Database Development Overview

Database development provides visual tools to create and debug database objects. You can create, edit, save, debug, and execute procedural objects, real-time messaging statements, and SQL files. From stored procedures, you can derive database services to integrate with business process services, message services, or Web services using Sybase WorkSpace Service Development.

When you develop database objects in Sybase WorkSpace, you have access to the latest Sybase database features from within your visual development environment. This integrated environment can simplify and unify the complete development life cycle for your database applications, starting with data and process modeling, through development, debugging, and deployment.

Wizards help you create the basic structure for procedural objects, SQL files, and messaging constructs. Using the SQL File Editor, you can edit new files or edit existing files from other sources. You can generate SQL syntax without writing SQL code by using the Visual SQL dialog, which offers a graphical interface for developing select, insert, update, and delete statements. You can also use Content Assist, which provides content-sensitive syntax suggestions, to accelerate manual coding.

You can generate database definition language (DDL) for database objects. You can execute the DDL immediately on the database server associated with the connection profile, or save it to a .sql file, which enables you to quickly and easily create the same database object for a different database, or edit the DDL code as necessary.

You can test SQL files and database objects against different launch environments and save these launch configurations for iterative testing as you update the application, or migrate to a new database version. Portability checks in the SQL File Editor help you develop applications for multiple environments, and port existing applications between Sybase database servers and versions. You can view and save SQL execution results in a text or graphic format, and see execution plan details that help you tune application and system performance.

While debugging in Database Development you can set breakpoints, adjust variables, step through code, suspend and resume execution, and view and edit tables referenced in your queries. You can also debug an external client.