I was reading the latest Oracle magazine. Sue Harper’s column discussed version 1.5.1 of Oracle SQL Developer. She states that this version adds a number of features such as:* Export utilities
* Generates HTML documentation from schema
* Ability to copy objects between schemas
As you probably already know, SQL Developer is a graphical tool from Oracle for database development. It allows you to browse database objects, run SQL, and debug PL/SQL among other things. It requires an Oracle database version of 9.2.0.1 or greater. There are versions of this application for Microsoft Windows, Linux, and the Mac. It is a free tool.
Version 1.5 of SQL Developer added a number of new features to the product:
* Store code templates for reuse
* Refactor the code
* View Java code
* Perform schema difference
* Import Excel spreadsheet to create tables
* Open trace files for performance tuning
* Run a report to monitor sessions
* Use CVS and Subversion source code control
Version 1.5.1 is a patch. It is available for Windows XP and Vista. It ships with and requires the JDK version 1.5. This patch makes SQL Developers support newer versions of Sybase.
I have to say that I already use an old version of PL/SQL Developer from Allround Automations, which is a different product than Oracle’s PL/SQL Developer. And for some tasks I actually use Oracle SQL*Plus. My first impression of Oracle’s PL/SQL Developer was that it did not feel natural to use. However I have heard some good things on the street about the product. When I decide to upgrade to a new tool, I will definitely be giving this one another look since it comes from Oracle and is free.
