OmniView Professional 2.0.6

"Cream of the crop SQL Server data editing & manipulation"

INTRODUCTION

OmniView is a state of the art data editing and manipulation tool for SQL Server and MSDE. The software is designed to supplement Query Analyzer and Enterprise Manager, providing easier data editing facilities where those tools do not.

INSTALLATION

Installation was a snap. Select the type of installation, then the folder to install it to. And you're all set!

CONFIGURATION

The nature of this tool is basically that it connects to a server and retrieves a database that can be edited and manipulated.. There is no real configuration other than specifying which server to connect to, and the authentication type to use. It's nice not having to worry about a host of options for a change.

INTERFACE

The interface for a tool like this is very important, everything must be easy to access, read, and navigate. OmniView has done an exceptional job at providing the user the simplest way around the software. A twelve year old could easily figure out how to perform any function within this product. Overall we're extremely impressed with its simple, clean, and attractive design.

FUNCTIONALITY

This application supersedes all competition by including all standard functions you would find in similar products and a whole lot more, wrapped up into one really nice package.

OmniView is primarily meant to assist in editing and manipulating data. Its main value is in the data grid and all the supporting features integrated with it. The grid features are more powerful anything that is available in either Enterprise Manager or Query Analyzer. They both do their jobs very well but neither one of them can really allow you to roll up your sleeves and just mess around with *data*.

You can click on a table or view and access all the data in that table. You can run a query and use the grid to analyze the data returned by that query.

The same applies for stored procedures which return data.

The best assets to the grid would be the data tools, we'll go through each one:

Row Inspector
This will display the data for any row you have selected. You can easily modify, add, or delete any data shown. This option is very handy!
Row Filter
This is a query tool designed to filter your results, the entire process can be done with the excellent visual tools. See Below:
Text Editor
Presents a large window allowing you to edit the field you have selected. Very good for fields with a lot of data.
Binary Editor
Allows you to modify the binary code of any binary field you have selected.
Multi-Row Update
Consider this function a life saver. This will allow you to construct complete sql queries with only a few clicks of the mouse and is great for large updates!

Among these there are other very advanced time saving functions as well, one being the ability to export any data you have queried. When you have the data you want, just click on export and you'll have the option to export to a text file, html, excel, or xml. Then you just follow a step or two and it's done. You can save your results in a really nice format and print them out or do whatever you wish! This is a really great feature to have!

CONCLUSION

I am overall very happy with the capabilities, appearance, effectiveness, and advanced functionality of this application. I recommend it to any end-user or administrator alike that needs information on demand and needs to make quick edits. We all know how hard it can be to manage multiple database servers and OmniView Pro makes the task a lot easier.

PROS:
a. Very easy to use.
b. Looks great!
c. Very feature rich.
CONS:
a. No Access to Extended Stored Procedures