Readme file for Advanced Query Tool Version 4.2.7 Last update 25 February 2002.
New to AQT 4.2.7
================
This release fixes a few bugs:
╖ Query Builder failed if there were more than 500 columns in the query tables.
╖ Auto-detect of table relationships did not work for SQL Server
╖ Procedure information for DB2/390 was incorrect when there were multiple procedures with
the same name.
╖ Show Table Detail was truncated if there were more than 50 values in the display.
╖ The Run SQL window did not show columns information beyond the 100th column.
╖ Improved the handling of tables which have a decimal-point as part of the table name (this
often happens with Text data sources).
In addition, there are a few useability enhancements:
╖ in the Run SQL window you can Open/Save a query with Ctrl-O and Ctrl-S
╖ in the Update Row window you can run your update with F5
New to AQT 4.2.6
================
This release fixes a couple of urgent bugs:
╖ DECIMAL and NUMBER columns were displayed incorrectly in some cases.
╖ We have improved the way AQT behaves with DECIMAL and NUMBER columns when a Decimal
Separator other than fullstop is used.
╖ We now allow an Unlimited number of rows to be displayed.
New to AQT 4.2.5
================
This release fixes a number of bugs:
╖ Write LOBs to Files only worked when Max Column Size was set to No Limit, and not at all for
unregistered users. Oops! This has now been corrected.
╖ Load LOBs from external Files has been extended to also work for long character columns.
╖ Miscellaneous other fixes with Write LOBS to Files and Load LOBS from external Files.
These features have now been tested on a number of database types.
╖ SYBASE decimal columns now have the lengths reporting correctly.
╖ Print Data now does not overlay data when a column contains linefeed characters.
╖ For DB2/UDB we have improved the way we display User and Group authorities.
AQT will now display the correct results when there is a User and Group with the same name.
╖ The positions of a number of windows are saved and reestablised when the window is next
opened (previously many windows opened centered in your screen and, due to a quirk in VB,
re-centered themselves when they regained focus).
╖ Date / Timestamp values earlier than 100 A.D. are now displayed correctly.
New to AQT 4.2.4
================
New features:
╖ BLOB/CLOB values can now be loaded from an external file.
This provides a very easy mechanism for loading BLOBs into your database.
╖ BLOB/CLOB values can be written to files; this allows the full LOB value to be retrieved
from the database. Mechanisms are provided to display the LOB using an external application.
A few bugs were fixed:
╖ Timestamp columns sometimes had the decimal part displayed incorrectly
╖ error displaying a table with more than 50 date columns.
╖ Compare Tables treated TIMESTAMP,TIMESTMP and CHARACTER,CHAR as different types.
New to AQT 4.2.3
================
A few bugs were fixed:
╖ binary columns were incorrectly displayed in some cases
╖ Oracle binary columns more than 1000 bytes were incorrectly displayed as Null
╖ Null numeric values were incorrectly shown as blank
New to AQT 4.2.2
================
This release has a few miscellaneous bug fixes.
╖ The Update Row screen now has an option Get Constants (the same as Get Constants in the
Run SQL Window)
. We have changed the behaviour of the Table Info and Table Display windows slightly. In the
past, if you clicked on a large value a popup box showed you the full value of the cell.
This often happened when you didn't want it to. Now you have to double-click a cell to
display the full value.
. Binary columns are now displayed correctly.
New to AQT 4.2.1
================
This release has a number of miscellaneous bug fixes.
╖ Add Table to Query has had a number of bugs and quirks ironed out.
╖ The GUI Query builder has a number of miscellaneous minor bugs fixed
╖ Some users were having trouble using AQT with SQL Server V6.5. This is due to the way
parameterised queries were being processed. We have resolved this problem by not using
parameters in SQL Server 6.5 system-table queries.
New to AQT 4.2.0
================
With this release we have completely re-written the database-access layer of AQT. We have
removed Visual Basic's RDO layer and rewritten it with native-ODBC calls. While this is
largely an internal change, it allows us to correct a number of long-standing problems,
and will allow us to offer some extra features in the future.
In particular:
╖ AQT nows displays large columns without problem. In the past there were a number of
problems with these (which manifested themselves in a number of ways).
╖ Blobs and Clobs are now displayed (previously they were excluded from the table display).
╖ AQT now displays timestamps correctly. Previously they were being truncated at the second.
DB2, Sybase, SQL Server and Informix users will now see the correct timestamp value.
╖ Oracle users can now use the Oracle ODBC Driver for Oracle (in the past AQT only worked
well with the Microsoft ODBC Driver for Oracle).
