Main Screen


SQL Delta employs a single form interface utilizing tabs to contain the various projects or actions relating to projects. In almost all cases SQL Delta uses dialogs that display within a tab and do not block any background operations or switching tabs. 



  1. The master tab is the Project Manager at position zero and can be accessed using the keyboard shortcut Alt-0. Unlike other tabs this tab cannot be deleted.

  2. Feedback, System Options and Help buttons are available at all times.
    1. Feedback provides a mechanism for you to send us your thoughts. Feedback isn't intended to replace support email ([email protected]) however we do monitor the feedback and often make changes to SQL Delta based on the feedback. Please send us you email address so we can respond to you. We keep your details private and within our company.
    2. System Options: System Preferences configures overall SQL Delta settings and defaults, Check for Updates connects to our web server to check for new versions, Deactivate display the deactivation dialog and About.
    3. Help opens the Help tab. The help tab like reports uses a Chrome browser to display help and requires the Chrome DLL files to be available, which should happen when the product is installed.

  3. Filter Text will limit the project list to include only items containing the filter text. Perl Regular expressions can be used in the filter to create more complex filters.

  4. Filters provides a number of different options for the project manager display. The filter is active when the button is depressed.
    1. Schema Compare hides all the schema compare project types
    2. Schema View hides all schema view project types
    3. Data Compare hides all data compare project types
    4. All Checked will hide all projects except ones that are checked. The hide filters override this reveal filter, if Schema Compare filter is On and you press All Checked then only the Schema View and Data Compare checked projects will be shown.
    5. Project Groups ON shows the group bar and groups projects into their project group.

  5. View a list of recently run projects which persists even after restarting.



Feedback


Filters


Project Groups


A project group can be created when creating a new project or editing the project.


Switching Tabs


When you choose to create a new project, edit or duplicate a project SQL Delta will automatically switch to the edit tab. When you run a project SQL Delta will switch to the compare or view results tab when the project run has completed. If you have multiple tabs open then SQL Delta will only automatically switch to a newly completed tab if the project manager has focus or if you are running a project from the edit tab or a script from the compare tab. If you run more than one project simultaneously SQL Delta will switch to the first project to finish and after that the tab focus will not change as the other projects finish. This switch to the first project to finish is irrespective of which project was started first.


When running a project from the edit tab the project will run and finish in the background and the tab focus automatically changes to the results tab when the compare is complete. If you choose an action within a project results tab, such as Script, Print or Edit then SQL Delta will automatically switch to the new action tab. Where a tab is linked to a results tab such as a Script or Print tab then closing one of these tabs will result in focus changing back to the calling results tab. Closing the results tab will also force the closure of related tabs such as Script or Print however an Edit tab will not be closed.


Switching tabs can also be done by pressing Alt+0 through to 9. If there are more than 10 tabs then only the first 9 plus the project manager can be selected.


If a project fails to run, for example a server is offline, the new pending tab  will be automatically closed and an error message shown in the project manager. 


Once a tab is open, that is a project is active either editing or running, double clicking the project in the project manager will automatically bring to focus the tab. It is not possible to open multiple copies of the same project performing the same function, that is running or editing. You can of course edit a project and run the project at the same time however the changes to the project are not reflected in the running project until it's refreshed.


Closing Tabs


When a tab has focus is can be closed by pressing Ctrl+F4 or the X within the tab. SQL Delta will then select the next tab in a leftwards direction until the project manager is reached. Where a tab is linked to another, for example a script tab is linked to the project results tab then closing the script tab will cause the focus to change back to the results tab.The project manager tab cannot be closed.


Within some tabs there can be an On Close action. For example within Schema Compare Script tab there is an option to Auto Refresh and when the script tab is closed the Schema compare project will automatically refresh. Generally there is no way to prevent the auto actions when switched on except to shut down SQL Delta.


If the automatic save project option has been switched on in System Preferences then closing a edit project tab will automatically save the project. 

Important If you shut down SQL Delta with the edit tab open SQL Delta will not automatically save the project. This is intended to allow a mechanism of preventing an unwanted change to a project when auto save is active.



See Also: Projects, Project Types