Create ODBC Connections
Toad Data Point allows you to create a connection to a database that supports an ODBC 3.0 or later driver. ODBC connectivity provides basic querying capability, but may not be as full-featured as a native connection in Toad. For a list of databases tested with the ODBC provider, see the Release Notes.
This form of connectivity allows connections to databases such as Netezza, IBM iSeries, Ingres, and Vertica.
Note: Distinct values are not available in Code Completion for ODBC connections.
DSN Architecture (Bitness) Must Match Toad
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 an ODBC connection
- Click
on the toolbar (ALT+F+N+O).
- Select ODBC Generic from the Group list box.
- Use data source name—Select to display data source names. Clear this check box if you want to display the driver names.
- To create a data source to use in this connection, click
in the Data Source Name field. Then click Add.
-
Select an ODBC driver from the list, and click Finish.
Note: If creating an Oracle ODBC connection, select the ODBC driver provided by Oracle. The Microsoft ODBC for Oracle driver has less functionality than the driver provided by Oracle.
-
Specify the configuration properties required for the database in the Windows configuration dialog.
Notes:
- If you have an Oracle database with Unicode data, make sure to select Force SQL_WCHAR Support on the Workarounds tab of the windows Oracle ODBC Configuration dialog. If you do not, you will not be able to see the data.
- If creating a MySQL ODBC connection to use in a cross-connection query, you must specify a database in the Windows MySQL ODBC Configuration dialog.
-
Specify the connection properties in the Create New Connection dialog. Review the following for additional information:
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.
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. |
Configure Oracle LDAP Support
You can create Oracle Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) connections when your Oracle client is configured for LDAP. Once the client is configured, Toad retrieves names from your LDAP server and displays them in the Database Name list in the Create New Connection window.
Notes:
- To connect using LDAP, you must install an Oracle client on the computer.
- Toad supports a 9i, 10g, and 11 client and the Oracle Instant client. If you want to use the instant client, you must configure it to work with Toad. See Configure the Oracle Instant Client for more information.
To configure the Oracle client for LDAP
-
Obtain the LDAP.ORA file from your database administrator.
-
Copy the LDAP.ORA file to the folder where the SQLNET.ORA file for your Oracle client is located. The default folder is: ORACLE_HOME\network\admin
-
Open the SQLNET.ORA file and enter "(LDAP)" as the value for the NAMES.DIRECTORY_PATH as follows:
NAMES.DIRECTORY_PATH= (LDAP)
Note: If you are using multiple naming methods, add the (LDAP) value to existing parameter values. For example, if you are using both the TNSNAMES and LDAP naming methods, add LDAP to TNSNAMES as follows:
NAMES.DIRECTORY_PATH= (TNSNAMES, LDAP)
-
Save the SQLNET.ORA file.
-
Launch Toad and select File | New | Connection.
-
Create an LDAP connection following the procedure in Create Oracle Connections. In step 3, select a database on the LDAP server from the Database Name list. Toad retrieves the list of LDAP names from the LDAP server once per Toad session. To refresh the list, click
.
Create Oracle Connections
You can create a new connection, or connect to an existing connection from the Create New Connection window.
Tip: You can configure Toad Data Point to accept connection information from Toad for Oracle.
Client Connection or Direct Connection
You can connect to your database using a native Oracle database provider in Toad using one of the following methods:
|
Connection Method |
Advantages |
Disadvantages |
|---|---|---|
|
Client connection Client tab—Uses an installed Oracle Client or Oracle Instant Client to establish a connection to the database from Toad. |
Supports LDAP See Configure Oracle LDAP Support for more information about configuring the Oracle client to use LDAP. |
Requires an Oracle client Note: Toad supports Oracle clients and Oracle Instant clients using version 9i or later. |
|
Direct connection Direct Connect tab—Uses TCP/IP to connect directly to the database. |
Does not require an installed Oracle Client Recommended for connecting to Oracle 8i databases |
This method only supports common data types. Some advanced Oracle object types cannot be retrieved when connecting using this method. This method does not support LDAP. (To connect using LDAP, use the Client Connection method instead.) This method cannot be used in a cross-connection query. |
|
Note: Quest recommends using one of the methods described in this table to connect to Oracle rather than an ODBC driver. Because ODBC connectivity is generic, it is not full-featured and may not be as robust as the fully exploited native database provider. | ||
Data Types Supported
Toad supports both the 32-bit and the 64-bit versions of the Oracle Client. The following table identifies which Oracle data types are supported for each client type.
| Data Type | Supported Using 32-Bit Client |
Supported Using 64-Bit Client |
|---|---|---|
| CHAR |  |
|
| VARCHAR2 and VARCHAR | |
|
| NCHAR and NVARCHAR2 | |
|
| LONG | |
|
| NUMBER | |
|
| DATE | |
|
| TIMESTAMP | |
|
| BLOB | |
|
| CLOB | |
|
| NCLOB | |
|
| BFILE |  |
|
| RAW, LONG RAW | |
|
| ROWID | |
|
| XMLType 1, 2 | |
|
| SDO_GEOMETRY | |
|
| VARRAY | |
|
| Nested Table | |
|
| User-Defined | |
|
Table Notes:
- An XMLType that uses an XML schema is supported, but only when using Oracle Client 11.2 or later.
