Getting Started and General Overview

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DbVisualizer 6.5
October 2008 		http://www.dbvis.com
support@dbvis.com

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Introduction

DbVisualizer is a feature rich, intuitive multi-database tool fors developers and database administrators, providing a single powerful interface across a wide variety of operating systems. With its easy-to-use and clean interface, DbVisualizer has proven to be one of the most cost effective database tools available, yet to mention that it runs on all major operating systems and supports all major RDBMS that are available. Users only need to learn and master one application. DbVisualizer integrates transparently with the operating system being used.

This document gives a overview, installation tips and general information about the product.

The screenshots throughout the users guide are produced on Windows XP using the Windows Look and Feel, but DbVisualizer lets you choose among other Look and Feels as well.

All documents in the Users Guide are primarily focusing on the DbVisualizer Personal edition. Some of the described features are not available in the Free edition.

Installing

Installing DbVisualizer is no different then installing other modern products. The standard installation procedure is performed using a graphical application, and you just need to click through the questions that are displayed. Follow the instructions at the DbVisualizer web site if you need information on how to start the installation procedure specifically for your platform.

Installation structure

The installer and launcher for DbVisualizer is based on the install4jTM product (http://www.install4j.com). The structure of the installation directory (referred as DBVIS-HOME throughout the users guide) contains the following. (The exact content may differ between platforms):
.install4j/
doc/
jdbc/
lib/
resources/
wrapper/
dbvis.vmoptions
dbvis.exe
README.txt
uninstall.exe
The dbvis.exe file is used to start DbVisualizer. The remaining files and directories are only of interest if you need to do nonstandard customization. For information on how to increase the memory for the Java process that runs DbVisualizer, and also on how to modify the Java version being used, please read the on-line FAQ for the latest information. 

Java Properties

DbVisualizer utilizes a few Java properties that you can use to modify characteristics of the application. These DbVisualizer specific properties are available in the DBVIS-HOME/resources/dbvis-custom.prefs file.

You rarely need to modify these properties, as the default values are sufficient for most usage.


The following are the properties handled by DbVisualizer:

Property Description
dbvis.driver.ignore.dir=lib:resources:.install4j Specify directories from DBVIS-HOME that should not be listed in the Driver Manager "System Classpath" list. Directories are separated with ":".
Accepted values: one or several directory names starting from DBVIS-HOME. 
dbvis.grid.encode=false Specifies if encoding of data in result set grids will be performed or not. If set to true then make sure the  dbvis.grid.fromEncode and/or dbvis.grid.toEncode are also set.
dbvis.grid.fromEncode=ISO8859_1 Encoding used when translating text data that is fetched from the database
dbvis.grid.toEncode=GBK Encoding used when translating data that will appear in the result set grid
dbvis.usegetobject=false Specifies if the generic ResultSet.getObject() method in JDBC will be used in favor of the data type specific get methods or not. Default is false.
dbvis.savedatacolumns=false
 Column layout changes such as reordering and/or visibility are saved for all grids in the Objects Views *except* for the "Data" grid. This property can be used to also include the layout in the "Data" grid. Note: This will result in DbVisualizer saving the layout for each table that is displayed in the Data grid = huge XML file...
dbvis.disabledataedit=false
 Specifies if table data editing should be completely disabled, i.e. the form and inline editors. Note: This only has an effect when used with a licensed edition.
dbvis.showactionresult=false This defines whether the result for all actions should be displayed or only failures (default).
dbvis.usestandardgridfit=false
 Enable this property and DbVisualizer will use an accurate but slow method to automatically resize grid columns. "Accurate" since it does a real calculation of the columns width. If leaving this property disabled then column widths are determined much faster but depending on what grid font is used some columns may be truncated with "...". This property only have effect if Tool Properties->Grid->Auto Resize Column Widths is enabled
dbvis.sqlwarning.maxrows=5000
 Defines the number of SQL Warning rows that should be processed until truncated.

These properties may change in future versions of DbVisualizer. Some are also experimental and may be removed or instead introduced in the DbVisualizer GUI.

