====== Connect ====== ===== Can TOAD connect using 16 bit Oracle SQL*Net? ===== TOAD is a 32 bit application and therefore requires 32 bit SQL*Net. ===== Can one connect to Toad for Oracle using ODBC? ===== NO. TOAD requires SQL Net client and does a direct connection - end of story. People often ask this question due to a huge misunderstanding about ODBC. They often think that ODBC somehow replaces the need for SQL Net on their client PC's. It does not. Even if you want to use ODBC drivers to create an Oracle database connection - you must still have SQL Net. ODBC is just an API. Microsoft provides the upper portion of the API call interface - which is not database centric (works for all db's). But you still must have the lower portion of the API call interface - and that's provided by each database vendor. For Oracle, that means you still must have SQL Net - even if you are using ODBC. ===== Sometimes when I start toad it does not start at all, it just hangs, I don't get the logo even after restarting the PC. What could be wrong? I am using toad 7.2.0 under Windows 2000. ===== There are several possible culprits: - Go into your ini file and set PLAY_WAVE = 0 (This turns off the "croak" noise when TOAD starts up) or, under very limited circumstances - Try this (trust me on this one): - Unplug your network cable - Start Toad - Plug your cable back in when the application has started. The core of the matter appears to be Windows' client-side caching feature. (You might also have experienced a "CSC Notifications" task having trouble shutting down on a reboot with this problem.) Apparently Windows tries to do some networking magic that of course messes up your ability to connect to Oracle. This in turn somehow interferes with the Toad startup process. You can disable the client-side caching somehow, but doing so may cause other problems on Windows. - One reason I've encountered for hanging at startup is where the SQLS.DAT file gets very large. The quick fix forthis is to delete or rename SQLS.DAT. It is in the main TOAD folder. However, to prevent this happening check your SQL Editor options. Menu->View->Options->[SQL Editor] (1) Save only statements that are valid [ticked] (2) # of SQL statements to save 100 (100 is my setting and is enough) (3) Save sql statement before statement execution [not ticked] ===== When should I use the advanced connection options? ===== This entry does not apply to Toad users running Toad version 8 and higher. THE VAST MAJORITY OF USERS OF 7.5 AND LATER SHOULD NOT HAVE "SQL*NET COMPATIBLE NET8" OR "FORCE SQL*NET" CHECKED ON THEIR SERVER LOGIN SCREEN. For TOAD 7.4 and earlier, these options were recommended as a workaround to users' problems with CLOBs, UTF8 databases, and index-organized tables (IOTs). But, in TOAD 7.5, we made changes to the data layer. So the result was: - Using "SQL*Net compatible Net8" or "Force SQL*Net" is no longer necessary for connecting to UTF8 databases or viewing and editing IOT's. - Using "SQL*Net compatible Net8" or "Force SQL*Net" will prevent CLOB viewing entirely. Viewing CLOBs without this option should work. - Users with "SQL*Net compatible Net8" or "Force SQL*Net" on 7.5 will actually be worse off than they were in 7.4, since the 7.5 data layer does not support non-Oracle 7 datatypes with these options at all. There will be a lot of "Data type not supported" messages this way. The only known reason to use "SQL*Net compatible Net8" or "Force SQL*Net" with TOAD 7.5 or later is to get the SQL Editor to show the error position when you are using an 8.0.x Oracle client. If you have an 8.1.x or higher Oracle client, there is no longer a known reason to use these options. ===== I keep getting ORA-12154! I'm sure my Oracle client is set up correctly. What could the problem be? ===== Is there a ')' character anywhere in the path leading up to Toad.exe? There is a bug in the Oracle client that prevents connections from being made in this case. Reinstall Toad to a directory WITHOUT ')' in the path. ===== Connecting to a database is slow ===== From John Dorlon on the TOAD group :\\ Go to options -> editor -> display.\\ Uncheck "highlight table/view/stored procedure names"\\ Under TOAD 9.1 the startup queries to fetch table names etc for highlighting have been threaded to improve performance. Prior to 9.1, they were not threaded and could delay startup on schemas with a large number of objects. ===== Access violation when connecting with a 10g Oracle client ===== From the Toad list. Some users on the list have experienced AVs when connecting to a database using Toad and a 10g client. After much investigation, it appears that the problem is caused by having both Oracle 10g client and Oracle Instant Client installed in the same Oracle Home. The problem also affects SQL*Plus. This can occur when the DBA chooses the //Administrator// option when installing the client. This silently installs the instant client as well as the usual Oracle client software. Some beta versions of Toad 9.5 are affected and to date, as mentioned on the list, beta 9.5.22 suffers from the AV while beta 9.5.11 does not. There are a couple of Metalink documents that discuss this problem. The solution is to uninstall the client software, then carry out a //custom// install of the client and choose to install the tools you need, or simply select everything but not the instant client parts. ** References ** Metalink **Note:290866.1** states that "Instant Client will **always** be used if //oraociei10.dll// is in the PATH or DLL load order otherwise Oracle Client is used assuming that //oraclient10.dll// is in the PATH or DLL load order." Metalink **Note:338334.1** gives full details. It also suggests that this is only a problem with the 10gR1 Instant Client and to upgrade to the 10gR2 Instant Client as well.