Toad Data Point is mainly a tool for querying the database. You can connect to different databases such as Oracle or Microsoft SQL Server or any other database. There are multiple databases that you can connect to and query those databases. Apart from that, the main functionality is that you can query multiple databases by joining them. On a SQL query tool, this feature is not there. In Toad Data Point, you can make heterogeneous queries. I can join a table in Oracle with a table in SQL Server. If I have common columns, I can join and run a query joining them both. Other querying or editors in the market, such as Oracle SQL Developer, are specific to that database. Oracle SQL Developer is only for Oracle, whereas in Toad Data Point, you can make heterogeneous queries. You can join different tables from different database vendors and view your results. Toad Data Point has a data profiling feature and a data compare feature. You can run your queries side by side, then compare the result sets and select the keys on which you want to compare. These are the important features of Toad Data Point. It is very easy to connect Toad Data Point. The only thing that you need is the server port and the credentials to connect to the database. You can create a connection. There is a drop down where it is very easy. There are icons as well. You can give a connection, create a new connection, select whichever database you want, enter the server and port details and the credentials of the user. It should be able to connect automatically. I have not used drag and drop much. More than drag and drop, I have seen that it starts suggesting as soon as you connect to a database. When you start typing a query, it will start suggesting which table name or column name you have to use. It will give you suggestions. If you are aware of basic SQL, any user who is going to use Toad Data Point will have prior knowledge of SQL. The tool provides suggestions for table names and column names. You can see the list of databases, tables, and columns on the left side. There is an object explorer where you can explore everything. It usually displays everything on the left side. You can pick anything from there. You can check any view or table or any index or anything, including materialized views. To create a heterogeneous query in Toad Data Point, there is an option on the editor itself. You go and click there, select new heterogeneous query. Before that, you need to create the connections. For example, for Oracle and SQL Server, you create two different connections. Then you open a new editor and a new query, which is a new heterogeneous query. It uses a common MySQL syntax. The syntax it follows is mostly similar to the regular SQL that you use, so it is very easy. It provides suggestions like I mentioned. If you start entering the table name, it will give you suggestions according to the table name and column name. It takes one or two times to get used to it, but after that it is easy. With a heterogeneous query, you can connect to multiple databases, even three databases or more if required. Toad Data Point has an automation feature called Toad Automation or Toad Data Point Automation. There is an option to create automation. In this, you can use drag and drop. You can use the automation for running SQL queries, for extracting data or the result set from the database tables, or to import something into your table, import from different files or Excel into your database. You can use this automation to compare result sets. What I have done is use it for comparing result sets. I generally extract the results by giving a query and putting it there for two different tables, then extract that in different files and compare those files. You can do all these activities in one workflow. It is a workflow where you can see different icons. You can drag and drop whichever automation you want. Say you want to run a query, you can drag and drop the icon there. You can run the query for extracting and importing and exporting files, there are icons, so you can drag and drop. You have to configure the path and all. Say you are exporting something, then you give the query, then on the export side, you give the path where you want to save that file on your local. Then you save the automation workflow and give it a run. There is a play button where you click on it, it runs, and you will see after the end of it, the result set has been exported. It is very intuitive. You can also schedule these automation jobs. Whatever automation workflows that you create, you can schedule it. You can also have an email service. Once this automation service runs, you can send the results to an email ID. These additional features are also there.
