Toad^® for Oracle

Version 11.5.1.2

New in This Release

June 06, 2012

Introduction

Review the following sections for new features in this release.

• All Toad Editions
• Professional Edition and Higher
• DB Admin Module, DBA Suite Edition, and DBA Suite RAC Edition
• Idea Pond

All Toad Editions

General

• Streamlined Installation

  Toad now automatically copies user files from the previous version when upgrading to a new version (if the new version is within two releases of the previous version). Toolbar and menu customizations will not be auto-imported. This is so everyone can see new Toad windows in their menus.

  If you wish to restore your previous Toad settings, including your menu and toolbar customizations, simply go to Utilities | Copy User Settings. You can also perform a clean install using this dialog, which will back up your existing user-files folder and create a fresh set based on the initial installation of Toad.

  See "Manually Import Toad Settings" in the online help for more information.

• Invitations

The prompt to participate in the Toad Improvement Program now appears once when you shut down Toad after its first use. You can start or stop participating by clicking 'Configure TOAD options' in the main Toad toolbar and selecting or clearing General | Participate in the Toad Improvement Program. The privacy policy for this program is available on Toad World. Customer Feedback Program Privacy Policy



We also offer new optional user registration during installation that provides emailed updates from Quest Software. The related privacy policy provides more detail. See "Legal Notices" in the online help for more information.

• Streamlined and Improved Data Comparison

  You can now compare data without a database link, though you can still choose that option.

  Synchronization requires Toad Professional or DBA Module, as it did before.

  To compare data, select Database | Compare | Data.

  Connections

  Comparisons can now be done from two different connections without a database link.

  Same-connection comparisons and database-link comparisons are still supported.

  Synchronization

  Tables are now labeled Source and Target to simplify synchronization.

  Synchronization can be done with just one click.

  Synchronization now uses Array DML, so it is accomplished much faster.

  Differing Rows

  The new Differing Rows tab displays column values that differ between source and target highlighted in yellow.

  See "Compare Data" in the online help for more information.

• Enhanced Import for Table Data

  The Import Table Data wizard accommodates much larger files with greatly enhanced performance. To import table data, select Database | Import | Import Table Data.You will see these improvements:

• No more file-size limit for text files.

• The new output option, Use Array DML, dramatically boosts import speed; client-side processing of source files is also significantly faster. (The progress dialog now shows the rate of import and estimated time to completion.)

  

• You can now specify a commit interval using the Commit Mode list.

• The delimiter is now detected automatically, and for fixed-width text files, there is improved field-break detection.
• Improved "verify mappings" alert you of potential errors before import begins.
• Import modes are now Insert, Update, Merge, and Delete.

• APEX Export

  Toad’s new APEX Export Action provides a quick way to export all of the source code for an application from Oracle Application Express (Oracle APEX) to be imported into another database. You can schedule this to run automatically, if, for instance, you want to back it up nightly.

  • Double-click 'APEX Export' on the Import/Export tab in the Automation Designer, and then double-click the APEX Export Action.

    Note: You can also select Database | Export | APEX Export.

  • The Basic Info tab of the APEX Export dialog provides fields familiar to Oracle APEX users.

    

    If you check or clear Export Supporting Object Definitions, an Information dialog informs you that setting this option requires an update to the WWW_FLOW_INSTALL table which is not granted to other users by default. If you do not have permission to update this table, the export will proceed with the option set to its current value. Your export script will contain a comment if the update could not be made due to lack of privileges.

  • Exports from Oracle APEX do not include Object DDL.

    The Database Objects tab in Toad’s APEX Export lets you include Object DDL and insert statements for some or all tables.

    Click Add and select the standard Simple or Advanced choices you see elsewhere in Toad.

    Click Load Rows and then you can right-click to select Check All, Uncheck All, or other options.

    

    The Owner column indicates the schema the object is in.

    If a row is not checked, DDL for that object will not be exported.

