Oracle Open Source : SQuirreL

Not too long ago my colleague Zeger Hendrikse gave this presentation on Open Source Databases. Part of this presentation are the Tools available.

One of the Tools he mentioned also has an Oracle Plugin available. So, continuing the story on Oracle and Open Source, may I present to you: SQuirreL

SQuirrel is developed in Java and is designed to connect to a multitude of databases, including Oracle. If you want or need to connect to some other database, it’s easy to download the appropriate plugin and connect to the database of choice.
This would add tremendous benefit, you don’t have to start learning a different kind of SQL tool each time you switch databases. The question remains, how often would you switch databases? (Especially since we’ve got Oracle ;-))

One of the things I like about SQuirrel is the fact that you can browse the database without leaving this tool. Tables, User Defined Types, Procedures are at your fingertips. Too bad it doesn’t distinguish between Packages, Procedures and Functions.

In the SQL Editor, it’s possible to have multiple SQL statements. Depending on the position of the cursor, that statement is executed.
Results are shown in the tabs right under the SQL window. Unless you close the tabs, the results will remain there.
If you inadvertently create an invalid statement, the lower part of the window will turn red and show you the error it encountered.

I played with SQuirrel and an Oracle 10g Database and I like it a lot. There were some minor things which surprised me, but nothing to worry about.
Sometimes the feedback you get can be confusing. For instance if you delete rows from a table, you get a message like “15 Rows Updated.” If you Rollback or Commit, and not use the buttons to Rollback or Commit, it tells you “-1 Rows Updated”. A little odd, but no biggie.
All in All, it’s a great tool.