GatherBird Shareware

GatherBird SQLGrep


GatherBird SQLGrep
Version 1.8
Document last updated on June 20th, 2010

Easily search an entire SQL database.

Try it free for 45 days!

Upgrades are free after purchase.


Contents

What is SQLGrep?
Why you need SQLGrep?
Why you Don’t need SQLGrep
Getting Started
Search Defaults Screen
Results Screen
Reports
Options
Searching for Strings
Searching for Dates
Searching for Times
Update History
System Requirements
Difference between the demo version and the registered version
How to Register
Upgrade Policy
License Agreement
Company Information

What is SQLGrep?

GatherBird SQLGrep is a program that allows you to thoroughly search your SQL database for any string, number, or date. Accomplish your searches without knowing SQL and without knowledge of the tables, columns, or structure of the database. This is a great utility to use for finding sub strings, misplaced data, and more. SQLGrep supports wildcard and case in-sensitive strings searches. SQLGrep uses ODBC data sources (DNS) names to connect to any database and works great with Microsoft Access, Microsoft SQL Server, MySQL, IBM Informix, IBM DB2, Oracle, Sybase, and PostgreSQL.

Why you need SQLGrep?

You can locate items in your database without any knowledge of the database structure.

No knowledge of SQL is needed. Search for text, numbers, and dates like you would in a text document.

Find data that is in unexpected places.

Finds sub strings within a larger fields.

Why you Don’t need SQLGrep

It takes longer for SQLGrep to search a database than using SQL calls designed for specific tables and columns.

SQLGrep is a read only utility. It will not insert or update information in the database.


Getting Started

You must set up System DSN in Windows before SQLGrep can search the database. The ODBC name selections are taken from the databases currently setup in the ODBC Data Source Administrator in Windows.


In Window NT/2000/XP the ODBC setup is under Administrator Tools.

In Windows Vista and Windows 7 the ODBC setup can be found here:



Then Enter your Search String

After the ODBC Data Source is setup then the rest is easy. Type what you want to find in the Search For edit box and hit the Search button.

SQLGrep will find your search string inside the database without requiring you to know how the data might be stored. Any data type conversions that may be needed for a comparison are automatically handled by SQLGrep. For instance if you type “12” as the search string SQLGrep will find the number 12, floating point values of 12.000, the string “12”, the substring of “12” (for instance in a zip code like 66123), in the date of 12/01/2004, or in a time of 12:45.

Hint: Your search strings are saved in the dropdown list for easy selection later.


Search Defaults Screen

After hitting the search button you will be taken to a screen where adjustments to the search can be made. SQLGrep will default the values according to the format of the search string.


All the tables in the database are listed in the Tables to Search list box. If you would like to speed up your search then deselect any table that you know does not apply. Use the Select All and the Deselect All buttons to easily select just one or a few tables.

Hint: To select just one table hit Deselect All then click the one table you want to search.

The Column Types categories allow you to include or ignore certain types of data in your search. SQLGrep tries its best to determine what column types to search default based on what you typed for the search string. For example if you entered “1/1/2004” as a search string then you would see only the Search dates and times checkbox selected.


Results Screen


Data in the database that matches your search string will be shown on the results screen in real time. Use the Stop Search button to stop the search while still maintaining the ability to look at the currently displayed results. The << and >> buttons allow you to see the current results for each table that had a search match.

Hint: While a database is being searched another search can be started from the main screen.

Hint: To copy text from the grid to the Window Clipboard just click one of the boxes and hit Ctrl-C or Ctrl-Insert.

Note: The displayed Searched XXX of XXX rows may not match when the search is finished. There are two reasons this may happen.
1. Rows were added or deleted by other people accessing the database while the search was in progress.
2. If The number of matches found in each table was reached for a table you will see a “LIMIT REACHED” marker and the end of the results for that table. In this case SQLGrep will stop searching the rows in that table. You can adjust the limit on the options screen. The searched XXX of XXX rows will not show the skipped rows that occurred when the LIMIT REACHED indicator is shown.