  • After making selections on both tabs, click Apply and then click 'Run selected actions' .

    Toad inserts comments at the beginning of the export file indicating the options you chose upon export.

• DBMS XPlan

  You can now use DBMS XPlan output format for Explain Plans:

  • Right-click in the Explain Plan tab and select DBMS_XPlan Format

  • Choose from the predefined formats for your Explain Plan output.

  To change the output format again, right-click in the Explain Plan tab and select Display Mode.

• Quick Knowledge-base Access

  You can now select .Search | Search Knowledge Xperts to receive Toad for Oracle knowledge base results.

• Schema

  The Toad Advisor alerts you if the active schema is being controlled by Team Coding.

• Archive

  The Archive Action now supports additional compression methods: BZip2, GZip, Jar, Tar, and LCZ.

• Document Recovery

  The Document Recovery window has two additional columns:

  • Home is the home for the Connection

  • Reconnect lets you turn off automatic reconnects

  There is now a full-file preview area.

• Desktop

  The Desktops toolbar is off by default. It has been upgraded, but not replaced, by Workspaces.

  To turn it on, right-click in the main toolbar and select Customize | Desktop.

Workspaces

• In answer to user demand stretching back for many years, Toad 11.5 now supports Workspaces. This feature was first formally described in Idea Pond #56.

  You can now save your current Toad windows and connections as a Workspace. This allows you to quickly resume work after restarting Toad.

  As one beta user relates, "I wanted to apply the latest beta but I didn't want to close Toad as I had all the files I was working on, current queries, etc all open...Thankfully, now I could just save my workspace, close Toad, apply the patch, open Toad and reopen my workspace. Awesome."

  Click 'Save current Workspace' in the Workspace toolbar (part of the main toolbar) to save and name your current configuration of Toad windows and connections.

  

  When you open Toad, the Workspace toolbar indicates, "No Workspace selected." The toolbar displays the Workspace in use, and provides the list of available Workspaces, and buttons to save and remove Workspaces.

  There is a starter Workspace named "Default Workspace" which can be used instead of creating your own. It is initially empty (that is, contains no windows or connections). This Workspace is the only one which cannot be deleted.

  When you open a saved Workspace, the Confirm dialog notifies you that currently open connections that are not part of the Workspace you are opening will be closed.

  

  You will receive the usual prompt to save any changes you may have made before those windows and connections are closed.

  See "Using Workspaces" in the online help for more information.

  Note: Changes to your Workspace configuration are only saved when you click 'Save current Workspace' in the Workspace toolbar.

• Windows

  The two most widely used windows in Toad are the Editor and Schema Browser; therefore these two windows have received special attention for the initial release of Workspaces.

  Schema Browser Support: The currently active database object (type and name) you are viewing is preserved when the Workspace is saved, and loaded when the Workspace is loaded.

  Editor Support: Many properties of the Editor are saved and loaded with a Workspace. These include the number of tabs, the last active tab, the textual content of each tab, the line and caret position in each tab, the split mode of the Editor, and so on.

  What is significant about support for the Editor is that the actual tab contents are saved. This means you do not have to manually save the contents of a tab into a file to reload it later. A snapshot of every tab is taken and restored later with no need to save changes first. This could represent a significant savings in time when closing down Toad and reopening it later.

  Other Windows: All other MDI style windows are managed with Workspaces. Non-MDI windows, that is, docked windows such as the Project Manager, are retained across Workspaces since they likely represent an overall working desktop state you may need across Workspaces.

• Technical Implementation

  All Workspace information is saved in a single file: User Files\Workspaces.dat. If Toad is set to "Save Passwords" in the login dialog, no passwords are saved in the file; they are extracted from the CONNECTIONPWDS.INI file.

Editor

• You can now select defaults for the Strip and Make Code Statement functions from the Editor toolbar:

  Click the arrow beside 'Strip VB code statement from SQL' to select the default Strip Code Statement.

