Introduction
SQL Server 7.0 provides many command-line and graphical tools and
utilities that enhance the capabilities of the server and ease tuning
and maintenance. Not all of these tools and utilities appear in Start
menu, many of them don’t have Start menu shortcuts.
In this article, I want to tell you about these tools and utilities.
SQL Server 7.0 Program Group
You can see the most of the available tools in the SQL Server 7.0
program group in your Start menu. Click Start, Programs, Microsoft SQL Server 7.0.
SQL Server 7.0 program group.
This is the main group of tools and utilities you will work with when
building database applications or when administering SQL Server 7.0.
Books Online
Books Online – is an online access to the SQL Server documentation set.
Books Online provides all documented information about all aspects of
SQL Server working. The Books Online is a compiled set of HTML pages,
so you should use Internet Explorer 4.01 with service pack 1 or later
to view Books Online.
Client Network Utility
Client Network Utility – is an utility, which sets the default
Net-Library and server connection information on clients, and displays
the DB-Library options.
Enterprise Manager
Enterprise Manager – is a main graphical utility, which allows you
to perform system administration tasks using a graphical interface.
This utility is used for configure servers, manage databases and
database objects, schedule events, configure and manage replication,
and so on.
Import and Export Data
Import and Export Data – is the Data Transformation Services (DTS)
Wizard. It is used to import and export data and objects between
heterogeneous OLE DB and ODBC data sources.
MSDTC Administrative Console
MSDTC Administrative Console – is a graphical utility, which lets you
control and monitor distributed transactions.
Performance Monitor
Performance Monitor – is the Windows NT Performance Monitor
utility (perfmon.exe file) with integrated SQL Server counters.
You can configure SQL Performance Monitor to display statistics
about the number of Transact-SQL command batches executed per
second, about the number of physical page reads per second,
about the number of user connections and so on. This utility
is not supported on the Windows 9x versions, and you can not
see this item in the SQL Server 7.0 program group on the Windows 9x.
Profiler
Profiler – is the SQL Server Profiler utility enables you to monitor
all activity on your SQL Server 7.0. This is the analog of SQL Trace
utility in SQL Server 6.5, but SQL Server Profiler has more filters
and events and more easy to use.
Query Analyzer
Query Analyzer – is your primary interface for running Transact-SQL
queries or stored procedures. With this utility, you can analyze the
plan of a query, view statistics information, and manage multiple
queries in different windows simultaneously.
Readme.txt
Readme.txt – is a file contains important information you should read
before you install SQL Server. This file contains information about
platform support, about some setup parameters, about upgrading from
SQL Server 6.x, and about some new features and enhancements.
Server Network Utility
Server Network Utility – is an utility, which is used to specify the
network protocol stacks on which the server will listen for client
requests. This utility looks like the Client Configuration utility,
but Client Configuration utility controls how your applications will
connect to SQL Server, while Server Network is used to set which network
libraries SQL Server 7.0 is listening on.
Service Manager
Service Manager – is a tool, which is used to start, stop and pause
MSDTC, MSSQLServer and SQLServerAgent services.
Uninstall SQL Server 7.0
This utility is used to uninstall SQL Server 7.0, all it services,
all it programs and utilities.
Other SQL Server 7.0 Tools and Utilities
These SQL Server 7.0 command-line utilities is placed by installation
into C:\MSSQL7\BINN directory by default. These utilities have not
graphical user interface, and some of them are not documented in
SQL Server Books Online.
ISQL
ISQL – is a command-line utility which provides a query interface,
and allows you to perform system administration tasks and execute
batch files that contain one or more SQL statements. It uses the
DB-Library network library to connect to SQL Server.
OSQL
OSQL – is a command-line utility which provides a query interface,
and allows you to perform system administration tasks and execute
batch files that contain one or more SQL statements. It uses ODBC
to communicate with the server.
bcp
bcp – is a command-line utility used to copy data to or from an
operating-system file.
makepipe and readpipe
makepipe and readpipe – diagnostic utilities checks to see if the
named pipes are working. Use them if you cannot connect to SQL Server.
odbcping
odbcping – is a command-line utility to check whether ODBC is properly
installed by connecting to a server using the ODBC SQL Server driver.
textcopy
textcopy – is a command-line utility used to copy a single text or
image value into or out of SQL Server. This utility is not documented
in SQL Server Books Online.
For more information, see this article (from Alexander Chigrik):
Copy text or image into or out of SQL Server
console
console – is a command-line utility displays backup and restore messages
when backing up to or restoring from tape dump devices.
langinst
langinst – is a command-line utility, which is used to install
additional language information, such as localized messages and
country information.
SQLMaint
SQLMaint – is a wizard called the Database Maintenance Plan Wizard.
This wizard helps you to configure routine system maintenance,
including backup, consistency checking, and index maintenance.
SQLDiag
SQLDiag – is a command-line utility, which is used to prepare for a
call to SQL Server Product Support. This utility gathers and stores
diagnostic information and places it all into a single file. This
file is named SQLdiag.txt and is placed in your C:\MSSQL7\LOG directory
by default. The SQLdiag.txt file contains the information from the SQL
Server error logs, SQL Server configuration information, the version
of SQL Server you are using and service packs, that is used, the
information about operating system and so on.
