Quest Software, a provider of database management tools, announced the next generation of Toad for Oracle, a solution designed to enhance Oracle database development and administration. The new toolset, Toad for Oracle 10, offers enhancements in usability, automation, and education, the vendor says."We look to provide value-add above standard browsing through databases and checking code with editors," John Pocknell, product manager for Toad at Quest, tells 5 Minute Briefing. "We're looking to provide the basic requirements of productivity, and extend educational content to use the product better, and use Oracle smarter."
The toolset is configured for three types of users, or personas: DBAs, developers, and analysts. For DBAs, Toad for Oracle 10 is intended to offer greater manageability and automation, making it easier to view all managed servers while simultaneously performing daily tasks across multiple instances. "Our database persona includes a suite of products to extend the capabilities of Toad," Pocknell says. "These include performance metrics, and also mitigating the risks of applying changes into database production environments."
Toad 10's Automation Designer enables DBAs to automate, save and multi-execute tasks against multiple database connections. Toad can now execute more than 120 database analysis checks (included in DBA Suite and DB Admin Module), providing DBAs access to deeper assessments of potential problems.
Toad 10 also includes a visual representation of the Oracle development environment. Direct links to educational content on coding requirements help users follow development best practices. Additionally, developers are now able to generate real-world data for debugging and testing with
Toad's advanced data generator (included in Professional Edition, Xpert Edition and Suites).
Quest is also beefing up its "ToadWorld" site to provide greater training and education for end users, Pocknell says.
Quest also recognized that its product was used by analysts, and the new release includes an analyst persona, Pocknell says. Toad for Data Analysts, which is included with all editions of Toad 10, includes conditional logic in automation, giving analysts more flexibility and the ability to create more powerful scripts. Charting and pivot enhancements enable analysts to change queries on the fly without switching screens.
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