Passwords

If SQLGrep encounters a problem opening the database you will be prompted for a user name and password. This screen will appear when a password is needed and on other kinds of errors opening the database. If you select the Save user name and password feature feature SQLGrep will automatically reuse that user name and password to open the database on subsequent searches.

Reports

To save, print, and view the results click the Report button after the search is completed. An option to output the results in a delimited format (for importing into a spreadsheet application) is also available.

Choose the Readable Report option to create a text file that will show your search results in an easily read format. This text file will format the search results by table and column.

Choose the Delimited option to create a text file that can be imported into a spreadsheet application. The character used as a delimiter is configurable.

Hint: Make sure the delimiter character you choose does not match any characters read from the database and displayed in the report. In other words, using a delimiter character that also appears in the row and column search results will interfere when your spreadsheet imports the file.

Options


Beep when search is finished option is checked SQLGrep will beep when it has finished searching the entire database. This is effective way to let you know when SQLGrep has finished a long search.

Hint: You can minimize the SQLGrep program while it is searching. The maximum number of search threads tells SQLGrep how many simultaneous connections to make to the database. Each connection can search different tables at the same time thereby speeding up the search. Some ODBC drivers do not support this multi-tasking well. If you run into problems with settings higher than 1 (the default) return the value to 1.
Hint: Some database vendors charge user licenses by the number of concurrent connections. You may consider this when adjusting the maximum number of search threads.

The number of matches found in each table tells SQLGrep to stop looking for matches in a table after a certain number of matches are found. Raising this limit will increase SQLGrep's memory requirements.
You have the option to disable many message boxes at the time they are viewed. This is useful when you feel that you no longer need to see an informational or warning message. The Enable all “Don’t ask me again” warning messages option a option allows you to see all the message boxes again when you have previously chosen “Don’t ask me again”. Here is an example of one of the “Don’t ask me again” warnings:

Searching for Strings

(char, varchar, decimal, numeric, money, interval, ...)

SQLGrep will always try to match what you type into the search box to all strings data in the database.

There is no reason to use the wild card * in your string searches. SQLGrep automatically looks for all substring matches. Using the * in your searches will cause SQLGrep to actually look for the * character.

Example: “Ben Fields”

All occurrences of exactly “Ben Fields” will be found. “Ben Fields” will also be found in a database column when contained in a larger field for example “I think Ben Fields changed his phone number”.

The search defaults to case in-sensitive unless the option is changed in the Search Defaults screen which is shown before the search starts.

Note: Some databases treat the money column as text and others as a float value. If you don't know which way your database considers money columns leave both the string and number search enabled on the Search Defaults Screen.

Searching for Numbers

(integer, bigint, bool and bit, float, double, real, money, ...)

You can search for any integer or decimal number in the database.

You can not use wildcards when searching for numbers.

Example: “12.98” will find any floating point, double, money value equaling exactly 12.98.

Example: “15” will find any integer, smallint, tinyint values equaling exactly 15.

Searching for Dates

(date, datetime)

Use the format of MM/DD/YYYY for your date searches.

Wildcards are allowed in your date searches.

Example: “1/8/2001” All occurrences of this date will be found even if part of a date and time column. Also the exact string “1/8/2001” will be found if it is contained in a string column.

Example: 2/*/2004 will find all dates for February 2004 for any day. String columns will not be searched.

Example: */*/2004 will find all dates for the year 2004. String columns will not be searched.

Searching for Times

(timestamp, time)

Use the format of HH:MM:SS to search for times.

Wildcards are allowed in your time searches.

Example: “13:10:01” All occurrences of the time 1:10 p.m. and 1 second will be found. Also the exact string “13:10:01” will be found if it is contained in a character column.

Example: 13:10, will find all occurrences of the time 1:10 p.m (irrelevant of the stored seconds). Also the exact string “13:10” will be found if it is contained in a character column.

Example: 2:* will find all times that start at 2 p.m. Strings will not be searched.

Date and Times can also be search using the combination of Date and Time format of MM/DD/YYYY HH:MM:SS. Wildcards can also be used in this case.

