SoftTree Updates SQL Assistant

March 24, 2009 Alex Woodie

SoftTree Technologies recently launched a new release of SQL Assistant, a programming tool designed to speed the programming of SQL. With version 4.6, the tool gains new time-saving devices, including real-time syntax lookup and visual bookmarks for code editors.

Writing SQL code can be a pain in the you know what. Many application developers avoid getting their hands dirty with low-level SQL programming by basically outsourcing its generation to automated development tools. One of those tools is SQL Assistant, which SoftTree says supports all major databases, including DB2 for i (DB2/400).

SQL Assistant cuts development time through an array of handy features, such as Intellisense code completion, using historical coding patterns to suggest commonly used queries, and providing real-time checks for syntax and spelling errors. Overall, the product has the capability to reduce the number of keystrokes required to write SQL statements by a factor of three, SoftTree claims.

With version 4.6, the Staten Island, New York, company has added several new features. One of these is support for visual bookmarks, which it calls an “obscure and rarely used” function found in many code editors. By tapping into the visual bookmarks function, SoftTree expects to help users find what their looking for faster. The feature is so useful, even seasoned coders “will grow to love and use [the function] often,” SoftTree says.

Support for real-time syntax lookup and in-place prompts in version 4.6 will help eliminate a coder’s need to find answers in printed manuals, or browse the Web for electronic manuals. Users can also now use the product’s mouse-over feature to view hints for procedure and function parameters, or to view tables and columns for objects whose names contain spaces and special symbols, the company says.

Version 4.6 enables developers to compare code in their editors against code residing in databases, files, or other editors, thereby streamlining the error-checking processes, SoftTree says. Finally, this release introduces fourth-generation Intellisense and code completion technology.