Are you a PL/SQL developer? Do you think your IDE should promote better coding practices, and guide you to build more robust and reliable programs? If so, then Toad v11 might be just the IDE you are looking for.

Toad version 11 introduces a new feature in the Professional and higher editions – Code Analysis.

As you develop your PL/SQL code, Toad will highlight any code that violates its set of best practice rules.

Click here to read more about new features in Toad for Oracle v11.

A Very Simple Example

If you create a new program, or open an existing one, Toad will flag any grammar violations with the familiar MS Office-esque ‘squiggle.’

The grey squiggle indicates a rule violoation.

Why Does Toad Think a String Declaration is a Problem?

Toad’s editor has a very intelligent parser. For years we have used this parser to power our very flexible code formatter. We can also use that same parsing technology to recognize that the string variable you just created is never referenced anywhere in the program. Code reviews are expensive, wouldn’t it be nice if the IDE reviewed your code for you? Developers new to PLSQL don’t know what they don’t know. Seasoned developers may be unaware of newer technologies or some of the idiosyncricities of Oracle.

When you place your mouse over the affected text, you get Toad’s advice.

Maintainable code is good code.

A More Practical Example – DECODE vs CASE

I gag a little bit every time I have to read and figure out what someone is trying to do in a decode statement. Case is so much easier to read! Developers learn a technology, and use it forever. Did you know that CASE came out in Oracle 8? Are your developers still using Oracle 7 syntax in your 11g databases?

Maybe there's a better way!

Toad Shows Where Your Code Needs Attended To And WHY

You can right-click into any rule violation to see why Toad is not happy with your SQL or PL/SQL.

Back to school!

This Rules Doesn’t Make Sense To Me, or It Needs Tweaked!

Toad doesn’t want to get in your way, especially as you are coding. The developer who needs to slow down to let his IDE catch up is not going to be a very happy or productive resource. Toad allows the developer to:

  • Disable or ignore a rule
  • Customize the rule for your environment
  • Disable the grammar check (Code Analysis)

We have put together a list of the ‘Top 20′ rules that most developers will want to adhere to. There are a total of 81 rules today with more in the pipeline. In a future release, development teams will be able to create their own rules.

Manage and edit rules to fit your needs.

Bonus Features!

Toad will also automatically generate CRUD Matrices and statistical information about your code.

Automatically Document and Analyze Your PLSQL!