  Click the arrow beside 'Make VB code statement from SQL' to select the default Make Code Statement.

  Your selected default will be applied when you click either button. See "Strip Code Statement and Make Code Statement Functions" to learn more.

• You can more easily open and close tabs by clicking the plus sign next to the active tab to open a new tab that uses your default tab style, and by clicking the red 'x' on the active tab to close tabs.

• You can now enable/disable Auto Trace and SQL Trace in the Editor Results area, on the Trace tab.

  

Query Builder

• Toad’s Query Builder has been completely redeveloped. You can now perform more robust reverse engineering within the Query Builder.

  To access the Query Builder, click on the main toolbar or select Database | Report | Query Builder.

  The new Query Builder provides the following significant enhancements:

  • Query Builder workspaces

    Queries are now displayed on Query Builder workspace tabs.

    Next to the active tab, click to open an INLINEVIEW tab.

    

    Union query and subquery links are represented as follows:

    • Subqueries by a dashed line

    • Union queries by a symbol that represents the type of union; for example, this represents an intersection union: (The others are described below.)

      Double-click the line to change the type of union.

  • Query Builder toolbar

    These new options are available from the Query Builder toolbar.

    	Add Inline View	Adds a new inline view to the query.
    	Add Linked Tables from Database	Adds all database objects related to the selected object by Primary or Foreign keys to the query.
    	Add Named Subquery	Adds a new named subquery to the query.
    	Add Objects	Adds tables, views, and materialized views.
    	Add Union Query	Adds these types of union: Union, Union All, Intersection, Minus.
    	Autolayout	Quickly reorganizes the layout of your objects.
    	Create Diagram Title	Adds a title table to your diagram. Type within it or right-click for editing options.
    	Create a Note	Adds a note in the position where you click on the Query Builder workspace. Type within it or right-click for more options.
    	Create Note Line	Adds a line between two objects.
    	Edit Where and Having Conditions	Use these new buttons to add or edit a Where or a Having condition.
    	Loupe	Opens a magnified view of the Query Builder workspace where your cursor rests. Right-click for docking options and to change the scale of magnification.

    Explore the Query Builder toolbar to learn more about the new options.

  • Generated Query enhancements

    You can now edit the content of the Generated Query tab.

    The toolbar for generated queries now includes these additional options:

    	Execute Query	Executes the code.
    	Add Schema Name to Tables	Adds the schema name before the table name.
    	Add Table Name to Columns	Adds the table name before the column name.
    	Use Asterisk Column	Replaces all selected columns with an asterisk.
    	Use Distinct	Add the keyword DISTINCT after the SELECT, such as SELECT DISTINCT EMPNO FROM SCOTT.EMP.
    	Update Diagram	Refreshes the diagram with any edits you made to the code.
    	Update SQL	Updates the generated query with any changes you made to the diagram.
    	Run Query in Thread	The query execution will be done in its own thread. (You can work elsewhere in Toad while the query is being executed.)
    	Allow Modify Query Results	Allows you to modify content on the Query Results tab.

    Note: You can also set most of the above options globally. From the main toolbar, select View | Options | Query Builder.

    Reverse Engineer a Query

    Use Update Diagram to quickly reverse engineer a query.

    The new Query Builder is able to reverse nested subqueries and calculated fields. There is complex support of SELECT and DELETE statements and limited support of INSERT and UPDATE statements.

    You can also reverse engineer a query that was not originally generated in Toad.

  1. Type or paste your query in the Generated Query tab.

  2. Click in the Generated Query toolbar to generate the diagram.

     See "Reverse Engineering a Query" in the online help for more information.

  • Messages tab

    The new Messages tab displays warnings regarding the query. Click on the error to highlight the related object.

  Note: The Query Builder now saves files (including any existing dml files you may have from the previous version of Query Builder) with the new qbx extension.

