Author: Editor

Categories
Database MySQL

MySQL GUI Tools – Still ready for Prime Time

MySQL ceased development of their GUI Tools, MySQL Administrator and MySQL Query Browser, with the release of their MySQL Workbench product.

Workbench is supposed to incorporate the functions of Administrator and Query Browser, but does a poor job of it.  While it has many new features which are no doubt very useful, it does a very poor job on some of the basic functions.  Inexplicably, it does not allow you to edit the results of a query without using a non-standard SQL syntax and won't let you edit the results at all unless all the fields have been returned in the query.  The only way you can limit the query is with WHERE clauses if you want to edit the results.

The MySQL representative on the support forum doesn't see that as a problem, but this sort of ad hoc editing is what made query editor so useful.  Fully 90% of my work in Query Editor is to edit small data subsets.  For instance, in a membership table you might wish to return a query like SELECT fname,lname,city FROM members WHERE lname = ‘Smith’; to isolate a record   As it stands, workbench won’t let you limit the query by restricting the fields.  You can use the WHERE clause, but you can’t limit the fields.  Not much help if you have dozens of fields in the table.

Until this is rectified, assuming it ever is, I recommend installing the Administrator and Query Browser from the old GUI tools package which is still available at the link below.  The best bet for the foreseeable future is to install the old tools with the most recent version of MySQL Workbench.  Get used to the new tool, and use the old tools for what they do best until Workbench catches up.

As much as I love MySQL and Open Source in general, I find the blasé attitude of the MySQL support staff inexplicable.  Why they would cripple their new tool by removing a useful function available in the previous tool is beyond me.

imageDownload and install the old MySQL GUI tools

Download and run the old GUI Tools here.  If you’re not familiar with .msi files, they are the Microsoft Installer format, just double-click them and they’ll start the install.

http://downloads.mysql.com/archives/MySQLGUITools/ mysql-gui-tools-5.0-r12-win32.msi

When installing, select Custom on the Setup Type dialog.  Don't install MySQL Migration Toolkit or Language Support unless you really need them.

Categories
Consumer Technology

Recovering deleted files

One day, I'll delete a valued photo from a memory card and want to recover it.  I've done it in the past.

Recuva may just help save you.

I used it to recover photos for a friend who accidentally deleted their whole memory card with important family photos on it, and it restored all but one of the photos.  (The key is to stop using the card right away so data is not overwritten.)

Now it's here for me to look it up, and you too!

http://www.piriform.com/recuva

Categories
IT Resources

Top 10 Open Source Business Applications

Top 10 Open Source Business Applications

Categories
Web Development

Dreamhost DNS – Accessing your Database before DNS change

This content is taken directly from Dreamhost's DNS – Accessing your Database before DNS change wiki article. It's a fantastic way to open a back door to a site under development and demo it to a client while you work on development.

To access your SQL database, you need a unique hostname (domain name) for your MySQL server. This can be any name you wish, so long as you have registered it, but it is commonly a sub-domain of "yourdomain.com" called "mysql.yourdomain.com". This arrangement is convenient to use with DreamHost's MySQL installations, as the servers can be created and managed all from within DreamHost Web Panel > Goodies > Manage MySQL.

However, during a server or host migration, the registration entries for "yourdomain.com" may not point to DreamHost's name servers, so you wouldn't be able to use a sub-domain of "yourdomain.com" for the MySQL hostname.

With DreamHost's setup, your MySQL server (which hosts all of your databases) is accessible from any domain or sub-domain that you assign to it. So you can still access your DreamHost-hosted MySQL database by assigning it a temporary subdomain which points to DreamHost. And that's easy to do.

Add a sub-domain

Add a free dreamhosters.com sub-domain at DreamHost Web Panel > Domains > Manage Domains > Add Domain / Sub-domain [1], scroll down to the "Mirrored" section, and create a mirror of "yourdomain.com" named "yourdomain.dreamhosters.com". Make sure to leave ".com" or ".net" out of the middle of this sub-domain name.

Add a MySQL hostname

Then add a hostname for your MySQL server to your new subdomain, with DreamHost Web Panel > Goodies > Manage MySql > Add New Hostname. Enter the hostname of your choice (commonly "mysql"), and select the new sub-domain using the dropdown menu.

So if your domain is "yourdomain.net" and your MySQL hostname is "mysql", your new sub-domain will be "yourdomain.dreamhosters.com" and the SQL hostname will be "mysql.yourdomain.dreamhosters.com".

Access the database with phpMyAdmin

Once the DNS changes propagate, you will be able to access the phpMyAdmin SQL management utility at "mysql.yourdomain.dreamhosters.com", using the SQL server login information you specified when you set up the MySQL server on the DreamHost panel. Or, assuming your sub-domain is up and running, you can access the admin app right away by pointing your browser to http://yourdomain.dreamhosters.com/dh_phpmyadmin/mysql.yourdomain.dreamhosters.com.

If you try to access phpMyAdmin before the sub-domain's DNS records have changed, dreamhosters.com's phpMyAdmin interface will be unable to recognize your login information; this does not mean your installation is broken, just that DreamHost can't yet access your sub-domain.

See also DNS_-_Viewing_site_before_DNS_change

Categories
WordPress

Must-Have WordPress Plugins

  • Custom Post Limits: This plug-in allows you to set different limits for the number of posts that appear on different pages.