Other features this release has:
╖ support for Informix has been added.
╖ the window for running Multiple SQL Statements has been rewritten. This now shows you your
SQL statements before you run the Script. You can exclude particular statements from being run.
You can also change the text of your statements before they are run. This makes AQT a very
powerful tool for running a large script.
╖ you can now specify a statement delimiter other than semicolon.
╖ we've added some features to make it easier to view large text columns. On the Table Display
window there is an option "View As ..." which allows you to view the value of a column
with another program (Notepad, Internet Explorer, Word). This is extremely useful if you are
storing html, xml or Word documents in a table.
╖ we've finally bowed to popular demand and allowed up to 100,000 rows to be displayed. Just
don't complain to us if your PC runs out of memory. In the future you will be able to
display all of a large table by being able to display the table in a series of "chunks".
╖ for DB2 users, we allow you to specify your Isolation Level (Committed Read or Uncommitted Read).
╖ the Date and Time formats are now remembered between sessions.
╖ the GUI Query Builder can now handle up to 20 tables, 20 joins and 200 Where clauses.
╖ the Build Where Clause window of the GUI Query Builder has a new "OK and Add Another"
which makes it a lot quicker to add multiple Where clauses.
╖ The Table Display window now uses a Text Box in the right grid for displaying large objects
such as View Text and Procedure Text. This gives the ability to scroll through the text.
╖ The Query Timeout option has been removed as we have decided it is unnecessary.
╖ The Signon window has another option - Prompt for Missing Info. In most cases is a better
option than Prompted Signon.
╖ Run Stored Procedures had a few bugs removed and a few other miscellaneous enhancements.
A number of changes have been made to the Run SQL Window:
╖ you now see a list of options when you right-click the SQL Text box
╖ you have an option to do a syntax-check of your SQL
╖ you can set the font used in the text box
╖ you can change the case of selected text
╖ you can switch to another table without having to exit the window
╖ the last 10 tables you have dealt with are remembered
╖ the last 10 queries you have dealt with are also remembered
Dates
We have reviewed the way we deal with dates. These are complicated as:
╖ people want the flexibility to view them in a particular format.
╖ most databases are very fussy about how dates are specified in insert/update statements.
╖ all databases have different date/time fields, and different rules about how they are handled.
To cope with this we are introducing the concepts of Display Format and Update Format. Display
Format is how you wish to see the dates displayed. This is how you will normally see the dates.
Update Format is how the date needs to be formatted when specified in an update/insert statement
(or a Where clause). AQT will show dates in the Update Format when:
╖ you do a Get Values to get the values of a date column
╖ you go into Update (or Insert/Delete) Mode on a table. AQT will "convert" the dates from the
Display format to the Update format.
See here for more info on dates.
Oracle TO_DATE Function
With Oracle, dates often have to be specified in conjunction with the To_Date function. In most
places where dates need to be specified, AQT gives you the option to add the To_Date function
to the date. This is done in:
╖ the Run SQL window, where you may need to specify a Date in a Where clause
╖ the Add Where clause window of the Gui Query Builder
╖ the Update function of the Row Detail window
Not Done in V4.2
We have done our first cut of support for Informix. In future releases we will improve this.
What has not been done so far is:
╖ support for Informix-syntax outer join is only partially implemented
╖ column-list for synonyms hasn't been implemented yet
╖ the number of system-table queries will be increased. We'd appreciate some suggestions here
on the type on information you would find most useful.
╖ handling of timestamp columns will be improved
This is, of course, assuming we have some Informix users out there. If so, please contact us
to let us know (features in AQT are generally based on demand).
Plus:
╖ Run Stored Procedures for some versions of Sybase for some ODBC drivers can give a variety of
problems. We are working on this.
New to AQT 4.1.3
=================
The main feature in this release is a facility for running Stored Procedures.
This has the following features:
╖ prompts for the procedures parameters.
╖ handles all types of parameters - Input, Output and Input/Output.
╖ handles the output of multiple result-sets
╖ saves the details of the last 100 procedures run. These can be recalled and rerun.
This history is saved between AQT sessions.
This feature is extremely useful for those running stored procedures on a regular basis. Sybase and
SQL Server users who use Stored Procedures for system administration, will find this particularly useful.
Other features in this release are:
╖ Support for DB2/400 has been added.
╖ Saved / Retrieve queries now remembers the last 10 directories used.
╖ The Row Display window has been amended. The way the scrolling is done has been changed slightly;
the window can now cope with tables of up to 500 columns.
