MacSQL 2.6 Read Me

This software is (c)2003 Runtime Labs and may not be redistributed except as a disk image in the same format as downloaded from the Runtime Labs website. The latest version is always available from <http://www.rtlabs.com/>. This software may not be distributed on CD-ROM or other physical media without permission from Runtime Labs, Inc.


What is MacSQL?

MacSQL provides an easy way to view, manipulate, and manage SQL Databases from a Macintosh computer.

Features include:

    * Ability to connect to FrontBase, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, 
       OpenBase, Oracle, PostgreSQL, Sybase, and ODBC database servers.
    * Runs natively on MacOS 9 and MacOS X (10.1 or higher).
    * Spreadsheet-like viewing/editing of remote data.
    * Complete AppleScript support including recordability and the 
       ability to save frequently used queries as scripts for later 
       execution.
    * Web Script Assistant that will generate PHP or Embedded Perl to 
       interact with a database.
    * Multi-panel display of schema including databases, tables, 
       columns, and indices.
    * Ability to export data as SQL commands, tab-delimited text, 
      comma separated text, XML, or directly to Microsoft Excel.
    * Import of SQL files and data in CSV or Tab-delimited text files.
    * Synchronization between SQL databases and FileMaker Pro.
    * Create Table Tool to help visually design tables. 
    * Recent documents for easy access to frequently used databases.
    * Comprehensive user manual and tutorial.
    * Free upgrades for one year.
    * Telephone and email support.
    * Extensive support for MacOS technologies such as Aqua, AppleScript, 
       Navigation Services, Contextual Menus, Keychain, Drag & Drop, 
       and more.


Features new to MacSQL 2.6 include:

	* Sybase support
	* Support for PostgreSQL 7.3
	* Significantly improved SQL Server support on Mac OS X
	* Enhanced spreadsheet printing on Jaguar using Quartz 2D
	* Schema Viewer now shows default values and if a column is identity
	* Queries can now be edited in BBEdit
	* Automatic crash reporting
	* Numerous bug fixes and performance improvements


MacSQL requires a PowerPC computer running MacOS 9.x with CarbonLib 1.5 or greater installed, or a computer running Mac OS X 10.1 or greater. Access to a supported database is also required to use the program. Oracle support requires installing native drivers (instructions are included in MacSQL's Help). FrontBase support on Mac OS X requires that the Frontbase drivers be installed. OpenBase support on Mac OS X requires that the OpenBase drivers be installed. ODBC support on Mac OS 9 requires the Merant ODBC Driver Manager 3.5. Sybase support on Mac OS X requires the native drivers included with Sybase ASE be installed.

MacSQL is commercial software, distributed as a time- and feature-limited application that can be fully-enabled by purchasing a registration code from our website <http://www.rtlabs.com/>. The demo mode is fully functional for 10 days, except you are limited to 10 queries per connection, 20 rows of returned data per query, and 2K of data per export. The software can be purchased by selecting Purchase from the File menu, or via our website <http://www.rtlabs.com/>.

Version History
---------------
	2.6.3
	- Fixed bug that could cause a crash when quiting while a progress window is visible.
	- Fixed crashing bug when quit was selected from the Dock menu while a new connection dialog was visible.
	- Added preference for number of decimals places displayed for float/double data types.
	- Registration information is saved when entered so it doesn't have to be re-entered if MacSQL isn't properly terminated.
	- Fixed bug that could cause crash on close or quit.
	- Export: fixed bug in 2.6.2 where MySQL timestamp columns were exported as text without quotes.
	- MySQL: Connections can be required to use SSL by typing the following command in Terminal: 
		defaults write com.rtlabs.MacSQL MySQLUsesSSL "<true/>"
	- PostgreSQL: public schema is listed first in the schema viewer.
	- PostgreSQL: added support for dropping columns (server version 7.3 or greater) in the Schema Viewer.
	- PostgreSQL: fixed bug where Edit Table Data failed if there were no rows in the table.
	- Scripting: queries that use "with prefetching results" always return a row count.
	- Settings: added new tab to view FM Synch mappings and delete them.
	- SQL Server: fixed bug where decimal portion of money values were not displayed.
	- WebScript Assistant: fixed bug with PHP search failing with a second critera if the user can not select the operator.

