Chapter 5. Visual Explain Reference
This section describes how you configure and use Visual Explain.
5.1. Configuring and Modifying a Database Connection
The first step in using Visual Explain is to configure a connection to an existing database. This section provides a reference on how to configure and modify a connection.
On the Menu Bar choose Edit => Databases. The Edit Databases dialog appears. Here, you can set parameters for existing database connections, and add new ones.
Click New. The New Database dialog appears.
Fill in the fields on the New Database window:
Nickname is a required name that identifies a database connection. This name is used only in Visual Explain.
Database is the name of the database to connect to.
Host is the name of the host that is running the database. The default is localhost. If the database is on a different host, you must enter its name or IP address here.
Port is the port number to connect to on Host. You can use the default (5342) or specify a different port.
User Name is the database user name to connect as. Remember that the name you use may affect the portions of the database that you can see. This is a required field.
Password is the database password for the above User Name. If you want to connect to the database without having to specify the password each time and save it for future sessions, make sure that the Save Database Passwords check button at the bottom is selected.
Note Visual Explain stores database connection information that can include a database password. However, if you save your password, that password is saved in the Visual Explain configuration file in plain text.
For example, to configure a connection to the regression database, enter the values shown in the following diagram, replacing hostname with the name of your database server.
Click Test on the New Database window.
If the connection fails and the connection parameters you entered are correct, contact you System Administrator.
If the test passes, click OK on the open windows. This adds the newly configured connection to the list of valid connections.
Visual Explain also enables you to perform the following operations on existing connection configurations by using the Edit Databases dialog:
- Edit
To modify an existing database connection, select the database connection you want to edit, then click on Edit rather than New.
- Copy
To copy an existing database connection, select the database connection you want to copy, then click on Copy. A connection called Copy 1 of connection_name appears at the bottom of the list of connections. Select the Copy 1 of connection_name and click Edit and make the required changes.
- Delete
To delete a database connection, select the database connection you want to delete and click Delete.