xSQL Documenter V4 released

One of the best database documenting tools in the market just got better - we released xSQL Documenter V4 with the following new and enhanced features:

• support for Microsoft Integration Server 2005/2008, Teradata 13 and SQLite;
• enhanced Extended Property Editor to support more platforms and support for comments on procedure parameters;
• A new “columns” section for table valued functions shows what columns they return (SQL Server only);
• Deterministic, schema bound and inline properties for functions were added (SQL Server only);
• Ability to suppress object dependencies on schemas (SQL Server only);
• Ability to specify max number of threads in GUI (the equivalent of the command line switch /threads);
• Support for replacing tabs with spaces in DDL;
• Scripting of users, logins, and roles for SQL Server;
• Support for connecting to Oracle using ODBC;
• More details in the foreign keys section for SQL Server;
• Specify sample rows from tables separately from sample rows for views since views can be very "expensive";
• Ability to order sample rows;

Database management systems that were already supported in the previous version are:

• Microsoft SQL Server 2000/2005/2008
• Microsoft Analysis Server 2005/2008
• Microsoft Report Server 2005/2008
• Oracle 9i and above
• DB2 8.2 and above
• MySQL 5.0 and above
• Sybase ASE 12.0 and above
• Sybase SQL Anywhere 10.0 and up
• Informix IDS 10.0 and above
• PostgreSQL 8.0 and above
• Microsoft Access 97 and above
• VistaDB 3.0 and above
• ENEA Polyhedra 7.0 and above
• Raima RDM Server 8.1

Download a free, non-expiring trial version from http://www.xsql.com/download/database_documenter/ and let us know what you think.

xSQL Documenter 3 released

We have just released xSQL Documenter 3 which includes the following new features and enhancements:

• Support for Microsoft Report Server 2005/2008;
• Support for Raima RDM Server;
• Support for SVG diagrams. Now the diagrams can be rendered in all browsers, such as Firefox, Opera, Safari, and Internet Explorer;
• Option to use short names in the documentation instead of the three part names;
• Each table and view column is now added to the CHM index;
• SQL Server only: support for an extended property filter. If you use a filter, only extended properties named in the filter will be fetched.
• Microsoft Analysis Server: support for excluding XMLA and MDX code for objects.

There is no comparison in features or value between xSQL Documenter and other database documentation tools - xSQL Documenter comes way ahead on every category. Generates both compiled CHM and HTML documentation and supports the following platforms:

• Microsoft SQL Server 2000/2005/2008
• Microsoft Analysis Server 2005/2008
• Microsoft Report Server 2005/2008
• Oracle 9i and above
• DB2 8.2 and above
• MySQL 5.0 and above
• Informix IDS 10.0 and above
• Sybase ASE
• Sybase SQL Anywhere 10.0
• PostgreSQL 8.0 and above
• Microsoft Access 97 and above
• VistaDB 3.0 and above
• ENEA Polyhedra 7.0 and above
• Raima RDM Server 8.1

You can download the free trial version from: http://www.xsql.com/download/database_documenter/ The trial version does not expire but simply puts the "trial" notices throughout the documentation. Give it a try - it does not require installation - you will have the most thorough documentation ready in minutes.

Documenting your databases – one tool does it all

Documenting anything is usually a painful task that everybody talks about but no one likes to do. I have seen one client after another with virtually no database documentation and no awareness of the incredible amount of time that especially newcomers spend on understanding how the objects relate to each other, how the data is stored, and what kind of constraints they need to be aware of!

Here is a perfect excuse that I have heard way too often: “by the time we are done documenting things have already changed so the documentation becomes outdated before it is even completed”. That might have been true in the distant past but not any more. With the right tool you can document your databases like SQL Server, DB2, Oracle, MySQL, Informix virtually any platform, in minutes – you can even create a job that automatically updates the documentation every day. One of the best tools out there to do the job is xSQL Documenter which allows you to simultaneously generate compiled CHM and / or HTML documentation for all your databases.

What’s even better, a great tool like this does not cost a fortune – for less than $200 you will get an incredible tool that will save your organization hundreds of hours of work.

xSQL Documenter supports the following platforms: SQL Server, Oracle, DB2, MySQL, Informix IDS, Sybase ASE, Sybase SQL Anywhere, PostgreSQL, Access, VistaDB, ENEA Polyhedra;

You can download your copy of xSQL Documenter from http://www.xsql.com/download/database_documenter/

xSQL Documenter 2.0 released

We just released a new version of xSQL Documenter that adds supports SQL Server 2008, Sybase SQL Anywhere as well as new features and enhancements. Here is what's new on xSQL Documenter 2.0:

• Support for SQL Server 2008
• Support for Sybase SQL Anywhere 10.0 and up
• Adds a “choose objects” page in the GUI where you can specify what object types you want to document.
• Support for all DBMS platforms in the "exclude objects" GUI. Previously this GUI supported only SQL Server.
• Support for arbitrary HTML in database comments – see /pt command line switch.
• Analysis Server: support for XML comments in MDX scripts. This enables documentation of calculated members.
• Support for cross database and cross server dependencies (through linked servers)
• Support for column dependencies (which columns of which table a stored procedure selects or updates.
• SQL Server: support for XML comments on objects that don't have their DDL stored on the server, such as tables. This is implemented with extended properties.SQL Server: add extended properties filter. Using this you can restrict by name the extended properties that are fetched by xSQL Documenter.

xSQL Documenter generates compiled CHM and html database documentation for virtually all DBMS platforms including SQL Server, DB2, Oracle, MySQL etc.

You can read more about xSQL Documenter and download your copy from: http://www.xsql.com/products/database_documenter/

Google Adwords – increase quality or bid $$

I am sure that in a lot of cases when advertisers are trying to mislead the customers this makes perfect sense but it gets to be incredibly frustrating when it does not work as I would think it should.

Here is the source of my frustration: we have a cool tool for documenting databases, xSQL Documenter that allows the user to automatically generate compiled CHM and HTML documentation for databases on virtually any platform – you can document SQL Server databases, Oracle databases, DB2 databases, MySQL databases, Informix databases, Access databases, PostgreSQL databases.

Now one would think (at least I think) that the keyword/phrase “document database” is as relevant as it can possibly get and a browser who plugs in “document database” on the google search box would be well served when directed to a page like the xSQL Documenter page. But, unfortunately the google algorithm does not “think” so – it keeps pushing me to increase quality or raise the bid and since there isn’t much I can do to improve the quality I am left with the other choice, that is, “raise the bid”! Are they price-gauging or is it just an imperfect algorithm?

Please feel free to comment or tell your google adwords story.