Install license key for DbVisualizer Personal

If you have a license key file for DbVisualizer Personal, then start DbVisualizer and open the Help->License Key window. Enter the name of the license file in the License Key File field, or launch the file chooser by pressing the "..." button to the right of the license file field. Once the file is loaded, press the Install License button.

Uninstalling the license key

If you ever need to uninstall the license key, you can do so by removing (or renaming) the following file:

Operating System File Name
Windows C:\Documents and Settings\<user>\.dbvis\dbvis.license
UNIX/Linux /home/<user>/.dbvis/dbvis.license
Mac OS X /Users/<user>/.dbvis/dbvis.license

Useful Resources

Resources related to DbVisualizer that are useful:
  1. The home of DbVisualizer
  2. The FAQ which is regularly updated with frequently asked questions and known problems
  3. The User Guide
  4. The Databases and JDBC Drivers online page. This page gives information about supported databases and JDBC drivers
  5. The Minq forums
  6. The online problem report form. This is the recommended channel for product support and general questions

Starting DbVisualizer

How to start DbVisualizer depends on the operating system you are using.

Command line arguments

DbVisualizer supports a range of command line arguments. These are listed in the Help->About menu choice, under the Command Line tab, in DbVisualizer.

Usage: dbvis [-help] [-up <path>] [-sqlfile <path>]
             [-windowtitle <title>]
             [connect options] [remote options]

General Options:
  -help                Display this help
  -up <path>           Use an alternate user preferences file
  -sqlfile <path>      Load file into the SQL Commander editor
  -encoding <encoding> Optional encoding for loaded file
  -windowtitle <title> Additional window title
  -execute             Will execute SQL file automatically
  -invisible           No windows will be displayed

Driver Connect Options:
  -driver Setup and connect using the following Driver options:
    -alias <name>      Database alias
    -drivername <name> Driver name
    -path <path>       Path to driver class
    -class <class>     JDBC Driver class
    -url <url>         Connection URL
    -userid <user>     Userid to connect as
    -password <pw>     Connect password

JNDI Connect Options:
  -jndi Setup and connect using the following JNDI options:
    -alias <name>      Database alias
    -drivername <name> Driver name
    -path <path>       Path to initial context class
    -class <class>     Initial context class
    -url <url>         Provider URL
    -lookup <name>     Lookup name
    -userid <user>     Userid to connect as
    -password <pw>     Connect password

Remote Options:
  -attachremote Attach to remote DbVisualizer instance
  -enableremote Enable remote attachment
  -host <host>  Remote host name (default: localhost)
  -port <port>  Remote port (default: 8787)

The Main Window and Common Components

As you can see in the in the screenshot below, the DbVisualizer interface has a Database Objects Tree to the left and two tabs to the right.

Database Objects Tree
This tree keeps (at the top level) all the Database Connection objects (or folder objects, used to organize Database Connections). Use this tree to navigate and explore the database. Clicking on an object will change the view in the Object View tab to show details about the selected object.

Object View
This tab shows detailed information about the object represented by the selected tree node. The content of the Object View tab depends on the type of the selected object.

SQL Commander
The SQL Commander lets you execute any SQL statements and scripts. 

Figure: The DbVisualizer main window

Standard Components in the User Interface

The following sections introduce generic features and components that you find in many parts of DbVisualizer.

Grid, Graph and Chart

Grid, graph and chart are three terms that are often used in the application and in the documentation. The following screenshots show what they represent.

Grid
Graph
Chart

Figure: The grid, graph and chart terms

The documentation uses the term grid for the user interface component that represents tabular data, rather than table, to avoid confusion with a database table.

Context Sensitive Components

All components in the user interface (e.g., buttons and menu items) are context sensitive. They are enabled only if they can be used in the current scope.

Tooltips

Tooltips are used to provide more details about a component. They are also used to express status information. An example is the grid column header tooltip that shows information about the column. To see a tooltip, let the mouse hover over an area of the user interface, e.g., a button or grid header. If there is a tooltip for the area, it will pop up in about a second.


Figure: Tooltip example

Grids

Grids are used heavily in DbVisualizer and require a brief introduction.

