Interactive SQL behavior changes and deprecated features

Following is a list of changes to Interactive SQL introduced in version 11.0.0.

  • Graphical plans are now viewable in a Plan Viewer   You now view graphical plans for SQL Anywhere databases in a separate, resizable window called the Plan Viewer, in Interactive SQL. This change makes it easier to view and compare plans because you can now open multiple Plan Viewer windows at the same time. To access the Plan Viewer, click Tools » Plan Viewer. Text plans for UltraLite databases are also displayed in the Plan Viewer. See Plan Viewer and graphical plans in Interactive SQL.

    In addition, the Interactive SQL option isql_plan option is unsupported.

  • Support for viewing long and short plans has been removed   You can no longer view text plans for SQL Anywhere databases in Interactive SQL. However, you can still retrieve them using the EXPLANATION and PLAN functions. You can still view text plans for UltraLite databases using the Plan Viewer in Interactive SQL.

  • Printing execution plans and result sets   Now you can print the contents of the SQL Statements pane and the result sets by pressing Ctrl+P or by clicking Print from the File menu. Previously you could only print the contents of the SQL Statements pane. You can print in the Plan Viewer by clicking the Print button. See Printing SQL statements, execution plans, and result sets in Interactive SQL.

  • Line numbers added to the SQL Statements pane   Line numbers are now visible on the left side of the SQL Statements pane. These line numbers can help you identify the location of syntax errors.

  • Enhancement to the Execute SQL Statements toolbar button   Previously, on the Interactive SQL toolbar, the Execute SQL Statements button executed all SQL statements. Now you can specify whether to execute all statements, or to execute only the selected statements when the button is clicked.

    To set the behavior of the Execute SQL Statements button, in the Tools menu, click Options » Toolbar. See Executing SQL statements in Interactive SQL.

  • Enhancement to executing batch statements  

    • Interactive SQL provides improved feedback when executing batches of statements. When executing SQL statements from the SQL Statements pane, the statement being executed is now selected and scrolled into view. When executing script files by clicking File » Run Script, a status window appears that shows the progress through the script. See Executing multiple SQL statements in Interactive SQL.

  • Enhancements to the Results pane  

    • In the Results pane, you can now select all the results by pressing Ctrl+A. You can also select the entire result set, not just the currently fetched results. When the Results pane does not contain the entire result set, you are prompted to fetch the remaining results. Otherwise, only the currently fetched results are selected.

    • Now when you copy cells from the Results tab the copied data is formatted based on the following Interactive SQL options: isql_field_separator, isql_quote, and isql_escape_character. You can also copy to the clipboard selected values, rows, and columns from the result set. See Copying columns, rows, and cells from an Interactive SQL result set.

    • Now when you click a column-header in the Results tab, the results are sorted by that column. When the Results pane does not contain the entire result set, you are prompted to fetch the remaining results. Otherwise, only the currently fetched results are sorted.

    • Now you can generate and copy to the clipboard INSERT, DELETE, and UPDATE statements that are based on selected rows in the result set. See Generating SQL statements from result sets in Interactive SQL.

    • The Results pane in Interactive SQL has been enhanced to include the following features, available from the right-click menu:

      • Copy » Copy Cell   Copies the contents of the selected cell.

      • Copy » Copy Column   Copies cell values from the column the selected cell.

      • Generate » INSERT Statement   Generates an INSERT statement for each selected row and copies them to the clipboard.

      • Generate » DELETE Statement   Generates a DELETE statement for each selected row and copies them to the clipboard.

      • Generate » UPDATE Statement   Generates an UPDATE statement for each selected row and copies them to the clipboard. The generated statements set the column values to their current values. Consequently, executing the statements would not actually change the column values. This functionality can be useful for providing a template UPDATE statement which you could edit before executing it.

      See Copying columns, rows, and cells from an Interactive SQL result set and Generating SQL statements from result sets in Interactive SQL.

  • Enhancements to Interactive SQL statements  

  • Changes to the Import Wizard and the Export Wizard   When the Import Wizard or the Export Wizard finishes, the SQL statement generated by the wizard is stored in the command history. To view the generated SQL Statement, click SQL » History.

  • Interactive SQL options  

  • Changes to the Interactive SQL launcher   The executable for the Windows version of the Interactive SQL launcher has changed from dbisqlg.exe to dbisql.exe.

    The executable for the command-line version of the Interactive SQL launcher changed from dbisql.exe to dbisql.com. Batch scripts should call dbisql or dbisql.com, not dbisql.exe.