╖ The GUI Query Builder now has a Query Assistant that provides information about your query.
╖ In the Run SQL window you can rebuild the column list for the table that is in your SQL.
New to AQT Version 4.1.2
========================
In this release we have put in several suggestions we have received from a number of users.
. The columns in the Table Display window now auto-expand to the size of the data.
This makes the window a lot easier to read, especially on large-resolution screens.
╖ A number of enhancements have been made to the Run SQL window:
- the functions for a column can be seen/added by right-clicking a column name
- you can now select multiple columns. This makes it a lot easier to add a number of columns to
your SQL. You can also do multi-columns analysis with the Analyze Column functions.
- a button has been added to show common Constants for columns
╖ Many of the windows now have the Database name as the first part of the window caption.
The database name is thereby more visible on the task-bar icons (useful if you are running
multiple AQTs against different databases).
╖ Setting and saving of the font used in the Table-Display window and for Printing has been improved.
╖ The license keys are now held in the LOCAL_MACHINE, rather than CURRENT_USER, part of the registry.
This is useful in an NT environment where there might be multiple users wishing to use AQT on the
one machine. All other settings are held in CURRENT_USER.
New to AQT Version 4
====================
╖ The major feature is a GUI Query Builder. This is a major new component of AQT - about
9 months development work. There are numerous features in this - too many to detail here.
╖ The GUI Query Builder can reverse-engineer SQL - eg. take an existing SQL statement and
display it as a GUI query. This makes it very easy to visualise and amend complex queries.
╖ The GUI Query Builder can also reverse-engineer view definitions. You now have an option
"View as Query" (when you right-click a view) to show the view definition as a GUI query.
Other Features
Apart from the GUI Query Builder, the other new features for this release:
╖ the Query History is now saved (on disk) between AQT sessions. The number of entries in
this is increased to 100.
╖ Elapsed time for a query is shown, and this is included in the Query History.
╖ You can save and retrieve the results of a query. This allows you to view the results of
a query at a later point in time, even after you have disconnected from the database.
╖ If you have saved the query results, this is shown in the Query History, and this can be
re-displayed with a single click. This is extremely useful.
╖ In the Run SQL window, you can run a part of the query by selecting it before hitting
Run / F5 (it will run the selected text, rather than everything in the query window).
╖ Compare Tables can now compare tables in different schemas in the same database.
. Support for SQLBase has been added.
What is Advanced Query Tool?
============================
AQT is a database query tool designed for the DBA and database developer. It provides a simple
and fast way of seeing the tables in your system (both table definition and table content).
It allows you to build and save queries.
AQT has a large number of features and tools designed to simply and automote the your job - in
product demonstrations it takes us over 90 minutes to quickly run through all the features of AQT.
Advanced Query Tool works with any ODBC database.
In addition (and this is what makes AQT unique), AQT will access the system tables (a.k.a. catalog,
dictionary) to provide you with comprehensive information about the objects in your system. The
feature which reads the system tables needs to be configured for each database type (this is done
with a *.cfg file which contains the menu structure and system queries for that database). So for
this has been done for the DB2s, Oracle, Sybases, MS SQL Server, MySQL and SQLBase. Other databases
will be added in the future.
For a fuller list of features, see http://www.querytool.com or double-click on the help file aqt.hlp
which comes with the product (you can download this separately).
Prerequisites
=============
Software: Windows 95/98/2000, Windows NT V4.0 or above
Hardware: 486 or Pentium processor.
Disk space: 4.4 MB in your Windows system directory
1.2 MB in your program directory
Memory: AQT uses 10-15 MB of memory.
ODBC: 32-bit ODBC driver. ODBC connections to your databases must be configured.
In some cases this may require database client software to be installed on
your machine.
In addition, you will need to have been given the database access rights to read the system tables
in your database.
Evaluation Version
==================
When you install AQT you get an evaluation version of the product. There are some restrictions in
this version, principally:
1. only 50 rows can be displayed
2. queries cannot be saved
3. query results cannot be printed (apart from screen print)
4. in the Gui Query Builder you can only build "simple" queries (less than 200 bytes of SQL).
To fully activate all the features of the product you must pay for it. At $100 it is cheap for the
features it provides.
Distribution
============
You can distribute this product freely to anyone, as long as you don't receive any money for this
(apart from the cost of the media) or pass it off as your own product. However you cannot reveal
your registration code to anyone else.
