Comments on: From MySQL GUI Tools to MySQL Workbench

By: kovshenin

kovshenin — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 21:13:40 +0000

Good point Steve, I heard SQLyog is a good piece of software, but unfortunately I haven’t used any query builders since Access. I’m quite comfortable with SSH and SQL.

By: Steve Obbayi

Steve Obbayi — Sat, 05 Jun 2010 19:40:19 +0000

kovshenin you haven’t seen a Query builder since Access, you can have a look at SQLyog, they have a query builder. It really saves time building enterprise level queries. It doesn’t execute them directly but it just helps to visually build them.

By: kovshenin

kovshenin — Wed, 31 Mar 2010 06:36:07 +0000

Sounds like fun John, thanks! Will check that out!

By: John

John — Tue, 30 Mar 2010 22:28:44 +0000

Hmm, maybe some people like a Web 2.0 application/service.
http://novaquantum.com/
The GUI looks amazing and it seems to do a lot of admin stuff as simple as a right-click! (there is a DEMO link on their site, just in case you wonder..)

By: kovshenin

kovshenin — Thu, 25 Feb 2010 08:20:53 +0000

Yeah, correct.

By: Ashfame

Ashfame — Tue, 23 Feb 2010 07:47:53 +0000

Hey buddy!
It looks like a desktop app with which we can do work on the sql backend. Is it so? or I am getting something wrong here.

By: kovshenin

kovshenin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:34:01 +0000

Michael,

Okay good point. GUI tools understood. Convince you to switch? That’s Sun’s job, not mine, but okay, let’s try this.. What if MySQL GUI Tools is unable to connect to MySQL 6? Say, do you still run Windows XP? And Linux 2.4 core? No? What convinced you to switch? Maybe because software is getting outdated, and who could write a better tool for MySQL than Sun Microsystems?

Hope that’s convincing enough,
Cheers.

By: Michael Stelly

Michael Stelly — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 16:07:06 +0000

Point taken about beta. However, without digressing too far, 21st-century “beta” != 20th-century “beta”. Tools from leading tech companies are in perpetual “beta” anymore. So, to say something is in “beta” because it has unresolved bugs is disingenuous. All software has bugs. FWIW, thanks for noting the “bug? maybe not” link. I’ll take a look at that.

For absolute control, yes, use CLI. For the record, I was referring to any mysql tool – phpMyAdmin or MySQL GUI Tools.

The “need” for a gui query builder becomes evident when building enterprise-level data models.
1) It saves time and
2) building complex queries with inner/outer joins, database links and correlated subqueries is tedious and fraught with user errors. I personally don’t have ANSI SQL syntax memorized.

I “bother” with GUI tools because my clients want results quickly. They don’t care if I’m a CLI purist. If I supply the toolset, they don’t care if it’s MWB or phpMYAdmin. That’s my concern. All they care about is how long will it take and how much will it cost.

I guess what got “a bee in my bonnet”, as we say here in the US, was the implication that MWB is superior to phpMyAdmin and we should follow your advice if we, as adults, were grown up enough to do so. But, then you never gave any evidence to support your assertion. Static screenshots do not pass as evidence.

Convince me to switch. If I agree, then maybe I will. Derision will only alienate your readers.

By: kovshenin

kovshenin — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 07:34:22 +0000

Michael, you didn’t state what piece of software you’re reffering to, as I said phpMyAdmin is for children. Yes MySQL GUI Tools is okay and that’s what I suppose you should use if you’re still uncomfortable with the Workbench, but hey, you’ll have to move on some day.

Regarding your decision about 5.2. How can you decide? It’s still in beta. The foreign key issue seems more of a bug than a missed feature. You might want to take a look here: http://bugs.mysql.com/bug.php?id=47981 A bug report has been submitted and marked as “Not a bug” by the MySQL team, this means that there’s probably a solution to that. Read through the notes, I’m pretty sure you’ll find something ;)

As for the GUI query builder.. I haven’t seen those since Microsoft Access. Are you sure there’s a need for one in MySQL? I mean most MySQL users I know are pretty comfortable with it’s query language and don’t require any tools to drag & drop to execute a statement.

P.S. You said that you left childhood behind a long time ago. I suppose then, you’re okay with the MySQL command line interface. If so, why bother with all this GUI meh? ;)

~ K.

By: Michael Stelly

Michael Stelly — Thu, 04 Feb 2010 01:28:42 +0000

I should migrate to MWB just because you say so? And then you mock those who do not as children? I’ll need a more convincing argument than that. I agree, the fit and finish of 5.2 is more polished than its predecessor. But I don’t particularly need eye-candy from a database admin tool. I need utility.

So far, I haven’t decided if I really like 5.2 yet. Why?
- I can’t locate a GUI query builder. Does it have one? If so, where is it?
- When I reverse engineer a database into an EER diagram, it doesn’t add the foreign key relationships. So I have to manually add them to the diagram and manually delete the existing fk column. That’s simply a pain in the ass.

That’s an opinion from someone who left childhood behind a long time ago.