  

  • Improved handling of Add Linked Tables from Database

    Using this feature on synonyms will add all objects that are linked to the object behind the synonym.

  • Improved Column Properties

    Dialog is now accessible from shape popup menu and aggregation functions can use DISTINCT keyword

  • New semantic analysis

    New test results alert you if the query is incorrect:

  1. Not Compatible Unions - Incorrect Number of Columns, Not Same Data types
  2. Not Compatible Nested Sub query Columns - Incorrect Number of Columns
  3. Ambiguously Defined Table Names
  4. Not One In-Select Sub query Column
  5. Aggregation Function In Where
  6. Aggregation Function In Group By
  7. Empty Query
  8. Object Does Not Exist
  9. Object Is Not Supported

Professional Edition and Higher

Code Analysis

Code Analysis (formerly CodeXpert) is Toad's powerful code review and analysis tool. It helps you ensure that the performance, maintainability, and reliability of code meets and exceeds your company’s best practice standards.

Watch the Evaluating PL/SQL Code Quality with Code Analysis video on Quest's video channel.

Code Analysis has the following new features:

• You can now create new rules and clone existing rules. You can then edit or delete user-defined rules.

  To access Code Analysis from the main toolbar, click Database | Diagnose | Code analysis.

  Click 'Edit Code Analysis Rules' on the Code Analysis toolbar, or on the main toolbar, select Options | Code Analysis | General | Edit Rules.

  

  On the Edit Code Analysis Rules toolbar, click 'Create new rule' to create a new rule, or select a rule to clone and click 'Clone selected rule' . The Code Analysis Rule Builder opens. The Rule ID is automatically generated in a sequential range from 7000 to 9000.

  You can modify the generic code displayed for new rules, or the cloned rule's code.

  

  See "Create, Clone, or Edit Code Analysis Rules" in the online help for more information.

• You can now retrieve the history of Code Analysis metrics from the database via two new methods:

  Click 'Save results to DB' on the Code Analysis toolbar to write results to the database, and then click 'Retrieve CA Metrics history from the DB'. Results are returned in a grid so you can filter and export the data.

  Run a Code Analysis Action on the DB Misc tab of the Automation Designer, and select DB Inserts and Metrics History XLS in the Properties dialog under Output Options.

  

  Results are returned one object or file per worksheet.

• You can now save Code Analysis results as Excel files in addition to xml and plain text files. You can also select XLS Summary as an output type for Code Analysis Actions.

• You can now click 'Open Reports Manager to CA Reports' on the Code Analysis toolbar to open the Reports Manager to Code Analysis Reports.

• Unless you are cloning or editing a rule set (in which case all rules are still displayed and included rules are checked), only those rules in the selected rule set are displayed.

• The Edit Code Analysis Rule Sets toolbar now includes import and export buttons to import existing or export user-defined rule sets.

  

• New naming conventions are available as an informational rule set, indicated by a yellow-page icon with the letter 'N.'. These provide several available conventions that you can easily modify.

  If you use Team Coding, this is useful to confirm naming conventions are adhered to before checking in code.

  Note: Code Analysis now reveals a maximum of 1000 violations.

• The following rules have been added, merged, or improved.

  Rule 4811 has been combined with 4809.

  We have added these rules:

  2105, 2106, 2110-2114, 2116, 2118, 2120, 2122, 2124 – 2129, 2133, 5405, 5901, 5902, 5904 – 5907, 5910, 5914, 5917, 6601 – 6610, 6811.

  These rules use a new XPath engine:

  2401, 4402, 4404, 4405, 4406, 4802, 5810, 6414.

  These rules use improved XPath queries:

  2610, 2827, 3001, 3003, 3017, 4201, 4213, 4603, 4809, 4812, 5805, 5813, 5825, 5826, 6202, 6413.

