MySQL Workbench replaces all of the MySQL GUI tools, adds numerous power-user features, and wraps them up into a tool that any DBA (data base administrator) will be drooling over. This tool is not just about power, it’s also about being one of the best cross-platform, visual database design tools around. And even in beta release, the MySQL Workbench shows it might well succeed in that quest.

In this article I will introduce you to this tool. You will see how MySQL Workbench is install as well as how to connect to a server and create a database.

Installation

You will not find the beta version of MySQL Workbench in your repositories. Instead you will have to download the necessary installation package from the Workbench download page. From that page you can select from the following platforms:

• Windows
• Fedora
• Ubuntu
• Mac OSX

You can also download the source code and install from that method. Download your preferred file and install the package. Be careful. If you are installing on Ubuntu 9.10 you will want to click on the Development Releases tab and download the latest version. I installed version 5.2.11 and had great success on 9.10. The stable release, however, wasn’t so successful (it would install but couldn’t connect to the necessary mysqlclient libraries).  You might also find that, to install the development release on Ubuntu 9.10, you will have to also install python-paramiko and python-pexpect. Both of these can be found within Synaptic.

Starting the workbench

Figure 1

Once installed, you will find the MySQL Workbench located  (at least in GNOME) in the Programming sub-menu of the Applications menu.  When you first start the workbench you will see the very well laid out home screen (see Figure 1). From the first look it is obvious we are dealing with a serious dba tool.

The first thing that you must do is open a connection to your database server. For simplicity’s sake I am going to demonstrate connecting to localhost.

Figure 2

To do this click the New Connection link, which will bring up a the DB Connections Manager (see Figure 2). Since this will be a localhost connection, the only thing you should have to edit is your root user password. Remember, this is the MySQL administrator password (not your system admin password). Before you click OK it is best to click the Test Connection button. This way you will know, immediately, if your connection is successful.  When you see that it is successful, click the OK button to make the connection and dismiss the window.

Figure 3

The next step is to double-click on the new connection you just made (listed  in the Open Connection… window in the main window). When you double click the target connection the SQL Editor will open in a new tab (see Figure 3). When this tab opens you will see all of the current databases listed in the tabs in the lower pane. If you click on a database (Schema) you will see all tables included on that database.

To create a new database all you have to do is click on the “+” symble in the upper right corner of the lower left pane. When you click this a new window will open where you have to enter the following information:

• Name: Give the db a name.
• Default Collation: What is the default character set used. For example: A Drupal database uses utf8_general_ci.
• Comments: (Optional) Any comments you want to add to the db.

When you finish entering the information click Apply which will then open yet another window. This next window displays the SQL statement to be executed. You can review that statement and make changes if necessary. If the statement is correct click Apply Changes to create the database.

You might not see the database appear in the lower pane immediately. You might have to close the SQL Editor tab and then re-open the connection to see your new database.

Final thoughts

We’ve just scratched the surface on a tool that will serve all of your MySQL database needs from now until this tool sees its EOL (which hopefully won’t be for a long, long time). The MySQL developers have really scored big with this tool.

Glom can help you design and create databases as well as a user-interfaces with little to know coding or command line skills. Glom has an easy to use GUI that focuses on helping you get your job done instead of being an hindrance. Glom uses the PostgreSQL database as a backend, but can only edit databases created internally. In other words, all of those databases you created with PostgreSQL…Glom can not touch them. That is fine, because Glom is very good at creating and managing your databases.

In this tutorial you will learn how to install and get started using Glom.

Installation

If you point your browser to the Glom Download Page you will see fairly concise instructions on how to install Glom on your distribution. You might notice the warning that the default Ubuntu repository holds an out of date, buggy version of Glom. I installed Glom onto Ubuntu 9.10, using the Ubuntu Software Center (without having to add any extra repositories). The version that installed was 1.12.2. The latest source code available for Glom is 1.12. So this warning is most likely unnecessary for Karmic Koala users.

Once you have Glom installed you will find the menu entry located in the Office sub-menu of the Applications menu.

NOTE: There is a version of Glom for Windows.

Using Glom

Create New

When you first fire up Glom a small window will open (see Figure 1). From that window click on the Create New Document tab. In this tab select New Empty Document and then click the Select button. The next step needs you to input two pieces of information:

• Name: This will serve as the actual file name.
• Title: A human-readable name for your database.

In this same window you can select an option that will save this database to a database server, or to save it locally. If you go with the former, you will have to input the details of the server in a separate step.  After you have all of your information configured, click the Save button to continue. Depending upon the speed of your machine, the database initiation phase can take some time. But once the database is initiated, a new window will open (see Figure 2) where you can begin to create tables for your database. When you are working with your database there are two user levels (selected from the User Level menu):

• Developer: This is the level you use to create/edit your databases.
• Operator: This is the level you use to work with your databases.

Figure 2

To create a table click on the Add button which will create a new line for a table. You have to name the table, so double click on the first column of your new table and enter a name. When you do that hit enter and you will see that the Title will auto-fill for you. You can also select if this table is to be hidden and/or default by selecting the check box for either option.

After you have created the tables the Glom window will change to the data entry mode. For each table you have created you will have to enter data in order to fill the tables. Adding data is done the same way as adding a table. The difference is that you have to select which table you want to add data to from the Tables menu in the toolbar.

Figure 3

After you have entered your data, you can then switch to the Details view (see Figure 3) where you can view data, add static items and containers to a record. You can also create new Fields to add to your data. These will come in handy as they can add data to a user entry such as their birthday.

To create a custom field go to the Developer menu and select Fields. From this window you can add, edit, and delete all of the fields you need.

After you have completed creating your database, go to the User Level menu, select Operator, and start working with your new database.

Final thoughts

Although this tutorial only scratches the surface of the power Glom offers, you get the idea that this tool could really make a database developers job very easy. Give Glom a try, you will look at PostgreSQL databases in a completely different light.