Create PostgreSQL ODBC Connections
Toad Data Point allows you to easily create a connection to a PostgreSQL database using ODBC connectivity. You can connect with or without using a data source name (DSN).
Download and install the necessary ODBC driver to use for your PostgreSQL connection prior to creating the new connection in Toad.
Prerequisites
To create a successful ODBC connection, the architecture (bitness) of the driver in the specified DSN must match the architecture (bitness) of Toad. For example, 64-bit Toad requires an applicable 64-bit driver and 32-bit Toad requires an applicable 32-bit driver.
To create a PostgreSQL ODBC connection
- Click
on the toolbar (ALT+F+N+O).
- Select PostgreSQL from the Group list box.
- Use data source name
- To create the connection using a data source, select this option to display data source names.
- To create the connection without using a data source, clear this check box to display driver names. Select a driver and enter a server name, port number, and a database. Or select a driver and enter a ConnectionString.
- To create a data source to use in this connection, click
in the Data Source Name field. Then click Add.
- Select a PostgreSQL ODBC driver from the list, and click Finish.
- Specify the configuration properties required for the database in the Windows driver setup dialog. Save your settings when finished.
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Specify the remaining connection properties in the Create New Connection dialog. Review the following for additional information:
Note: Specify a user that has been granted SELECT privilege in pg_catalog schema.
General Data source name
Select the driver or data source name you added in the previous steps.
User
Enter the user name to use when connecting.
Password
Enter the password to use when connecting.
Tip: After connecting, you can set a master password to further secure your connection in Tools | Options| Environment | Security.
Database
Select a database or schema. Click
to create a temporary connection and display available databases/schemas in the drop-down list.
Information
Data Source Name
Displays the selected driver or data source name.
Driver
Displays the ODBC driver associated with the data source.
Advanced Default Table Column Specify default options to use when creating a new table.
Column type—Select the default data type to use when creating a table.
Column length—For the selected column type, enter a default column length to use.
Advanced Options Block Cursor Size—Specify the number of rows to return in a single fetch of data from the result set.
Disable multi-threading—Multi-threading is disabled by default. Enable multi-threading only if supported by the driver. Multi-threading can improve performance, but can also result in unpredictable behavior if not supported by the driver.
Default: Selected
Category (Optional) Select an existing category or create a new one. -
Click Connect to connect immediately while saving the connection information. Optionally, click Save to save the connection without connecting.
Tip: Connections are stored in the connections.xml file and can be found by clicking the Application Data Directory link in Help | About.
Considerations and Limitations for PostgreSQL ODBC Connections
| Consideration/Limitation | Details |
|---|---|
| User must have pg_catalog privilege |
To use a PostgreSQL ODBC connection in Toad, the connecting user must have the SELECT privilege in the pg_catalog schema. This privilege is required as it enables viewing PostgreSQL objects in the Object Explorer, as well as other features and functionality in Toad. If you attempt to connect using a user account that does not have the SELECT privilege in the pg_catalog schema, you will encounter the following error message: "User's privileges are insufficient to connect using Toad." |
Tips for Working with ODBC Connections
| Tip | Description |
|---|---|
| Filter DSN by bitness |
To filter Data Source Names displayed in the New Connection dialog by the bitness of Toad, go to Tools | Options | Database | ODBC. |
| Cache object metadata |
To cache object metadata for ODBC connections and retain it between sessions, go to Tools | Options | Database | ODBC and select to enable disk caching. Cached object metadata is retained until manually refreshed. |
| Refresh object metadata |
To refresh object metadata for all ODBC connections, in the Object Explorer right-click an object and select Refresh All. Right-click an object and select Refresh Schema to refresh only objects in that schema. |
ODBC Features
| Feature | Description |
|---|---|
| Bypass schema/instance selection in SQL Editor |
For ODBC connections, in the SQL Editor you can bypass selecting a schema/instance and specify this information through the script instead. This is useful if your script executes SQL against multiple schemas. To use this method, select I will set schema/instance in the script from the schema/instance drop-down list in the SQL Editor window. Then specify the schema/instance through your script. Note: When this option is selected, some code completion features, object actions, and object information tool tips are unavailable for this SQL Editor window. |
Create Salesforce Connections
Toad allows you to connect directly to Salesforce.com, one of the business intelligence data sources supported by Toad. Toad supports authentication using either a Salesforce security token or single sign-on with your corporate credentials.
See also, About Salesforce.com Data Sources.
Note: This feature is available in the Toad Data Point Professional Edition only.