  Team Coding and Source Control

  • Team Coding with Code Analysis

    You can now use Code Analysis with Team Coding in conjunction with a version control system (VCS). An Administrator can define Code Analysis rules to validate objects before check-in to Team Coding.

    To set up Team Coding, select Utilities | Team Coding | Configure Team Coding.

    Note: Options are stored in the Team Coding server-side configuration and apply to all users. If you are using a VCS outside of Team Coding, those settings apply only to your local instance of Toad. Therefore, the VCS settings you configure during Team Coding set-up may differ from those you selected using View | Toad Options | Source Control.

    

    In addition to existing Code Analysis benefits, if you choose to validate objects using the new naming-convention rules, you can be sure users comply with your project's naming conventions before checking in code.

    Note: The Code Analysis rules you use with Team Coding can be different than the rules you may by using more broadly with Code Analysis.

    Configure Code Analysis validation

    Team Coding will confirm code passes the minimum rating selected for each metric.

    

    Team Coding validates objects based upon the configured options, and disables check-in if objects fail to meet the minimum requirements. (See "Set Up Team Coding" in the online help for more information.)

    Team Coding Viewer enhancements

    The Team Coding Viewer has been enhanced. Click 'Team Coding Viewer' on the main toolbar or on the Team Coding toolbar.

  When Store Check in metrics on the server is selected during validation configuration, you can compare server and local Code Metrics scores on the RHS of the Team Coding Viewer.

  

  To hide this information, right-click in the grid and select Hide Code Analysis Columns.

  The Team Coding Viewer toolbar includes these new options:

  

  'Run Team Coding Code Analysis check': Updates local Code Analysis Scores and Code Analysis for selected objects.

  'Show Team Coding Details': Displays the Code Analysis Detail dialog for a selected object.

  'Send to Code Analysis': Sends the selected objects to Code Analysis and opens that window.

  'Clear Code Analysis Scores': Clears Team Coding code analysis scores for the selected objects. (This option is only available to Team Coding Administrators.)

  Administrators can now unlock objects locked by another user (this is available only from the Team Coding Viewer.)

   

  Team Coding check-in using Code Analysis

  

  When you check in code using Code Analysis, if code fails Code Analysis validation criteria you have set, then:

  • If you have set the option to Display Warning Dialog on Validation Failures, the Code Analysis Details Dialog will display, and you will have an option to cancel check-in.

  • If the Warning Dialog option is not set, check-in will continue, and a warning message will display in the Output window.See "Set Up Team Coding" in the online help for more information.

  When you check in all Team Coding objects, the dialog provides similar detail, with the option to send objects to Code Analysis.

  See "About Team Coding" in the online help for more information.

DB Admin Module, DBA Suite Edition, and DBA Suite RAC Edition

• DB Health Check

  DB Health Check includes a new section for Exadata.

• Project Lucy

  You have free access via Toad to analytics on your performance data. Project Lucy analyses and stores it for you.

  Designed and created by Project Lucy's data-science team, our site explains, "Selective reporting on your data as it grows over time means our analytics engines measure change and predict trends that could be important to the future of your data and its system."

  

  • Select Database | Monitor | Project Lucy

    You can also select Later or click the link above those buttons to visit the Project Lucy Web site.

    On the Project Lucy Web site, you can complete the free registration to obtain your token and then follow instructions in Toad to begin uploading and analyzing your data.

  • Click Start uploading my data to Project Lucy! You can also select Later or click the link above those buttons to visit the Project Lucy Web site.

    See "Project Lucy" in the online help for more information.

Idea Pond

Idea Pond is a site where you can submit your ideas to improve Toad and vote or comment on other people's ideas. Toad's development has always been driven by our customers, and now it is even easier for you to tell us what changes are most important. This site is free for all customers.

The following Idea Pond submissions were implemented for this release:

Note: "New in This Release" information is current as of product ship date. For the most up-to-date version, click Help | Toad Online | New in This Release.

© 2012 Quest Software, Inc.

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