I’ve used Toad for MySQL for over 10 years. I have a love hate relationship with it, it often gets released with broken features, but it’s free, so what can you do?
I’ve recently switched jobs and am now in a .NET / SQL Server shop. So I decided to try out Toad for SQL Server. It seems that it’s missing features that are in the freeware MySQL version. For example:
Block inserts are not an option in the Export to Wizard when choosing to export to SQL Script
Exporting is not working on simple data types such as ints nvarchars. This happens on both export to excel and export to SQL Script. It will export the records, but most of the fields are just left blank or null.
I’ve tried both the trial and freeware versions of SQL Server and both have these issues. Exporting is one of the features I use more than anything. Are the trials/freeware versions crippled? I know you have three tiers of pricing for the SQL server version, but this is such a basic function that I’m surprised it’s not in the the Trial at least.
I’m pretty sure I only need the Professional Version, at least I don’t need data compare and just need the features in the MySQL freeware version. If you’ve crippled the trial and freeware below the first tier on your pricing, how can I justify the $655 cost for the Professional Version to my new boss?
There is no feature limitation in Toad for SQL Server trial. My I ask which version you use? Can you tell us more about the “block inserts” option you want? Exporting simple data types is expected to work correctly in Toad for SQL Server and we have other customers using it for daily work. If you are experiencing the issue repeatedly, would you please send us a support bundle via Help | Support bundle – please make sure the connection is open so that connection details is included.
I’ve since switched to the Toad SQL Server Beta 6.80.636 and have tried multiple machines. I’m still having all my issues.
The block insert is an option on Toad for MySQL, you can see it from it. But apparently it was removed sometime between7.3.1.3290 and 7.9.0.637 which I haven’t noticed because the export to SQL script is broken in general (it gives an error) on 7.9 [:@] That’s what I’m talking about how things are broken from version to version on the MySQL version. So I’m not sure if you guys decided to remove block inserts from all the version of Toad, or if it’s broken for MysQL 7.9 and SQL Server 6.8 Beta.
For the columns that won’t export I have this table:
CREATE TABLE [dbo].[Users] (
[UserID] int IDENTITY(1, 1) NOT NULL,
[UserName] nvarchar(50) NOT NULL,
[LoginName] nvarchar(50) NOT NULL,
[Password] nvarchar(50) NOT NULL,
[SecurityProfileID] int NOT NULL,
[UserStatus] bit NULL,
[ClientID] int NULL,
[DefaultClientID] int NULL,
[DefaultWarehouseId] int NULL);
When I try to export (either to Excel or to SQL Script, it doesn’t matter), the last three int fields are exported as if they’re null. There is data in them though.
There is nothing special about this table so I can only assume this is problem with the app. That’s why I was wondering if things are crippled on the trial or freeware versions. But you’re saying they’re not.
you can see that Toad for SQL server has some silly bugs. What worries me greatly is that the last release was available in May 2016. We are in March 2017 and there was no new production version shipped since. I don’t know what’s going on with the company, but it seems it has changed owners again, which, based on experience, is not a good sign.
I asked when we will have the next release but I can hear only the crickets. No answer. I pay a yearly subscription, and my minimal expectation is that the team cranks up new versions that fix existing bugs. That’s not happening.
And, yes, I don’t want to use beta versions to connect to production databases, so don’t recommend me the beta versions of the software. If the production releases have the bugs I’ve seen, beta versions don’t inspire me any trust. I expect that there is proper QA done for the production releases.
The whole experience with Toad for SQL Server frustrates me greatly. I continue to use it for certain features that are not available in SSMS (I don’t like SSMS).
I am almost to the point where I am thinking of writing my own tool in Delphi.
And as a side note, I really like Toad for Oracle which is written in Delphi.
The first thing I should point out is that, despite the recent divestiture of Dell Software to Quest, our commitment to our Toad products stays the same. In fact, we are making investments into new products in the Toad Portfolio to respond to market dynamics and to meet the changing needs of our customers as well as continuing to support our existing Toad portfolio.
I agree it’s not acceptable if we are releasing products that have bugs and our QA teams are doing all they can to minimize these, so I apologize for any inconvenience that may have caused.
Our next scheduled release of Toad for SQL Server will be v6.8 and is anticipated to be launched in the April timeframe. This version will provide the following:
64-bit version (in addition to existing 32-bit version)
SSMS 2016 support
SQL Server 2016 support (enhanced Log Reader)
TFS 2015 support
Our goal for Toad for SQL Server is to provide value above that which you would get within SSMS or to help perform specific tasks in a more productive way than in SSMS. There is even a Toad SSMS plug-in so you can benefit from Toad’s powerful features inside SSMS. This is especially the case with add-on products like SQL Optimizer for SQL Server for automated SQL tuning based on re-writes and Benchmark Factory for standard benchmarking or for SQL Server workload capture and replay performance testing.
We are always on the lookout for great ideas to add into the product and we have a Toad Idea Pond for that very purpose, so please let us know what you need.
I decided to install the Freeware version of Toad for SQL Server 6.6.0.963 and it was not randomly ignoring fields on export. However, when I switched the setting for Bits on the Environment -> Grid -> Bit setup to true/false to 1/0 I reproduced the bug.
I then switched over to the Toad for SQL Server Beta 6.8.0.636 (32 bit) and switched its Bit setting back to True/False and it started working. So this appears to be a bug with how you’re handling bits. The weird thing is this doesn’t affect the export of bit fields, but it affects all the fields that are exported after the bit field. So if I don’t include any bit fields in my result, it exports all the fields just fine. But if it has a bit field, it exports that field and then stops exporting everything after.
For example, in the table from my previous post, every field after UserStatus will not export if the Grid\Bit setting is set to 1/0. But will if the it’s set to true/false
I really appreciate your answer, and the fact that you let my message through. Let me tell you that I can hardly wait to download version 6.8.
It is all good that the team focuses on new features, but don’t forget the basic functionality - I think I am a what you’d call a basic user. I do this mostly:
code stored procedures and queries - any improvements to code completion would much appreciated and provide ways to view information about tables/views or procedures right from the editor.
view data in different tables - I use a lot object explorer and view object details
view source code of different objects - the quicker I get to the object’s source code the better (I use Shift+F4 a lot)
export data to excel
occasionally, I export data to sql scripts with inserts.
occasionally, I compare the structures of two environments.
That’s pretty much it. Except the last two, I found bugs in the areas I touched. I really hope version 6.8 will fix all the issues I had.
For now, Toad for SQL Server don’t have block insert function and it’s an excellent advice, we will consider your suggestion seriously.
In term of export data issue ,I can reproduced it according to your steps and created JIRA issue TSS-1416. Our developer will fix it as soon as possible.