Toad Data Point 3.7 - User Guide

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.

To create an ODBC connection

1. Click on the toolbar (ALT+F+N+O).
2. Select ODBC Generic from the Group list box.
3. Click in the Data Source Name field.  
4. Click Add.

5. 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.

6. 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.

7. Specify the connection properties in the Create New Connection dialog. Review the following for additional information:

   General
   Use data source name	Select to display the Data source names. Do not select this option if you want to display the driver names.
   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	Specify the location of the database schema. Click to create a temporary connection and display available 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.
   Category	(Optional) Select an existing category or create a new one.

8. 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.

Click here to view a video about creating connections in Toad Data Point

Create Oracle Connections

You can create a new connection, or connect to an existing connection from the Create New Connection window.

Click here to view a video about creating connections in Toad Data Point

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:

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

1. Save the Oracle Instant Client files in any location on the computer where Toad is installed.
2. On your Windows desktop, right-click My Computer and select Properties.
3. Select the Advanced tab and click Environment Variables.

4. 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>

5. 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

1. Click on the toolbar (ALT+F+N).

2. Select Oracle from the Group list box.

3. 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. 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.).   Click here to view a video of this feature.
   Save password	Select this checkbox if you plan to use Automation to generate reports.
   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 no Oracle Client is 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.

4. 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.

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.

Click here to view a video about creating connections in Toad Data Point

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" in the online help for more information.

To create a new connection

1. Click on the toolbar (ALT+F+N).

2. Select Microsoft SQL Server or Microsoft SQL Azure from the Group list box.

3. Review the following for additional information:

   Login Tab	Description
   Server name	Enter the name of the server to use when connecting. Click to display any servers running SQL Server that are currently active on the network. Notes: For SQL Azure connections, enter InstanceName.database.windows.net in this field. For named instances, enter the MachineName\InstanceName in this field.
   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.).   Click here to view a video of this feature.
   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.

4. 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)

1. Click .

2. 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.
3. Select the connections to be imported.

Understand Toad Connections

Review this topic to learn about open database connections in Toad.

Toad Open Connections

In Toad, an open connection in the Connection/Navigation Manager represents one or more actual connections to the database or data source. When you open a database connection in Toad:

• Toad creates an initial database connection for general use.

• Toad also creates a separate database connection for each Editor (the first time you execute a statement) and for each Data tab in the Database Explorer (the first time you select the tab and query data).

  The connection associated with the window (or tab) remains open until you close the window. If a window has an associated connection, but a statement is not currently executing, the connection is in an inactive state.

To view information for an open connection

• To view the number of actual database connections that exist for a Toad connection, including the number of active connections, place the cursor over the connection in the Connection/Navigation Manager pane or in the connection drop-down list.

  

To use the Background Processes pane

• When a statement is executing, a progress bar displays in the Status bar located at the bottom of the Toad application window. Click the executing progress bar to open the Background Processes pane.

• To cancel statement execution, use the Background Processes pane.

  Note: It is recommended that you cancel only your own processes, because terminating Toad activities could cause unexpected behavior.

Sharing a Connection Among Windows

You can instruct Toad to share an open connection among windows. In this way, the Editor windows and Data tabs can share the same connection when the connection is inactive.

To share a database connection among windows in Toad

1. Select Tools | Options | Editor | General.

2. Clear the checkbox for the Use individual connection for each open editor option.

3. When this option is not selected, Toad attempts to use a single connection for any new windows or query execution. For example, if you share a database connection, you can execute a query in the Editor, execute another query in a new Editor, and then select the Data tab from the same connection.

   If the single connection is in use when Toad attempts to execute it, the following occurs:

   • (DB2 and Oracle only) If your database supports executing multiple queries simultaneously on a shared connection, the query is placed in a queue and executes as soon as the current operation completes.
   • If your database does not support executing multiple queries on a shared connection, a dialog prompts you to either permanently associate the window with a new database connection, cancel the previous operation, or add the query to a queue until the current operation completes, and the execute it. If you place multiple queries in the queue, each one executes in the order that it was added to the queue.

Note: Although you can share a database connection, any commits apply to the selected window only.