Re: Visual query builder for PosgreSQL? - Mailing list pgsql-general

Many, many (many) years ago, while working at DIGITAL EQUIPMENT (before it =
bellied up), I worked with a relational DB they created called "RDB".  Some=
one at DEC wrote an sql development gui in Xwindows called "InstantSQL".  I=
t was really great.  All the tables of the DB were icons, you could drag th=
e ones you wanted into the main workspace, open them up, graphically select=
 the cols you wanted to "select" and join  tables by click-dragging a line =
from one col of one table to another.  You could build your predicate by dr=
agging out search criteria boxes frmo the colmns, filling them in with the =
criteria, changing the logical operators, etc... .  It supported aggregate =
functions, order by, and manual editing of the resulting SQL if you wanted =
to.  The users LOVED that thing.  They would build their queries, run them =
and redirect output to a file.  Then "save" the query for future use.  They=
 would also use it to prototype sql which they would then cut/paste into sc=
ripts.  Very intuitive to use and very user friendly. =20

Other guis allow you to do some simple things in a gui, like join tables, b=
ut I've yet to see something that let the user do it all in the gui.  The s=
ingle gui approach had some advantages, the most important of which (IMO) w=
as ease of use and being so intuitive.=20

When Oracle "acquired" RDB, InstantSQL died with the DB (after the canabali=
zed it).  Haven't seen InstantSQL since.  They're probably just sitting on =
the patent.  I just wish good-ole InstantSQL was still out there.  Your use=
rs, like mine of the past, would probably love it.

-----Original Message-----
From: pgsql-general-owner@postgresql.org [mailto:pgsql-general-owner@postgr=
esql.org] On Behalf Of Satoshi Nagayasu
Sent: Friday, February 15, 2013 8:53 PM
To: Adrian Klaver
Cc: Kevin Grittner; pgsql-general@postgresql.org
Subject: Re: [GENERAL] Visual query builder for PosgreSQL?

(2013/02/09 0:41), Adrian Klaver wrote:
> On 02/08/2013 07:33 AM, Kevin Grittner wrote:
>> Satoshi Nagayasu <snaga@uptime.jp> wrote:
>>
>>> Of course, I can write ad-hoc queries by myself. However, I'd like=20
>>> to allow non-tech people to issue ad-hoc queries with using some=20
>>> visual query builder.
>>
>> You should probably take a look at http://htsql.org/
>>
>> It is free open source software intended for "accidental programmers"=20
>> -- people who want to pull summarized data from a database without=20
>> learning SQL or needing rigorous training.  Its development was=20
>> partially funded by grants from foundations, including the National=20
>> Science Foundation.  It does support PostgreSQL and most definitely=20
>> support counts, sums, etc.  In fact, it can automagically give you=20
>> pretty summary graphs with the ability to drill down to supporting=20
>> detail.
>
> I second this. I have been trying it out and it is proving quite useful.
> The interesting part is that if you use the HTML interface you can get=20
> the SQL sent to the server, helps you learn that also.

Very interesting.

If non-tech people can learn a simple query language for their analytics pu=
rpose, it would be worth trying.

I think some "abstraction layer" is needed between non-tech users and DBMS =
to allow them to issue queries themselves.

I think some query builder could be one of the solutions, and also some sim=
ple query language could be another solution.

I will look into it.

Regards,
--
Satoshi Nagayasu <snaga@uptime.jp>
Uptime Technologies, LLC. http://www.uptime.jp


--=20
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