Oracle SQL Developer 3.2 Release Notes

Date: Aug 2012

SQL Developer on OTN | New Features | Downloads | Documentation | Exchange | Forum

1. New Features in SQL Developer 3.2
2. Before You Start
3. Support
4. Feedback
5. General Comments
6. Bugs Fixed

• Platform Support
  • Oracle SQL Developer 3.2 is available for Windows XP , Vista (including 64-bit), Windows 7 (including 64-bit), and Windows Server 2008, Linux or Mac OS X. (See Certification)
    
• JDK Support
  • Oracle SQL Developer 3.2 release is shipped with JDK 1.6.0_11. You can use the embedded JDK download or connect to an installed JDK. SQL Developer supports a minimum java version of 1.6.0_04 to a maximum java version less than 1.7.
• 64-Bit Windows Support
  • There is a separate download for the 64-bit environment. Download the full 64-bit install and unzip into a new, empty directory as described for other platforms. Execute the sqldeveloper.exe. You need to download and install the 64-bit JDK for your platform.
• Installing or Upgrading
  • The Check for Updates option to upgrade between releases of SQL Developer is not supported. This utility is provided to install third party extensions, this includes the third party drivers required for migrations and to add additional version control extensions.
  • All new releases of SQL Developer require a full installation. Download and unzip the file into an empty folder. Ensure the "Use folder names" checkbox is checked when unzipping the file.
• Migrating from Previous Releases
  After you have installed the product you are asked if you want to migrate from a previous release. This migrates previously set preferences and connections created:
  • By default the Confirm Import Preferences dialog that is displayed selects the latest installation. Select Yes to migrate the settings from that release or click the Show All Installations button to browse to an earlier installation. You can migrate settings from SQL Developer 1.2.1 and above. If you are migrating from a release earlier than SQL Developer 1.5.x:
    • Select the magnifying glass to browse to the sqldeveloper\sqldeveloper\system folder
    • Click Select. This closes the browse dialog.
    • Note: the selection is not added to the list displayed in the Confirm Import Preferences dialog.
    • Click Yes, to migrate the Connections and settings from the selected release.
    • Note: If you are using Oracle SQL Developer 1.1.3 as part of the Oracle Database 11gR1 installation, search for the [ORACLE_HOME] \product\11.1.0\db_1\sqldeveloper\sqldeveloper\system folder
  • NOTE: If you install a release later than 1.1.3, this does not replace the menu item in your Start Programs list. You can add your own menu option here or a shortcut on the desktop.
• User Defined Reports, Snippets and SQL History
  • User-defined reports, SQL History and user-defined snippets files are located in the \Documents and Settings\<your_user>\Application Data\SQL Developer folder. These are also migrated.
• Folders
  • If you created folders in release 1.5.1 or above, these are automatically included in the migration. If you choose not to migrate your settings between releases, then you can import your old connections. This does not include folders.
• JDBC Drivers
  • The JDBC drivers shipped are Oracle Database 11g Release 1. To connect to earlier version of the database using the Thick Driver, you need to install an 11g client.  The 11g client is not required for the Basic Connection.
• Debug Log Window
  • This is now set off by default. If you want to see the SQL Developer debug log window information by default, then include the line "IncludeConfFile sqldeveloper-debug.conf " in the sqldeveloper.conf file.
  • To start up the debug log window in the product while you are working, enter "setloglevel oracle.dbtools ALL" in the SQL Worksheet. This will stay on while you are working, but won't reopen the log window if you stop and restart the product.
• Third Party Databases
  • SQL Developer supports IBM DB2 UDB LUW , Microsoft SQL Server and Microsoft Access, MySQL, Sybase Adaptive Server and Teradata. See Supported Platforms for details on all third party database releases supported.
  • You will not see any third party tabs in the connections dialog until you have installed the drivers. Read this Getting Started document to show you how.
  • You can also download and include the third-party database drivers manually. See the existing documentation for that on OTN. Alternatively you can use Check for Updates to setup these drivers.
  • Do not use the latest MySQL driver 5.1. Use the 5.0.x drivers for MySQL.
• TimesTen and In-Memory Database Cache
  • Before you can use SQL Developer to connect to TimesTen:
    • Install TimesTen 11.2.2 (11.2.2.0.0 or greater) or TimesTen 11.2.1 (11.2.1.4.0 or greater) of the server or client on the same machine as SQL Developer.
    • On Linux systems, source the shell script TimesTen_install_dir/bin/ttenv.csh or TimesTen_install_dir/bin/ttenv.sh to set up the TimesTen environment variables before launching SQL Developer. On Windows, use the TimesTen_install_dir\bin\ttenv.bat script.
    • Make sure the CLASSPATH environment variable is pointing to the TimesTen JDBC driver (TimesTen_install_dir/lib/ttjdbc6.jar).
    • Read these more detailed release notes on TimesTen.
• Table Filters
  • The list of tables displayed includes generated tables, AQ's and others not previously included in the list. By default there is a filter on the Tables node to exclude objects from the recycle bin.
• Code Templates/Snippets
  • Code insight contains a comprehensive database of code fragments fetched from SQL and PL/SQL reference manuals. Upon a user entering a keyword prefix in SQL Developer, code insight brings up the list of code fragments syntactically valid within the user source context. Each list entry is amended with a button referring to the documentation web page. In a similar venue, SQL Developer suggests query fragments fetched from SQL history.
• Version Control
  • Subversion is installed by default with SQL Developer 3.2. To install CVS, Perforce and Serena Dimensions, please use Help > Check for Updates.
• Subversion
  • If you create a local Subversion repository, ensure there are no spaces in the path.
• CVS
  • If you use a local repository. You must use an external CVS client and set the CVS versioning properties to point to the external client.
• Fonts
  • The font setting for the Code Editor now also increases the font size for the script output window and all data grids. This is in addition to increasing the font size for the SQL Worksheet and PL/SQL Code Editors. Select Tools | Preferences | Code Editor | Fonts and set the font size.
• Data Miner
  • Oracle Data Miner requires Oracle Database 11g Release 2 (11.2.0.1) or higher. More information can be found in the Data Miner Release Notes. 

• You are supported by Oracle Support under your current database Support license for SQL Developer production releases. Log SQL Developer bugs and issues using My Oracle Support for the product.

Feedback

There are a number of different forums supporting the features in SQL Developer. When using the forums, be sure to use clear subject lines to initiate a thread and try to avoid using old, unrelated threads for a new issue.

• You can discuss features on the Oracle SQL Developer forum
• For all Data Mining related queries, please use the Data Mining forum
• For all TimesTen related queries, please use the TimesTen forum forum
• For all Data Modeler related queries, please use the Data Modeler forum
• For all Database Migration related queries, please use the Migrations forum

• Features not yet supported in this release can be added to the Feature Requests section on the Oracle SQL Developer Exchange.
• Please review current certification status for platform and database certification queries.
• Support for TimesTen In-Memory Database is included in SQL Developer 3.2. You will not see the TimesTen Connection node unless you have TimesTen installed and configured (see TimesTen section above).
• Support for TimesTen In-Memory Database includes support for Oracle In-Memory Database Cache and TimesTen In-Memory Database Release 11.2.1.4 and later.
• If you did not migrate your connections from a previous release, you can import them afterwards. Invoke the earlier release of SQL Developer, export the required connections and import them in the new release.
• Expired password: When a password expires, an error message is raised to alter the user. To reset the password, right-click the connection and select Reset Password.