To create a Salesforce connection
- Click
- Select Salesforce from the Group list. The Create New Connection dialog opens.
- To create a Salesforce connection using your Salesforce email login, select the Credentials tab.
-
Enter the connection information. Review the following for additional information:
URL Enter the Salesforce.com URL to which you want to connect.
Note: An example is https://login.salesforce.com.
Username Enter your email login.
Note: You must have a Salesforce email login to create this type of connection to Salesforce.com from Toad.
Password Enter the password to use when connecting.
Tip: After connecting, you can set a master password to further secure your connection in Tools | Options| Environment | Security.
Security token Enter your Security Token provided by Salesforce.
Note: You must have a Salesforce security token to create this type of Salesforce.com connection from Toad. See Important Notes about Salesforce Connections for more information.
Category (Optional) Select an existing category or create a new one.
- After entering the connection information, click Connect to connect immediately while saving the connection information. Optionally, click Save to save the connection without connecting.
-
-
To create a Salesforce connection using your corporate credentials (single sign-on), select the Corporate Credentials tab.
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Enter your company's custom Salesforce URL. An example is https://company.my.salesforce.com or http://salesforce.servername.
Note: If you authenticate and request login to Salesforce through your company's server (e.g., http://salesforce.servername), you may need to contact your IT department to obtain the full URL to enter in this step.
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If the Salesforce log-in page displays, enter your corporate credentials (user name and password) and click Log in to Salesforce.
Note: The Salesforce log-in page does not display when authenticating through your company's server.
- The Salesforce consent page displays. Click Allow to allow Toad access to your Salesforce data.
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Upon creating an initial connection, Toad automatically maps the data source objects. This process runs in the background, and until it is finished, you may experience a delay when attempting to access these objects.
Note: In NoSQL and Business Intelligence connections, Toad automatically saves the password in the connections.xml file as obfuscated text, as well as in Toad. To add additional password security, use Toad's Master Password feature.
Manual Single Sign-On
Use the manual single sign on method when you want to create a Salesforce connection using your corporate credentials but you are having problems accessing Salesforce from Toad, for example, if Toad does not have access to the Internet.
Create a Salesforce.com connection - manual single sign-on
- In the Create New Connection dialog, select the Manual Single Sign On tab.
- Log-in to your Salesforce.com account using your browser. After you log-in, copy the full URL from the browser's address bar and paste it into the text box under Step 1 in the Manual Single Sign On tab.
- A URL appears in the text box under Step 2. Copy this URL and then paste it into the address bar in your browser.
- The Salesforce consent page displays. Click Allow.
- A page displays containing the authorization code. Copy the code and paste it into the text box under Step 3. Then click Connect.
Reauthorizing a Connection (If Using Corporate Credentials)
If you encounter an error message when attempting to connect to Salesforce using your corporate credentials connection, Toad's authorization (access) to Salesforce may be lost. Use the following procedure to re-establish authorization for the connection.
To Reauthorize
- In the Navigation Manager, disconnect from the connection. You must disconnect before you can re-authorize.
- After disconnecting, right-click the connection and select Properties.
- In the Connection Properties dialog, click Reauthorize in the Corporate Credentials tab.
-
If the Salesforce log-in page displays, re-enter your corporate credentials.
Note: The Salesforce log-in page does not display when authenticating through your company's server.
Important Notes about Salesforce Connections
- If you connect to Salesforce using a proxy, you must define the proxy server in Toad.
- A Security Token is required to log on to Salesforce.com from Toad, using your Salesforce email login.
- For information about how to generate a new security token, see the Salesforce documentation at https://login.salesforce.com/help/doc/en/user_security_token.htm.
- You may need to have your IP address included in your organization's list of trusted IP addresses. For more information, see the Salesforce documentation at http://www.salesforce.com/us/developer/docs/api/Content/sforce_api_concepts_security.htm.
Tips:
- For more information about working with Salesforce.com in Toad, see About Salesforce.com Data Sources.
- Connections are stored in the connections.xml file and can be found by clicking the Application Data Directory link in Help | About.
- You can specify a proxy server to use for Business Intelligence and NoSQL connections at Tools | Options | Database | Data Services.
Create SQL Server Connections
You can create a new connection, or connect to an existing connection from the Create New Connection window. See Troubleshoot SQL Server® Issues for more information about troubleshooting connection issues.
Note: For SQL Azure connections:
- To be able to utilize majority of Toad functionality please grant VIEW DEFINITION on the SQL Azure databases you want to work with.
- You can login to Windows Azure Platform by selecting Tools | Cloud Computing | SQL Azure Portal and providing your credentials.