Searching for Binary Data

(blob, binary, variant, byte, ...)

Binary is search in the identical manner to string searches. SQLGrep will search for the text of your search string inside binary data columns.

SQLGrep does not support searching for non-text binary data such as the string of bytes 1 128 9 7 74 99 254.

Update History

Version 1.8 released � June 20th, 2010

The installer is more Windows Vista and Windows 7 friendly.

There were no bugs reported in version 1.7.

Version 1.7 released � April 5th, 2009

Table names over 30 characters long are now displayed correctly on the Search Results screen.

Added 'whole word only' search option. A display problem has been fixed in the grid control that displays the search results. An empty row could sometimes be displayed with a column number of -1.

System System Requirements

Compatible operating system versions: Windows XP series desktops/servers, Windows Vista and 7 desktops/servers.

Disk space needed to install: 2 megabytes

Difference between the demo version and the registered version

After the 45 day trial period expires the application will no longer show all the search results.

How to Register

You can register by going to www.gatherbird.com and choosing the register option for GatherBird SQLGrep. The payment procedure is handled by PayPal, a popular service owned by eBay that handles credit card and other transactions on a secure server. After paying you will immediately receive a registration key by email which will enable all the features of the software.

10% of your purchase price is donated to Children's Mercy Hospital. http://www.childrensmercy.org

Upgrade Policy

After paying you will also immediately be emailed a login name and password that allows access to our website member’s area. From the member’s area you will be able to retrieve new registration keys at any time. The registration keys will allow you to re-install the application in the event you upgrade your computer or you would like to upgrade to a newer version of the software.

License Agreement

SQLGrep

GatherBird

License Agreement

You should carefully read the following terms and conditions before using this software.

Unless you have a different license agreement signed by GatherBird your use of this software indicates your acceptance of this license agreement and warranty.

Registered Version

One registered copy of SQLGrep may be used by a single person and immediate family for non business use on up to 5 computers or installed on a single workstation used non-simultaneously by multiple people in a business environment, or both.

You may access the registered version of SQLGrep through a network, provided that you have obtained individual licenses for the software covering all workstations that will access the software through the network. For instance, if 8 different workstations will access SQLGrep on the network, each workstation must have its own SQLGrep license, regardless of whether they use SQLGrep at different times or concurrently.

Governing Law

This agreement shall be governed by the laws of the State of Kansas.

Disclaimer of Warranty

THIS SOFTWARE AND THE ACCOMPANYING FILES ARE SOLD ""AS IS"" AND

WITHOUT WARRANTIES AS TO PERFORMANCE OR MERCHANTABILITY OR ANY OTHER WARRANTIES WHETHER EXPRESSED OR IMPLIED. Because of the various hardware and software environments into which SQLGrep may be put, NO WARRANTY OF FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE IS OFFERED. Good data processing procedure dictates that any program be thoroughly tested with non-critical data before relying on it. The user must assume the entire risk of using the program. ANY LIABILITY OF THE SELLER WILL BE LIMITED EXCLUSIVELY TO PRODUCT REPLACEMENT OR REFUND OF PURCHASE PRICE.

Demo Version.

This is not free software. Subject to the terms below, you are hereby licensed to use this software for evaluation purposes without charge for a period of 45 days. If you use this software after the 45 day evaluation period a registration fee is required. Unregistered use of SQLGrep after the 45-day evaluation period is in violation of U.S. and international copyright laws.

Distribution

Provided that you verify that you are distributing the evaluation version you are hereby licensed to make as many copies of the evaluation version of this software and documentation as you wish; give exact copies of the original evaluation version to anyone; and distribute the evaluation version of the software and documentation in its unmodified form via electronic means. There is no charge for any of the above.

You are specifically prohibited from charging, or requesting donations, for any such copies, however made; and from distributing the software and/or documentation with other products (commercial or otherwise) without prior written permission.

Company Information

Internet Web Page

www.gatherbird.com

Contact Kaleen Fields for help on any product installation, usage, or the registration procedure at:

support@gatherbird.com

Send product suggestions to Ben Fields at

president@gatherbird.com