View Database Info without knowing anything about SQL with the Microsoft Sql Tool

Necropolis said:
That's all well and good - but this presupposes that the users are aware of relational database theory.

And if they are aware of that then chances are they can write basic SQL statements and an SSMS installation will be the better tool for the job...
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I use the tool myself and I know SQL quite well. It doesn't offer you everything SQL Manager does because it wasn't built for that purpose. In my job I have to investigate data a lot, and having to type query after query is time consuming even if you type fast. This tool is really handy to jump from table to table, quickly doing lookups, automatic sorting, filtering on the colums in view etc.
 
YAHsGeneral said:
I use the tool myself and I know SQL quite well. It doesn't offer you everything SQL Manager does because it wasn't built for that purpose. In my job I have to investigate data a lot, and having to type query after query is time consuming even if you type fast. This tool is really handy to jump from table to table, quickly doing lookups, automatic sorting, filtering on the colums in view etc.
Click to expand...

But SQL Server Management studio also has a visual query designer...
 
Necropolis said:
He was saying that what your app can do is achievable via Excel.

And interface that many people know well.
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Oh. Excel doesn't generate sql statements for you and lets you view the data of any table on the different connections you setup. I'm not sure how you will do that. Any query that you've opened on this tool you can of cource export into excel and the use the data there as you choose.
 
Necropolis said:
But SQL Server Management studio also has a visual query designer...
Click to expand...

Of course. Work on a big database and see how slow it is. How do you go from the opened query view on Management Studio to another one? you have to go search the table, and do that all again. You can't drill down on linked tables. You cant sort those columns dynamically. You can't export into excel. It doesn't give you column info on the table you're viewing. You can't favourite that query without saving the generated sql physically. All these things I've added for my own pleasure - it works awesome. And our own QA team uses it, and our call center uses it. If you access some tables frequently you just favourite it and it'll always be on top - sql studio you have to go through a process to do the same thing. And try to teach a beginner all that...

The interface on this tool is just easy and fast for the intended purpose - which makes life so much easier.
 
I will take the time and give you some screenshots outlining the specific purpose of the app and you'll perhaps then see the benefit it offers. Regarding Management Studio - I've enchanced the specific functions that I use a lot that makes the program a pleasure to use. Sql Studio can do some of the things in this program yeah, but because SQL Studio is so powerful it is very slow. By the time you've used the graphical interface on Sql Studio to view a specific table, I've already viewed the table, jumped to some other tables for analysis, see what I wanted to see, sort the data, favoured the query for future use etc. By this time Sql Studio is still "Discovering" the table trees. But I'll let the screenshots speak for themselves.
 
@OP
That's a pretty neat tool. I'm not sure the other posters are really understanding the significant ease-of-use benefit your tool provides. Perhaps a YouTube video (instead of the screenshots you mentioned earlier) would be the best way to demonstrate the use of this tool.

Question: are you sure the app is your's? Sounds like you developed it in-house, meaning that it most likely belongs to your employer..? I'm not saying this is the case, I'm merely seeking clarification on this.

GLWS(s)! :)
 
Jow said:
I know a tool which can do the same you describe, and more, for free: https://powerbi.microsoft.com/en-us/desktop
:D
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That's a powerful free tool for BI! Thanks for the link.

However, I didn't see in the videos how one would navigate from 1 table to another, based on the data & schema relationships (foreign keys).
I also didn't see any favourite'ing of specific tables, but I do imagine one could save a query under one's profile, and easily access that at next login.
There was also no demonstration on how to view column info (by column info, I'm assuming OP means the SQL Server column comments here, and not the technical attributes like data type and other restrictions), so I'm not sure if this is possible with the Powerbi app. What would be even more powerful is if OPs tool is able to update column comments. That way any normal users of the system can add useful bits of info to a column's comments that may be helpful to other users.
 
Sodan said:
@OP
That's a pretty neat tool. I'm not sure the other posters are really understanding the significant ease-of-use benefit your tool provides. Perhaps a YouTube video (instead of the screenshots you mentioned earlier) would be the best way to demonstrate the use of this tool.

Question: are you sure the app is your's? Sounds like you developed it in-house, meaning that it most likely belongs to your employer..? I'm not saying this is the case, I'm merely seeking clarification on this.

GLWS(s)! :)
Click to expand...

Thank you! I did develop it in-house and out-house so to speak. Point is my Development Manager thought it to be "very inventive" to quote him, and he gave me the OK to sell it. You have a good idea, I think it would be better that way as well to use a video for demonstrating purposes - thanx for the idea :D
 
Sodan said:
That's a powerful free tool for BI! Thanks for the link.

However, I didn't see in the videos how one would navigate from 1 table to another, based on the data & schema relationships (foreign keys).
I also didn't see any favourite'ing of specific tables, but I do imagine one could save a query under one's profile, and easily access that at next login.
There was also no demonstration on how to view column info (by column info, I'm assuming OP means the SQL Server column comments here, and not the technical attributes like data type and other restrictions), so I'm not sure if this is possible with the Powerbi app. What would be even more powerful is if OPs tool is able to update column comments. That way any normal users of the system can add useful bits of info to a column's comments that may be helpful to other users.
Click to expand...

