Data Explorer

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Adds new connections; modifies, deletes, or renames your connections. The Data Explorer is a tabbed pane that is located, along with the Projects Window and the Model View tabs, in the upper-right corner of the IDE window.

The Data Explorer works for databases that use dbExpress or FireDAC connection types.

The Data Explorer lets you browse database server-specific schema objects, including tables, fields, stored procedure definitions, stored functions, triggers, and indexes. FireDAC databases also display primary keys, foreign keys and generators.

The Data Explorer presents a list of available database types (such as DATASNAP and MYSQL) that you can access and perform various actions on, using the context menus. With Data Explorer, you can easily create and manage database connections. Additionally, you can drag and drop data from a data source to a project to build your database application quickly.

The commands available in the Data Explorer depend upon the object selected in the tree view. To display the associated context menu commands, right-click the following node types:

• Provider types (DATASNAP,ODBC, ASA, ASE, and so on)
• Provider connections
• Tables node
• Individual tables
• Individual views
• Individual stored procedures
• Individual stored functions
• Synonyms

Tip: If you are using a 64-bit Windows operating system and you use the control panel to create the datasource while on this 64-bit machine, then you will define a 64-bit datasource. Since the RAD Studio IDE is a 32-bit application, it needs a 32-bit datasource. So, on a 64-bit machine this datasource needs to be created by running the 32-bit ODBC Data Source Administrator, located at c:\Windows\SysWOW64\odbcad32.exe.

Provider Types Commands

The following commands are available when you select nodes for provider types, such as DataSnap, DB2, and Interbase:

Item	Description
Refresh (only dbExpress)	Re-initializes all connections defined for the selected provider.
Add New Connection	Adds a new connection to the Data Explorer.

Individual Provider Commands

The following commands are available when you select nodes for individual provider connections:

Item	Description
Refresh	Re-initializes all connections defined for the selected provider.
Delete Connection	Deletes the current connection.
Modify Connection	Makes changes to the appropriate values in the editor.
Close Connection	Closes the current connection.
Rename Connection	Provides a new name to a named connection.
SQL Window (only dbExpress)	Opens the Active Query Builder, a tabbed page for writing and editing SQL statements in the Code Editor. This SQL window can be used to write, edit, and execute SQL statements. When you execute the SQL, the results are displayed in the lower part of the page. For details on how to use the Active Query Builder, see http://www.activequerybuilder.com/hs15.html.

Tables Node Commands

The following commands are available when you select the Tables node for a connection:

Item	Description
Refresh	Re-initializes all connections defined for the selected provider.
New Table (only dbExpress)	Opens a tabbed Data Explorer page for table design in the Code Editor. This Table Design page can be used to specify the data structure for a new table. The Table Design page lets you add and remove columns, and alter column information. The Table Design page lets you change the following column information: Column Name, Data Type, Precision, Scale, and Nullable (that is, whether or not the column can be null). Right-click in the page and choose Save Table to add the new table to your database.

Individual Table Commands

The following commands are available when you select individual tables:

Item	Description
Refresh	Re-initializes all connections defined for the selected provider.
Drop Table (only dbExpress)	Removes the selected table and all its data from the database.
Alter Table (only dbExpress)	Opens a tabbed Data Explorer page for table design in the Code Editor. This Table Design page can be used to modify the data structure for an existing table. The Table Design page lets you add and remove columns, and alter column information. The Table Design page lets you change the following column information: Column Name, Data Type, Precision, Scale, and Nullable (that is, whether or not the column can be null). If you make modifications, there is an option to save them before you close the Table Design page.
New Similar (only dbExpress)	Creates a new table similar to the original one. It works as the Alter command but in this case you should give a name to the new table when you save changes.
View	Opens a tabbed Data Explorer page for viewing and editing stored procedure parameter data in the Code Editor. The stored procedure can also be executed from this page.

View Commands

The following commands are available when you select individual views:

Item	Description
Refresh	Re-initializes all connections defined for the selected provider.
View	Opens a tabbed Data Explorer page in the Code Editor, displaying the data from the selected view. The Data Explorer page lets you sort and modify the data, but changes will not be saved back to the database.

Stored Procedure Commands

The following commands are available when you select individual stored procedures:

Item	Description
Refresh	Re-initializes all connections defined for the selected provider.
View	Opens a tabbed Data Explorer page for viewing and editing stored procedure parameter data in the Code Editor. The stored procedure can also be executed from this page.

See Also

• Data Explorer (IDE Tutorial)
• Using Data Explorer to Obtain Connection Information
• Browsing a Database in the Data Explorer
• Adding a New Connection to the Data Explorer
• Modifying Connections in the Data Explorer
• Executing SQL in the Data Explorer