I reviewed Release Candidate 5.2.22 on June 27th. In that review, I said, “I would look for the official release to follow closely after this RC 3 release.”

Not, that I had any inside knowledge, I just knew from reviewing the Release Candidate that most of the bugs were gone, and the release could not be far away.

Sure enough, in just 3 days, July 1st, the release became official. My review of June 27th stands, this post is for those who decided to wait for the official release. Well, it’s here.

On the release, the developers stated, “We hope you will make MySQL Workbench your preferred tool for Design, Development, and Administration of your MySQL database.”   We agree.

Download MySQL Workbench here. Any one working with MySQL will quickly find the tool has many enhancements from the older MySQL Administrator and its companion MySQL Query Builder, which are now retired.   MySQL Workbench should become a much used tool in your toolbox.

The MySQL Developer Tools Team have just released their Release Candidate 3 of MySQL Workbench. This release fixed another 70 “issues” they missed in the last release candidate 5.2.22 RC 2, where they fixed 76 bugs, and follows the previous release, RC 1, where they fixed 62 bugs.  MySQL  Workbench is an open source project running on Windows, Linux, and Mac.

The older MySQL Administrator and the accompanying MySQL Query Browser were tools that were much beloved, that you kept going back to, and using over and over again,  like a nice fitting driving gloves, comfortable, useful, and empowering.  Since I started working with MySQL, I can’t remember not having them on my desktop, ready at a moments notice.

Because of that, I have looked upon MySQL Workbench with much suspicion and doubt. And indeed before this release, I would say the MySQL Workbench could not replace the previous Administrator and Query Browser. Now, I’m not too sure. With this release that has changed. Workbench includes the integration of MySQL Administrator, and MySQL Query Browser into an integrated environment, with much potential for growth through plug-ins, much like Eclipse, although don’t get me started on the integration of Eclipse plug-ins, another topic.

Workbench is like the French three-pronged fleur-de-lis, three separate tool areas open from a central core, Workbench Central.

Workbench Central

Workbench makes heavy use of “breadcrumb” like menus without tabs. Menus run horizontally across different windows in the Workbench, and clicking on the name brings you to the next screen. It took a second to get use to, but once I did, I liked the layout and the way workbench integrated.

You go back to Workbench Central by clicking “Home” in the upper left. If you click on any of your db connections, or menus across the top,  you enter into one of the three program areas: SQL Development with Query Browser, Data Modeling, and Server Administrator. It is obvious that each of these three sections is its own program, as they each take awhile to open at first.

Before MySQL Workbench folks were using DBDesigner to model their databases and do their EER diagrams. The Data Modeling section probably needs a little clean up and streamlining, as it opens rather “clunkily,” but once open works well.

Workbench Data Modeling

The administrator works well, but needs a little configuring as it checks your connections, and let’s you know if your missing an ini file or config setting.     You can configure multiple database connections to multiple servers, and reach each database with a click of the mouse.  The Administrator includes a series of graphs along the top of the window, which look nice, but I’m not sure are that useful.   The Administrator is laid out horizontally in keeping with the overall layout template of the Workbench, but I think I like the original Administrators vertical menus a little better.

Workbench Administrator

You can tell the Development Team has put some time into the Query Browser, and it shows.  You’ll find that the Query Browser is an improvement over the previous independent version. A red error x pops up as you type a query if you have the syntax wrong, this is immediate, instead of waiting until after you execute the query, very nice.  Query’s form a horizontal s menu along the top of the window as you make them, yes, the older version had this, but this is more automatic. Errors are reported when you execute the query, the same as the old version, with an obtuse error number.  My only gripe, which has nothing to do with the current Workbench, as the same was true of the previous version, is I wish the error messages were a tad more verbose.

Workbench Query Browser

MySQL Workbench is coming into its own and is starting to show the promise in its developer’s eyes.  The Developers Tools Team should be applauded for their dedication and persistence to get it right, and the outcome of this dedication is that MySQL Workbench is getting better and better.   I would look for the official release to follow closely after this RC 3 release.  I recommend you not wait for the official release,  go ahead, and get this release now, and start using it.  There is much to discover as you integrate Workbench into your databases, and begin working with it.  Enjoy.

Wow, this is big. It is no secret that Sun has fallen on some tough times lately. Sun had a total revenue of $11.45 billion last year down from $13.88 billion the year before. In contrast, Oracle’s last year revenues were $23.23 Billion. The combined revenues of both companies should approach $35 billion. Microsoft currently checks in at $56.3 billion. We’re looking at the heavy weights going at it. With Microsoft on the decline, Google at $23.65 billion on the rise, and now Oracle stepping up into the fray, this may become a very interesting war. Oracle acquired Sun for a mere $7.4 billion, a steal.