To clarify, I have found myself numerous times to write a query and not knowing what the technical attributes of a column is, varchar(10) or varchar(100) etc. So when you hover over a column heading it will show you what the column attribute is. This has helped me alot to debug things etc.

I don't think that BI tool does quite the same thing as pwer your comment as well. I'll check it out though and revert when I can.

Can you clarify your idea to "update column comments"? The neat thing is here I can do what I want with new idead and the chances of Microsoft adding a cool function for one user is very slim.
 
Power BI will not only navigate table relationships, but also allows users to create their own relationships between disparate tables and data sources. Not just for MS SQL. It's built for non-technical business users to explore and model data.
Goodluck anyway!
 
Jow said:
Power BI will not only navigate table relationships, but also allows users to create their own relationships between disparate tables and data sources. Not just for MS SQL. It's built for non-technical business users to explore and model data.
Goodluck anyway!
Click to expand...

I quickly glanced at it. Seems like a pretty powerful tool, but how on earth is someone suppose to use this without knowing SQL? And it's slow too. This BI doesn't do what I specifically created the app to do. A simple interface, for dummies, quick and easy, yet very powerful. Drill down to other tables, and create your own foreign key links. Favourite your queries, sort the data, even filter your colums on the fly when searching for something. Export it quickly to excel if you so desire, refresh the query with a click of a button. Changing between Live and QA environments to study the data differences. Speed is a big issue. I can use MS Studio to do some of the things but as I explained, it's too bulky and doesn't do these specific things. In the BI tool I chose to view one table, I tried a drill down, but it wasn't allowed on a direct query - whatever that means. Guess I'll have to create those screenshots/video to show it better.
 
Jow said:
Power BI will not only navigate table relationships, but also allows users to create their own relationships between disparate tables and data sources. Not just for MS SQL. It's built for non-technical business users to explore and model data.
Goodluck anyway!
Click to expand...

Many cool tweaks to come such as MySql support as well, but this is phase 1. Thanx Joe.
 
YAHsGeneral said:
Can you clarify your idea to "update column comments"? The neat thing is here I can do what I want with new idead and the chances of Microsoft adding a cool function for one user is very slim.
Click to expand...

Column comments/description. SQL to update this:

EXEC sp_addextendedproperty
@name = N'MS_Description', @value = 'This is the description of my column',
@level0type = N'Schema', @level0name = 'dbo',
@level1type = N'Table', @level1name = 'MyTable',
@level2type = N'Column', @level2name = 'MyColumn'

which I pulled from here. You can attach a nice long text description to a column as shown above. E.g.,

EXEC sp_addextendedproperty
@name = N'MS_Description', @value = 'Note it can take up to weeks for international refunds, 3 business days for local refunds and 12 hours for local same bank refunds',
@level0type = N'Schema', @level0name = 'dbo',
@level1type = N'Table', @level1name = 'refunds',
@level2type = N'Column', @level2name = 'refund_date'

That's just a made up example (and I'm not sure if it's the "best" use of the attribute), but it demonstrates the usefulness of this attribute (especially for call-centre type people).

EDIT: @OP, all great products start with an idea, then a prototype, then a version 1.0 that has a unique advantage in the market, and then gets iteratively improved from there. You've made some good progress on building a great product; don't allow yourself to be dissuaded.
 
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Sodan said:
Column comments/description. SQL to update this:

EXEC sp_addextendedproperty
@name = N'MS_Description', @value = 'This is the description of my column',
@level0type = N'Schema', @level0name = 'dbo',
@level1type = N'Table', @level1name = 'MyTable',
@level2type = N'Column', @level2name = 'MyColumn'

which I pulled from here. You can attach a nice long text description to a column as shown above. E.g.,

EXEC sp_addextendedproperty
@name = N'MS_Description', @value = 'Note it can take up to weeks for international refunds, 3 business days for local refunds and 12 hours for local same bank refunds',
@level0type = N'Schema', @level0name = 'dbo',
@level1type = N'Table', @level1name = 'refunds',
@level2type = N'Column', @level2name = 'refund_date'

That's just a made up example (and I'm not sure if it's the "best" use of the attribute), but it demonstrates the usefulness of this attribute (especially for call-centre type people).

EDIT: @OP, all great products start with an idea, then a prototype, then a version 1.0 that has a unique advantage in the market, and then gets iteratively improved from there. You've made some good progress on building a great product; don't allow yourself to be dissuaded.
Click to expand...

Ooohhh, I see what you mean. Cool idea :) This doesn't seem like a problem to add.

Comming in a future release will be generated update and delete statements. At the moment when you double click a cell it will opens a window for you to inspect the values. Very useful for varchar(max) values that has lots to scroll though. In sql Studio you have to copy that out and inspect it one by one. In my tool I've added the window for inspection and there are navidation buttons that goes to the next record whilst the window is open. Very handy. Also a export to your default text editor if you want to inspect some more in detail. But in this window I want the user to be able to change the value and commit it.
 
Still seems like a silly idea to give non-technical people any sort of database access.

You'll get some clown wanting a billion rows of data who will a) complain that it's taking too long and b) bring your company's production systems down.

No thanks.

Also with this software - what sort of support is provided? Update and upgrades? What sort of a EULA do users have to agree to? And if there isn't one you can expect lawyers to come asking after you if things go wrong when using this tool.
 
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