodes. Click here to see a screenshot of this.
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Dockable Windows = less crowded workspace!
New Dockable window support is now in Toad. Multiple docking configurations can be saved/restored with controls on the new "Desktops" toolbar. The following windows are now dockable:
There are 2 new dockable panels for Toad - Object Palette and Code Snippets. Currently, you can enable these modules under the "View" menu and they will default to a right-side docking. These new modules replace the old "Table Select", "Column Select", and "SQL Template" pop-ups from the SQL Editor and Procedure Editor.
Object Palette
This is a combination of the old "Table select" and "Column select" pop-up windows that you could invoke from the editors. Unlike their predecessors, this module will automatically respond to changes in the Active connection. The display of the columns is optional and the tables/views will be fetched from a cache unless the user uses the refresh action (button or F5). You can perform a describe (F4) on any items selected in the list. It supports drag-drop and double-click to insert into whatever syntax editor is in the active MDI child.
Code Snippets
This is exactly the same thing as the old "SQL Templates" pop-up form. We chose a better name and, one day, time permitting, Toad will combine all of those separate text files that supply the data into a single XML file. Toad will also give the users the ability to modify and add their own.
Docking the Window
To dock one of the above mentioned windows, simply double-click on the window title bar. The title bar will be replaced by the image to the left. You can drag a docked window from one side of the screen to the other to dock it somewhere else. If you click on the stickpin icon, the window will disappear until you mouse over the window icon. This allows you to have a larger workspace. Once you decide to use the docked windows, you will probably want to start working in maximized window mode as well.
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Configurable Desktops
If you have not read the section above regarding dockable windows, please do so now.
Multiple docking configurations can be saved/restored with controls on the new "Desktops" toolbar. This includes the windows that are open, there placement/size on the desktop, and whether they are set to pin or auto-hide.
You could use multiple desktop arrangements to easily switch between tasks in Toad. For example, you may not wish to only have the Object Palette open when modeling tables or creating ER Diagrams. You can setup your window configuration for these windows and save that to a 'Desktop'. Next time you want to use the SQLModeler, you'll be able to switch your windows around by simply using the Desktop Dropdown.
First, open the 'Desktops' toolbar. Right-click in the toolbar section of Toad and choose 'Desktops'. Drag it onto another toolbar to save space. Then setup your docked windows and hit the Save button to the right of the Desktop Dropdown on the toolbar. "Auto-save current desktop on shutdown" option under Toolbars/Menus will save any changes made to the desktop automatically.
With this functionality it becomes much easier in Toad to control how much real-estate to assign the docked windows. This should decrease the amount of time a user spends re-sizing and opening/closing windows in Toad.