- XMLType data that is stored as binary XML is not supported.
Configure the Oracle Instant Client
The Oracle Instant client installs only those files needed to connect to your database using OCI. Because this client does not write to the registry (no ORACLE_HOMES) or add to the environmental path, you must manually set environment variables so the client can be used with Toad.
To configure the Oracle Instant Client to work with Toad
- Save the Oracle Instant Client files in any location on the computer where Toad is installed.
- On your Windows desktop, right-click My Computer and select Properties.
- Select the Advanced tab and click Environment Variables.
-
Click New under System Variables and complete the following:
Variable name Variable Value PATH <Path where Instant Client is installed>;%PATH%
For Example: C:\Program Files\OracleInstantClient;%PATH%
TNS_ADMIN <Path where tnsnames.ora file is installed>
- To use the Oracle Instant Client connection in a cross-connection query, you must also install an Oracle ODBC driver. (While the Oracle Client full install includes an ODBC driver, the Oracle Instant Client does not.)
Note: You cannot use an Oracle Direct Connection in a cross-connection query.
Create an Oracle Connection
To create an Oracle connection
-
Click
-
Select Oracle from the Group list box.
-
Review the following for additional information:
Login Tab Description Database name
Select the alias to use when connecting. This list displays aliases from LDAP, as well as any local tnsnames.ora file.
When you initially open the connection dialog, Toad retrieves the list of LDAP names from the LDAP server. Toad caches this list and displays it upon subsequent requests, within one Toad session. To refresh the list, click
Note: If you do not select a database, Toad uses the ORACLE_SID for the selected home. If an ORACLE_SID value does not exist and you do not specify a database, you cannot connect.
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.
Connect as
Select whether to connect as either SYSDBA or SYSOPER if you have the appropriate permissions. Otherwise, use the default.
Schema
Select a schema if you frequently work in a different schema than the one associated with your user name. Explain plan table
(Optional) Specify the location of an existing explain plan table to use instead of Toad automatically creating one for you when you execute a statement. This is useful if you do not have necessary permissions to create explain plan tables or want to use an existing table.
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.). Save password
Select this check box if you plan to use this connection in a scheduled Automation script.
Note: This option is disabled if Toad was installed with Prohibit saving passwords selected.
Oracle Client Tab
Description
Current home
Modify the Oracle home to use, if needed.
TNSNames Editor
Click this button to edit your local TNSNames file.
Tip: You can press CTRL+F to open the Find/Replace window to locate entries in the TNS Names Editor. Pressing F3 locates the next entry that matches your criteria.
SQLNET Editor
Click this button to edit SQLNET.ORA parameters. Before editing this file, you should create a backup copy. See SQLNET.ORA Profile Parameters in the Oracle documentation for more information. Direct Tab
Description
SID
Enter the ORACLE_SID value for the database. This value is specified in the registry under each installed home.
Advanced Tab Description ODBC driver
If an Oracle Client is installed, the default is the Oracle ODBC driver.
If an Oracle Client is not installed, the default is the Microsoft Access ODBC driver.
Tip: You can specify the ODBC driver to use for all connections for this database provider in Tools | Options | Database | Oracle.
-
Click Connect to connect immediately while saving the connection information. Optionally, click Save to save the connection without connecting.
Note: Go to Tools | Options | Database | Oracle to specify default options to use in Oracle connections.
Tip: Connections are stored in the connections.xml file and can be found by clicking the Application Data Directory link in Help | About.
Create Oracle BI Connections
Toad allows you to connect to the presentation layer of an Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise Edition (OBIEE) data source.
See also, About Oracle BI Enterprise Data Sources .
Note: This feature is available in the Toad Data Point Professional Edition only.
To create an Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise connection
- Click
- Select Oracle BI Enterprise from the Group list.
-
Enter the connection information in the Create New Connection dialog. Review the following for additional information:
URL Enter the URL to the Oracle Business Intelligence Enterprise data source to which you want to connect.
Note: You must include the port number in the URL as in the following examples:
format—http://<server path>:<port>/analytics/saw.dll
example—http://server01.mycompany.com:80/analytics/saw.dll
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.
Row Limit Select a row limit to enforce for query results.
default = 500,000
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 while saving the connection information. Optionally, 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.
Important Information about Oracle BI Connections
You must incorporate the port into the OBIEE database connection URL in the following format:
http://<server name>:<port>/analytics/saw.dll
An example URL is http://server01.mycompany.com:80/analytics/saw.dll
Tips:
- Read about the considerations and limitations of working with OBIEE in Toad in About Oracle BI Enterprise 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.