Develop database-related tools in an integrated environment with support for syntax highlighting, debugger, code assistant, and compiler help.
Nowadays, when IT is flourishing more and more, database administrators and programmers need advanced and well-optimized tools in order to achieve their required tasks. PL/SQL Developer, an IDE that offers the tools to manipulate databases and execute scripts, was built to help guys who work in the IT industry to develop their projects.
The program's GUI can be described as intuitive and easy to use by professionals, so it's not recommended for regular desktop users. It comes with various configuration options and it allows some basic customization of the appearance. Moreover, despite not being quite easy to notice at first use, it has a user manual for any type of encountered difficulties.
Pl/SQL Developer comes with numerous useful features. It has a built-in editor that offers object descriptions, gives compiler hints, and highlights the syntax. Besides that, the Integrated Debugger offers functions as Step In, Step Over, Step Out, Run Until Exception, Breakpoints, View & Set Variables, View Call Stack, so you can debug any program unit without making any modifications to it.
Moreover, after editing table definitions or program units you can compare user objects, in order to transfer these changes to another database user. Users can also export the DLL statements using the Export User Objects tool. Other embedded features include Multi-threaded IDE, plug-in extensions, DBMS monitor, Querry builder or a DBMS scheduler.
To summarize, PL/SQL offers various and numerous features that any programmer or database administrator would love to use. The fact that table editing can be quicker, and that it sometimes freezes shouldn't stop you from giving it a try.
v9.0 [May 13, 2011]
-The major new feature in PL/SQL Developer 9.0 is that you can now be connected with more than one user at more than one database at a time. Each window has its own connection, and you can easily switch the connection of a window by using the connection selector at the bottom-left of the window
-The new Connection List allows you to quickly access connections from a dockable or floating tool
-The connection list gives you a quick overview of all connections and their associated windows. Connections will automatically be added to the list when logging on, but they can also be explicitly added as a user-defined connection. By right-clicking on a connection you can quickly open windows, create objects, and launch tools for a connection
-PL/SQL Developer 9.0 adds support for Excel 2007 / 2010 XLSX format for exporting SQL Window result sets and saving Report Window results. Previous Excel formats had a restriction of 65,000 rows so that multiple sheets were required for larger result sets. The XLSX format allows for an unlimited number of rows per sheet. Both the SQL Window and Report Window allow you to explicitly choose between the old XLS format and the new XLSX format
-The following enhancements have been made to the Diagram Window:
* Explicitly sort items with drag & drop.
* Automatically sort items by id or alphabetically.
* Additional zoom levels for smoother zooming.
* Show or hide item types at group or diagram level.
* Table and View level comments included.
-The following enhancements have been made to the Command Window:
* ZIP Archive [File | Directory] command added.
* Support for SIZE UNLIMITED added for the SET SERVEROUTPUT command.
* ZIP option added to the SPOOL command.
* SHOW CONNECTION command added to show information about all connections.
-The table definition editor now supports Oracle11g virtual columns. You can mark a column as virtual and enter the expression in the Default/Expression field
-Other enhancements include:
* Support for local partitioned indexes added.
* Support for logging/nologging added.
* Support for rowdependencies added.
* Comments can now be edited in a text editor.
* You can now lock one or more columns so that they remain visible when the grid is scrolled horizontally. In the example above the "empno" and "ename" key columns are the first 2 columns, but they remain visible even though the grid is scrolled horizontally. You can also scroll lock rows to keep key rows visible or to easily compare 2 rows that are not adjacent.
* Virtual columns are read-only and will immediately update when you change the value of a source column. In the example above the virtual "email" column is immediately updated to "[email protected]" when the "ename" column is changed to "BATES".
* If a table has a before insert or update trigger that modifies column values, or if the table has default values for newly inserted records, the SQL Window grid will now immediately display these server-generated values after posting the new or modified record.
* You can now use a "Tab=<title>" comment to define result tab titles. In the example above the first tab is named "All employees" and the second tab is named "DEPT Salary".
* A function key has been added to invoke the Large Data Editor from the result grid.
* The Output Buffer Size can be set to 0 for Unlimited.
-The following enhancements have been made to the Test Manager:
* Global variables added to pass variable values from one test script to another.
* A "New Session" property is added to isolate test scripts from session state changes.
* A Log pane is added on the Run tab page to show variable input and output values.
* The definition page now contains a splitter to resize the top and bottom half.
Feature-rich relational database known for its high performance and excellent concurrency