	2.6.2
	- No longer crashes when forced(option + command) to open a non-MacSQL document via drag and drop.
	- Sends a dummy query after 10 minutes of inactivity to keep connections alive.
	- Export: when exporting to SQL, dates and times are now in database-native format.
	- Import: window comes to the front when in background and Import Assistant button hit or menu item selected.
	- Main Window: on Panther, tabs at top no longer erase part of the window background.
	- MySQL: fixed crashing bug when converting a timestamp to a string.
	- MySQL: times are always printed with two digits when zero, not one.
	- PostgreSQL: properly identifies if data types are searchable by like or operator.
	- Schema Viewer: fixed crashing bug when dropping a column that is part of the primary key.
	- Spreadsheet: fixed bug that could cause a crash on close.
	- SQL Export: Exports were in MacRoman encoding and skipped rows that contained non-MacRoman characters. Now substitutes on Mac OS 9 and uses UTF8 on Mac OS X.
	- SQL Server: column editing enabled in Schema Viewer.
	- SQL Server: fixed bug with opening saved documents.
	- SQL Server: fixed potential crash when a data type object can not be found.
	- SQL Server: fixed potential crash when saving edits in spreadsheet.
	- SQL Server: fixed potential crash when switching databases.
	- WebScript Assistant: fixed bug with batching code on complex search.
	- WebScript Assistant: fixed typo on first panel.
	- WebScript Assistant: operators for search pages are now properly escaped for HTML display.
	- WebScript Assistant: PHP generation now works with PHP 4.3.
	
	2.6.1
	- Application will honor external quit request if a new connection dialog box is visible.
	- Fixed potential crash when opening a document.
	- Initial text in a text field is no longer selected by default.
	- Fixed potential crashing situation when a document fails to open.
	- Plugin Menu items now unhilite after selection.
	- About Box displays the current build number.
	- Crash Catcher: Fixed potential crashing bug when accessing email address from Address Book.
	- FM Synch: fixed bug where option to synch only the found set was ignored.
	- FM Synch: fixed bug where FM Synch could crash on a null value.
	- Import: Fixed crashing bug when unknown command found in SQL script.
	- MySQL: fixed potential crash when opening a document.
	- MySQL: Fixed bug with handling YEAR columns.
	- PostgreSQL: "text" type is now treated as a text blob instead of as a string.
	- PostgreSQL: fixed potential crash when closing a document.
	- PostgreSQL: added support for point, lseg, and box data types.
	- Query Maker: fixed bug where text would not fully strech across the input area immediately after it was cleared.
	- Query Maker: fixed bug where font in entry field would change after the field was cleared.
	- Query Maker: printing now supported.
	- Query Maker: fixed crash when Remove Query is selected while that query is in progress.
	- Query Maker: when displaying results as text, returns in column values are replaced with spaces.
	- Query Maker: resizer behaves properly.
	- Schema Viewer: refreshes schema after a CREATE VIEW query is sent.
	- Settings: document now has a setting to control the width of text blob columns when displayed in the Query Maker.
	- SQL Server: Fixed crashing bug with certain columns having NULL values.
	- SQL Server: Fixed crashing bug when result set column type could not be determined.
	- SQL Server: Menu nows appears (wasn't implemented in new plugin released with 2.6).
	- Updater: significant upgrades and changes for faster and safer updating.