Oracle’s revenue comes from it’s pervasive Oracle database. Depending on how you look at it revenue, or installs. Oracle is in the top 2 with Microsoft and IBM’s DB2 a close third. Let’s not forget, MySql is the most popular Open Source, i.e free, database in the world. What is surprising is when you look at installs and the number of developers developing with a database, MySql comes in a close 3rd to Oracle and Microsoft, with DB2 fourth, and MySql shows the greatest growth rate of all database development.

Oracle’s acquisition of the MySql product may be a problem for the Open Source community. Sun owned MySQL, which now belongs to Oracle. If you remember, Oracle purchased PeopleSoft in Dec. 2004 for $10.3 billion. In Oct, 2005 they acquired Innobase which is an integral part of MySql for transaction processing and foreign keys. What will Oracle do with MySql has caused a huge concern with the Open Source Community, so much so, that their already has been several forks of MySql, Drizzle, and MariaDB, just in case Oracle starts charging for MySql. For now, Oracle pledges to leave MySql independent, but this is to be expected in the initial stages of an acquisition, things usually change in six months or so.

My thought is they will continue to support an Open Source MySql and build on top of MySql additional tools, extensions, and integrations with other Oracle products with, of course, a clear upgrade path to Oracle’s flagship products for which the enterprise users will pay dearly.

And the same for OpenOffice.org, a legitimate contender, now, of Microsoft Office. Oracle has never had an Office Suite and has wanted one. Oracle is built with Java, as is OpenOffice.org. Again, tools, extensions, and integrations with Oracle products seems like a nice way to get users to start paying for more and more functionality from a previously non-existent Oracle Office Products.

Oracle keeping the Open Source products they have acquired free, and enhancing them, at first, to gain market share seems like good business sense, but as these applications gain more and more market share, I believe Oracle will take a page from Microsoft’s play book, and start charging for their enhancements to the products. What this means for Open Source, is a freezing of the Open Source components to a minimal feature level, and if you want more, pay for it.

I have great faith in Open Source software, the forking of MySql is evidence that independent Open Source Developers will continue to create other applications with the missing functionality, that Oracle will ask customers to purchase. As MySql has emerged as the premier Open Source database, so other products can, and will, emerge to take its place, if Oracle begins to get as “bean counterish” as Microsoft is currently, with it prideful boasting about “Microsoft Genuine Advantage,” and its publicly crowing about the number of companies they have sued, look for any closing down, of previously Open Source Oracle products to be a catalyst to breed a new generation of improved Open Source products.

For those who use MySQL, the world’s most popular open source database for web development, there is a neat MySQL Administrator toolkit that the MySQL folks have come out with that helps you with all aspects of your database.  It includes  a very nice MySQL Query Browser, a Migration tool,  allows you to do backups, restores, and view your database tables, and data.  It is worth the download.

We have downloaded it on both a Unix and Windows system.   Once you get it up and running you’ll feel very much in control of your databases whether at your localhost or to a remote server.

There is one problem you will run into when you initially launch the tool on both Unix and Windows.  This problem appears to be independent of the operating system or server, i.e Wamp or Xampp on your local machine.  There is an initial login error which pops up a message:  “Either the server service or the configuration file could not be found. Startup variables and service section are therefore disabled.”  This is documented in the MySQL forums.

You can still click ok and the tool will launch, you’ll see your databases under “catalogs,” but your service controls will be grayed out, and you will not be logged in as a user.  The problem is the Administrator tool can not find your MySQL “my.ini” file.  And since your not logged in, you can not change your path in “Service Control->Configure Service,” it seems like a catch-22, and has left us, and judging from the forum, many others frustrated.  We spent about an hour on it.

Here’s the solution.  On Windows,  start up MySQL Administrator, push down your “control” key, and click “cancel” in the login window.  This will bring up your “Service Control” window.  Go to “Configure Service->Configuration Filename:”  and put in the path to your MySQL my.ini file, including the my.ini at the end of the path.  Click Apply Changes, and click the “Start/Stop service tab, and then stop and restart your service.  Close the window, and relaunch the administrator tool.  Your error message should be gone, and everything should start properly.

My setup on Linux is a lampp install on Fedora 10.  The MySQL tools are completely separate from the lampp application suite,  so you need to tell the MySQL Administration tool where to find the database.  The Administrator tool looks for “/etc/my.cnf ” ,  which must be some kind of default location.  I could not find a way to change this.  The work around is to remove the stock “/etc/my.cnf ” file, and to replace it with a soft link to the lampp configuration file.

ln -s /opt/lampp/etc/my.cnf /etc/my.cnf

Now, the MySQL Administration tool will read the lampp configuration file, and everything should work properly.