- Make sure that no Azure firewall rule restricts your IP address from having access to Azure server. See Create and Alter Azure Firewall Rules for more information.
-
Click
-
Select Microsoft SQL Server or Microsoft SQL Azure from the Group list box.
-
Review the following for additional information:
Login Tab Description Server name
Enter the name of the server to use when connecting.
Click
Notes:
- For SQL Azure connections, enter InstanceName.database.windows.net in this field.
- For named instances, enter the MachineName\InstanceName in this field.
Authentication
Select the type of authentication to use for this connection.
You can connect to an Azure SQL database with Active Directory authentication. Client configuration is required. See https:// docs.microsoft.com/en-us/azure/sql-database/sql-database-aad-authentication-configure#configure-your-client-computers
Note: You cannot create a SQL Azure connection using Windows Authentication.
Password
Enter the password to use when connecting.
Tip: After connecting, you can set a master password to further secure your connection in Tools | Options| Environment | Security.
Category
Select or create a category if you want to color code Editor tabs for a specific connection. This can help differentiate between development and production databases. You can also set an option to color code the Object Explorer pane and object editor windows (Create, Alter, Drop, etc.). Encrypt connection
Select this option to enable encryption for the current connection provided that the certificate has been already installed on the server. Advanced Tab Description Network protocol
Select one of the following:
- Shared Memory
- TCP/IP
-
Named Pipes
Note: When establishing Named Pipes connection "Poll service status in connection list" option should be cleared.
Parameter Name/Value
You can add parameters to the connection. Toad includes the Application Name parameter with value Toad Data Point by default. OBDC driver
Select an ODBC driver to use for this connection when creating cross-connection queries.
Tip: You can specify the ODBC driver to use for all connections for this database provider in Tools | Options | Database | SQL Server.
-
Click Connect to save the connection and immediately connect to the database.
or
Click Save to save the connection without connecting to the database.
Tip: Connections are stored in the connections.xml file and can be found by clicking the Application Data Directory link in Help | About.
To import connections (including Central Management Server connections)
- Click
.
-
Specify the location where the connections currently reside.
Note: Review the following for additional information on CMS connections:
- To import CMS connections, select a server from the list where the CMS is registered. The connection to this SQL Server instance should be created beforehand.
- CMS is available beginning with Microsoft SQL Server 2008.
- User should have an appropriate login (Windows Authentication and grant to connect to selected server are required) created on the server to which he connects via CMS.
- Select the connections to be imported.
Troubleshoot SQL Server® Issues
Create SSAS Connections
Through Toad you can create a connection to a Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) data source. An SSAS connection in Toad allows you to access the multi-dimensional cubes from the data source.
See also, About SQL Server Analysis Services Data Sources.
Note: This feature is available in the Toad Data Point Professional Edition only.
Configure HTTP Access
Before connecting to SQL Server Analysis Services from Toad Data Point, you must configure the IIS Web server (to be used for connecting) for HTTP access to SSAS. See the following instructions from Microsoft: http://msdn.microsoft.com/en-us/library/gg492140(v=sql.105).aspx.
Connect to SQL Server Analysis Services
To create a SQL Server Analysis Services connection
- Click
- Select Microsoft SQL Server Analysis Services (SSAS) from the Group list.
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Enter the connection information in the Create New Connection dialog. Review the following for additional information:
URI Enter the URL for the Analysis Services data source to which you want to connect.
Note: Toad connects to Analysis Services via http access. The URL should have the following format:
format—http://<server path>/msmdpump.dll
example—http://server01/olap/msmdpump.dll
Database Enter the name of the Analysis Services database to which you want to connect. Username Enter the user name for the user account to be used in this connection. Password Enter the password for the user account specified in Username. Category (Optional) Select an existing category or create a new one. Note: In NoSQL and Business Intelligence connections, Toad automatically saves the password in the connections.xml file as obfuscated text, as well as in Toad. To add additional password security, use Toad's Master Password feature.
- Click Connect to connect immediately and also save the connection information. Optionally, you can click Save to save the connection without connecting.
- Upon creating an initial connection, Toad automatically maps the data source objects. This process runs in the background, and until it is finished, you may experience a delay when attempting to access these objects.
Tips:
- Read about the considerations and limitations of working with Analysis Services in Toad in About SQL Server Analysis Services Data Sources.
- Connections are stored in the connections.xml file and can be found by clicking the Application Data Directory link in Help | About.
- You can specify a proxy server to use for Business Intelligence and NoSQL connections at Tools | Options | Database | Data Services.