	2.6
	- Sybase support included.
	- Added menu command to edit current query in BBEdit (if available and enabled in Helper preferences).
	- Checks for table invalidation (scanning for ALTER TABLE, etc. so the Schema Viewer can be updated) are now case-insensitive.
	- On Mac OS X, after a crash, an application will run prompting user to send a report to Runtime Labs.
	- Fixed crash on save after editing userid in document settings.
	- Float values are no longer cropped incorrectly on Mac OS 9 (such as 10.0000 becoming 1).
	- Negative decimal values less than 1 are now correctly shown as negative.
	- No longer crashes when Quit is selected from the Dock menu while a New Connection dialog is visible.
	- Server Encodings that have been set in the settings panel are now honored when a document is reopened.
	- Connection Dialog: added icon to lookup password in keychain.
	- Connection Dialog: autofills values from last failed attempt if preference is enabled.
	- Create Table Tool: supports creating multiple column primary keys.
	- Create Table Tool: the size column is cleared when switching from a varchar to numeric column with MySQL.
	- Export: Fixed bug when exporting multiple tables as SQL from a MySQL database other than the one selected in the Query Maker where the data was only exported for the first table.
	- FileMaker Synch: correct bug that would cause a crash if the primary key was not marked to be synchronized.
	- FileMaker Synch: correct MySQL database selected before making queries.
	- FileMaker Synch: FM->SQL fixed potential memory leak/crash bug when working with FM date fields.
	- FileMaker Synch: FM->SQL synch error messages now show the failed SQL query.
	- FileMaker Synch: FM->SQL synch now yields the thread so the UI is responsive.
	- FileMaker Synch: FM->SQL synchs allow using read-only FileMaker fields.
	- FileMaker Synch: FM->SQL synchs no longer crashes if assistant window closed while synch in progress.
	- FileMaker Synch: FM->SQL synchs no longer report duplicate error with MySQL. (MySQL returns 0 rows affected if no values changed, so MacSQL tries an insert which fails.)
	- Filemaker Synch: FM->SQL fixed bug where quotes were used when not required.
	- FileMaker Synch: new option allows disabling initial Find All sent to FileMaker.
	- FileMaker Synch: progress bar is now more accurate.
	- FileMaker Synch: Select Keys step auto-selects the SQL primary key and any matching FileMaker field.
	- FileMaker Synch: fixed bug that would arbitrarily crop text from FileMaker fields.
	- FrontBase: all returned rows should now be fetched from select queries.
	- FrontBase: no longer crashes if a database name was not supplied in the new connection dialog box.
	- Help: updated for new features in 2.6.
	- Help: table of contents displays in proper order on Jaguar.
	- Import: Back button disabled once import starts.
	- MySQL: auto_increment columns were not being marked as such on Mac OS X.
	- MySQL: queries used for editing a column definition are logged if logging is enabled.
	- MySQL: supports connecting to databases with non-latin1 character sets without having to install MySQL locally.
	- MySQL: fixed potential crash when opening document that only referred to a database that no longer existed.
	- MySQL: fixed bug with blob data not being properly unescaped on fetch.
	- OpenBase: spreadsheet changes are now wrapped in a transaction.
	- Oracle: fixed bug where Schema Viewer not updated after editing a column.
	- Oracle: fixed bug with editing columns that allow a NULL value.
	- Oracle: FM->SQL synch supported.
	- PostgreSQL: messages are logged to the macsql.log instead of being sent to the Console.
	- PostgreSQL: support for schemas as databases (instead of SYSTEM and USER) when connecting to version 7.3.
	- PostgreSQL: unicode support added.
	- Preferences: Added default option for "Show Query Execution Time".
	- Preferences: added preference to autofill new connection values after a failed attempt.
	- Preferences: Removed "Results Always at Bottom" preference -- results are always displayed at the bottom since version 2.5.
	- Preferences: removed helpful hints (never were that helpful).
	- Preferences: save/revert buttons are enabled when a text field is edited.
	- Query Assistant: copy to clipboard button added to final step.
	- Query Assistant: generated query can be copied from summary panel.
	- Query Maker: command keys are no longer ignored in the results area.
	- Query Maker: fixed cosmetic bug where 1 pixel of background was visible between entry area and its scrollbar.
	- Query Maker: fixed the font smooching bug.
	- Query Maker: no longer crashes if you select Remove Query when no query is present.
	- Query Maker: now says "unknown number of rows" instead of -1 when displaying a row count.
	- Query Maker: scroll bar in the query entry field works properly.
	- Schema Viewer: after editing/adding a column, the modified column is selected.
	- Schema Viewer: displays column default values and if the column is a auto_increment/identity.
	- Schema Viewer: double clicking a column will start an edit of that column (if column editing is supported).
	- Schema Viewer: fixed bug with editing columns where empty default value could be sent to plugin, resulting in a syntax error.
	- Schema Viewer: now supports dropping columns from tables (MySQL, Oracle, Sybase, SQL Server).
	- Schema Viewer: column and index names can be copied.
	- Schema Viewer: sortable by column number.
	- Scripting: FileMaker assistant is now scriptable (using saved mappings).
	- Services: Removed submenu for easier navigation.
	- Settings: added option to show query execution times (does not require saving document to take effect).
	- Spreadsheet: Background clicks now bring window forward instead of being handled as if active.
	- Spreadsheet: Copy menu item is always enabled if there is a selection.
	- Spreadsheet: Copy menu item now copies all selected rows instead of just the first one.
	- Spreadsheet: default sort matches the first column in the query's ORDER BY clause, if one was specified.
	- Spreadsheet: printing is now supported on Jaguar.
	- SQL Server: empty results sets no longer draw the first column of the results header.
	- SQL Server: fixed issue with extra characters at the end of some numeric values in query maker results.
	- SQL Server: fixed issue with some numerics and decimals printing as NULL values.
	- SQL Server: Mac OS X plugin completely rewritten, all new code.
	- WebScript: fixed bug on complex PHP search pages where multiple conditions would always result in no matches.
	

Contacting Us
-------------

For more information about MacSQL, please visit our website at <http://www.rtlabs.com/> or email info@rtlabs.com. Registered users are entitled to free email technical support via the email address and phone number emailed to you when you purchased the software. Runtime Labs can also be reached by US Mail at:

Runtime Labs
121 W. 27th Street, Suite 201
New York, NY 10001