Grid controls overview

Figure: Grid overview

The screenshot shows the grid and controls that are available for the grid in the Data tab, but the differences are minor compared to grids used in other places.
Sorting
You can sort the grid based on the values in one or more columns. When you click on a column header, the grid is sorted in ascending order on the values in that column, indicated by an up-arrow in the column header. If you click the same column header again, the grid is sorted in descending order, indicated by a down-arrow in the column header. If you click a third time, the data is shown in the order it was received from the database and the sort indicator disappears.

To sort on more than one column, Ctrl-click (keep the Ctrl key pressed when clicking) on additional columns. The grid is then sorted on the values in the first column you clicked on (indicated with a 1 next to the arrow), and then all rows with the same value in the first column are sorted on the values in the second sort column (indicated with a 2 next to the arrow), and so on.
Right-click menu
The generic right-click grid menu contains the following operations:


Figure: Grid right click menu

Menu Choice Description
Select All Select all cells (i.e., all rows and columns) in the grid
Select Row(s) Select all cells in the selected row(s)
Copy Selection Copy all selected cells onto the system clipboard
Copy Selection (With Column Header) Copy all selected cells including column header onto the system clipboard
Export Copy the export dialog
Export Selection Export the selection using the standard export feature
Print Open the print dialog for printing the compete grid
Print Selection Open the print dialog for printing just the selected rows/columns
Print Preview Open the print preview dialog
Save Selected Cell Save the value of the selected cell to a file, selected with a file chooser dialog
Reload Reload the grid with data from the database
Find Open the find dialog
Browse Row in Window Display all data for the selected row in a separate window.
Note: for a read/write grid, this entry is named Edit Row in Window.
Browse Cell in Window Display the cell value in a separate window. This is especially useful for BLOB/CLOB data.
Note: for a read/write grid, this entry is named Edit Cell in Window.
Describe Data Show detailed information about the columns in the grid
Calculate Selection Displays some metrics about the current selection. This is especially useful for numeric fields. Read more in Calculate Selection below.

The menu may contain additional entries based on the current scope, e.g., entries for editing cell values for a read/write grid.
Calculate Selection
The Calculate Selection feature performs basic calculations on the current selection. It is primarily used for selections of cells holding numbers. The following is an example of what it shows.


Figure: The calculate selection popup

Property Description
Number of Cells Shows the number of cells in the selection.
Valid Numbers Lists the number of valid numbers in the selection.
Null Values Shows the total of null values in the selection.
Bytes Shows the total number of bytes in the selection after that the data has been translated to text
Sum Shows the total summary of the selection
Min Shows the minimum number in the selection
Avg Shows the average value of the selection by doing sum / number of valid numbers
Max Shows the maximum number in the selection

Click the red cross icon, or anywhere in the popup, to close it.
Column Visibility
The Column Visibility dialog controls which columns you want to appear in a grid. You open the column visibility dialog by clicking the button above the vertical scrollbar in the grid.


Figure: The Column Visibility dialog

The Column Visibility dialog shows all columns that are available in the grid.

The checkmark in front of a column name indicates that the column is visible in the grid, while an unchecked box indicates that it is excluded from the grid. Click the checkmark to change the visibility of a column. You can change the visibility for all columns at once using the two visibility buttons in the dialog.

The order of the columns can also be adjusted in this dialog. Just select a row and use the Up and Down buttons to move it up (left in grid) or down (right in grid).

If you want to revert your changes, you can click on the Default Layout button to reset the grid, i.e., making all column visible and put them in their default locations.

Note 1: Modifications of column visibility, size and order are saved between invocations of DbVisualizer for all grids in the various Object View tabs except for the Data tab.

Note 2: If you modify the column visibility in the Data tab, the changes persists throughout the session. For instance, if you remove the  Name column in the Data tab for the table EMPLOYEE, the Name column remains excluded when you reload the table or come back to the Data tab for that table later in the same session. You must manually make it visible again to bring it back. The changes are, however, reset when you restart the application.
Auto Resize
The column header right-click menu contains a number of options for automatic resizing of column widths.


