Oddis
Oddis (Oracle Data Dictionary Information System) is a Tcl/Tk-based graphical user interface for navigating visually throughout the entire Oracle data dictionary (ODD). Oddis follows in the footsteps of Tom Poindexter’s Wosql and IUD Maker programs (covered in Chapter 3), but it is a much more comprehensive Tcl/Tk Oracle application, and it provides an excellent example for aspiring Oracle open source developers. The program is based on original work by Rainer Gruetzner and is currently maintained by a team at the University of Hanover in Germany, including Michael Bethke, Axel Schlüter, and Regine Kasten, who have moved the program forward mostly via their computer science projects.
Intended primarily for DBAs, both novice and expert, Oddis aims to make the data dictionary as simple as possible to traverse, while providing the maximum amount of useful information. In addition to providing tools for Oracle DBAs, Oddis also possesses excellent facilities for storing and running SQL files as well as superb EXPLAIN PLAN functionality (including diagrammatic trees), making it potentially useful for developers too.
Oddis is far more than the data dictionary viewer it modestly claims to be. It is also a fully interactive OLTP tool, as well as a general reporting engine. It offers complete facilities for transactions, commits, rollbacks, auto-commits, and so on, in the main interface, all available via its various menus. The program provides an excellent demonstration of what’s ...