What is DbViewSharp and why would you use it?

DbViewSharp is an open source desktop application for searching SQL Server databases. But then so is SQL Management Studio. So why do I use DbViewSharp instead of SQL Management Studio (SMS)?

When I want to find out something about a database; the fields in a table, the data in a table, the source of a view or stored procedure, I want it fast; there's usually an urgent problem. I don't like waiting for my program to load then finding the connection or even re-entering the connection details; then expanding the list of database names (why so slow?); then finding the database name in the list of databases; then expanding the list of table names; then finding the table name in the list of tables; then right-clicking and finding the item in the context menu to show the data; then choosing whether to select 1000 rows to view or 200 rows to edit. Then waiting while the application fetches 4, just 4, rows of data. I've just done this on SQL Management Studio and it was painful. While I'm on a slow machine at the moment I'm going to try the same thing on DbViewSharp.

Ok then, launch DbViewSharp, it's faster to launch, but not so you'd notice. Click to connect to the database and right there are the tables. Find the table, double-click on it and right there is the data; pretty much instantly for a table with 4 rows in it.

You want to see the source for a view? With SMS you expand the list of views, you find the view you want, right-click to get the context menu, search down the list of options, figure out you want "Script view as...", then Create to..., then New query window, wait for a moment, and finally see your view source. I wont bother describing what you have to do to compare the source of the same view in another database. In DbViewSharp, click on the views toolbar button and you see your views. Double-click on the view and you see the source. That's all.

SMS is a mighty application, which does (almost) everything that DbViewSharp does and much, much more. However it was designed so you could manage every single aspect of a SQL Server database through a GUI and compromises its search functionality with its CRUD features and all-inclusivity. DbViewSharp is tuned for searching, which is what I've wanted most for the last 8 years of working with databases.

I hope the examples I've run through have given a idea of the different design approach I took with DbViewSharp. There are so many more cases where I've taken the liberty of making a common search task easy to perform possibly at the expense of omitting some functionality I need once in a season.

I hope to expand on this in future posts, but for now if you want a change from  SQL Management Studio  and are tired of looking at endless clones based around a tree of database objects and a query window then give DbViewSharp a try. Find DbViewSharp on Codeplex.