Product Cost and Payment
========================
AQT costs $100 US Dollars per copy (see http://www.querytool.com/pricing.html for more details on
pricing). Once you pay for the product you will be sent a registration key. You load this into AQT by
clicking on the "Enter Registration key" button. This turns AQT from an Evaluation Version to the
Full Version. You will not get any physical media (CDs etc).
You can pay for AQT in a number of ways:
a) within AQT, click on the "Pay for AQT" button. Fill out the form to pay for the product in whichever
way you wish (credit card etc).
b) alternatively, click Pay Online. This will take you to the web Online Payment screen.
c) within the AQT home page, http://www.querytool.com, click on Purchase. This will also take you to the
Online Payment screen.
Note that the payment and registration of the product is handled by our retailer Kagi (http://www.kagi.com).
Any queries regarding payment and registration should be directed to sales@kagi.com.
Installation (full install)
===========================
1. after downloading aqt41.zip, unzip it into some temporary directory.
2. double-click on setup.exe.
3. follow the installation instructions.
Installation generally takes 5 minutes or less. You do not need to reboot your machine after installing.
The setup files have been split into three pieces (aqt1.cab, aqt2.cab and aqt3.cab) to make it easier
for you to transport this product on floppies.
Installation (update install)
=============================
If you already have a version of AQT installed, you can just download the "Update" installation file.
Unzip the files into your AQT program directory.
More on Installation
====================
AQT is written in Visual Basic Version 6. The installation process uses the VB application setup wizard. This will install a number of DLLs and OCXs in your Windows System directory. It will do so "safely" - eg. it will not replace a DLL with an older DLL. If you want to see exactly what the installation did see file St6unst.log in the installation directory (eg. c:\Program Files\Advanced Query Tool).
Note: do not delete St6unst.log as it is needed by the uninstall.
Much of the installation package is the VB V6 runtime environment.
The DLLs and OCXes installed by AQT are as follows:
File File Date File Size
------------ ------------------- ---------
VB6STKIT.DLL 6/18/98 12:00:00 AM 102,912
COMCAT.DLL 5/31/98 12:00:00 AM 22,288
Stdole2.tlb 6/17/98 12:00:00 AM 17,920
Asycfilt.dll 6/18/98 12:00:00 AM 147,728
Olepro32.dll 6/18/98 12:00:00 AM 164,112
OLEAUT32.DLL 6/18/98 12:00:00 AM 598,288
MSVBVM60.DLL 6/25/98 12:00:00 AM 1,409,024
RDOCURS.DLL 6/18/98 12:00:00 AM 151,552
MSRDO20.DLL 6/18/98 12:00:00 AM 393,216
COMDLG32.OCX 6/24/98 12:00:00 AM 140,096
MSHFLXGRD.OCX 6/24/98 12:00:00 AM 407,104
COMCT332.OCX 6/24/98 12:00:00 AM 369,696
MSCOMCTL.OCX 6/26/98 12:00:00 AM 1,062,704
TABCTL32.OCX 8/17/99 1:58:58 PM 209,192
MSSTDFMT.DLL 6/18/98 12:00:00 AM 118,784
If you are a paranoid type, you might like to back up the existing versions of these files before
installing AQT. You do trust Microsoft don't you?
Four of the files deserve mention: olepro32.dll, oleaut32.dll, stdole2.dll and Stdole2.tlb. These
files are in continuous use by Windows so cannot be upgraded while Windows is running. If the
install process needs to update these you will get a message "Setup cannot continue because some
system files are out of date on your system..... You will need to restart Windows before you can run
setup again....". If you click on OK, Windows will upgrade these files the next time it is restarted.
If you get this message you should:
1. click OK on the Setup message. Click Cancel on the restart message
2. (optional) back up the existing versions of these files
3. restart your machine
4. rerun setup.exe
If after doing this you still get the above message (has happened on one install) you will need to
manually move the above four files into your Windows System directory by restarting your machine in
DOS mode.
DeInstallation
==============
To remove the product from your machine:
1. select option Add / Remove Programs from the Control panel
2. click on Advanced Query Tool then click on Add/Remove
3. click on Yes when prompted.
Software Updates
================
Updates to Advanced Query Tool will be posted at regular intervals to http://www.querytool.com/download.
It is worthwhile checking this occassionally in case an extra feature you may find useful has been
implemented. You can download and use new versions of the product for no extra charge.
Problem Reporting
=================
If you have any problems, or find any bugs, please email aqt@querytool.com with full details of
the problem (including screen snapshots if possible and relevant).
Enhancement Requests
====================
Where AQT heads as a product is up to you as users. Please let us know what extra features you