Figure: Auto Resize menu

Menu Choice Description
All Columns (consider Header) Resize all columns to fit the widest cell value, or the column header if it is wider than any cell value
All Columns (ignore Header) Resize all columns to fit the widest cell value
Current Column (consider Header) Resize the current column to fit the widest cell value, or the column header if it is wider than any cell value 
Current Column (ignore Header) Resize the current column to fit the widest cell value
Default Column Widths Set all column widths to their default width
Quick Filter
All areas that hold a grid in DbVisualizer also provide a Quick Filter field.

Qucik Filter overview

Figure: Grid with Quick Filter

When you type in the Quick Filter field, DbVisualizer matches the value with cell values in the grid and filters out all rows that do not have a match in at least one cell. The Quick Filter pull-down menu (click on the down arrow next to the magnifying glass) lets you choose if the filter should match cells in all columns or just one selected column, case or case insensitive matching, and where in the cell the value must match.

Checking for Updates

We frequently release new versions of DbVisualizer to introduce new features and improvements, and to fix problems. To make you aware of new versions, DbVisualizer periodically checks if a newer version than the one you are using is available when you start DbVisualizer. If there is a newer version available, you are presented with a dialog with links to pages on our site where you can read more about it and download the new version.



Figure: Available Updates dialog

The Comment field tells you if it is an Early Access version (i.e., a preview of an upcoming major version we are currently working on) or if you need a new license to use the new version. If your current license is valid even for the new version, the Comment field is empty. Click on the links in the Download or Release Notes fields to open a browser with the corresponding page at our web site.

DbVisualizer checks for new versions at start-up on a weekly basis. You can change the interval or check manually at any time by launching the Check for Update dialog from the Help menu.



Figure: Check For Updates dialog

You can set the interval to one of Every Start-Up, Weekly, Monthly or Never, or click the Check Now button to see if there are any new versions available right now. If new versions are available, the same dialog as shown above appears, otherwise a message tells you that you are running the latest version.

The dialog also informs you about which version you are currently running and when the last check for updates took place.

Click OK to save the new interval or Cancel to leave it as it was.

If you are accessing the Internet through a proxy, you must enter information about the proxy in the Tool Properties dialog before you check for updates.

Problem resolution

Even though we make our very best to ensure the quality of DbVisualizer, you may run into problems of different kinds. The runtime environment for DbVisualizer is rather complicated when it comes to tracking the source of a problem, since it's not only DbVisualizer that may cause the problem but also the JDBC driver, or even the database engine.

There are a few things that you can try before reporting a problem, depending on the nature of the problem:
  1. Make sure you are using the latest version of Java available for your platform (Java 5 or later)
  2. Make sure you are using a version of the JDBC driver that we've tested DbVisualizer with, or a later, production quality version
  3. Read the DbVisualizer FAQ
  4. Check the online Forums
  5. Read the DbVisualizer Users Guide
  6. ... the last resort is to post a question via the problem report form or send an email to support@dbvis.com. (Note that we generally love detailed reports as well as screenshots when possible)

Debugging DbVisualizer

The Tools->Debug Window is useful to see what is going on in  DbVisualizer and the JDBC driver(s). The checks at the top control what parts of DbVisualizer that should be debugged. The Debug JDBC Drivers option will enable debug of the current JDBC driver. Note that the amount of output is determined by the JDBC driver.


Figure: The DbVisualizer Debug Window

The Save and Copy buttons will prepare the log with information about the DbVisualizer version you are using and the connected database connections.

The log is automatically truncated  to preserve memory when the log destination is set to Debug Window. The Console and File destinations have no such limitation.

How to satisfy the DbVisualizer support team

Quite often we get incomplete problem reports and need to follow up for additional information. If you encounter a problem, please follow these steps to include the details we need to help you:
  1. Select the Connection tab
  2. In the Connection Message area, select the right click menu
  3. In the menu, select Copy
  4. This copies the system details to the clipboard. Then paste the details into an email or in the problem report form.
  5. In addition, we really appreciate it if you provide us with screenshots. An image says more than ... you know.

Figure: The connection message right click menu


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