Dallas SkyLine MAD Logo Ft. Worth Skyline
Home Schedule About Us Links Reviews Extras Jobs
FMS Total SQL Analyzer Review

March 12, 2002

Overview

I am a long time user of FMS products. I especially like the Access Analyzer. I have used it to document many databases. I have even used the reports that it generates to provide documentation to my customers. They are very professional looking.

Installation

Installation from the CD was fast and simple. However, since I only have SQL 7 on my PC, only the SQL 7 analyzer loaded. Apparently, if I had SQL 2000 on my machine, that version of the analyzer would have loaded.

Also, the CD contains copies of demos and trial versions of many popular FMS products. After I installed the software, I went to www.fmsinc.com to search for any updates. FMS products always have an update. I found the one for SQL Analyzer at http://www.fmsinc.com/free/updates/SQLAnalyzer/index.html. I downloaded the update, which wan an exe file. I double-clicked the exe file and the update ran in about 5 seconds. After I completed the update I went to start the program. There were 4 choices added to the start menu under FMS, Total SQL Analyzer. The four choices were, Help File, Readme, Total SQL Analyzer and Update Wizard. Although I had already gotten the update from the website, I selected the update wizard. The wizard opened, I selected Next and the wizard crashed. I tried a number of times, but I was never able to get the wizard to run.

Next, I reviewed the user guide for instructions concerning the Update Wizard. There was no information in the user guide about the Update Wizard. Finally, I read the Readme. The only information in the Readme about the Update Wizard said, you should run the Update Wizard.

Starting the Program

Upon opening the software I was confronted with a blank screen. I contemplated resorting to the user guide. But I decided to try and figure the next step on my own. I selected File, New and a wizard started. With the wizard I selected my SQL database that was located on another machine. I chose to document everything.

After about 30 minutes I received the following error:



This is the contents of the error log: C:\PROGRAM FILES\FMS\TOTAL SQL ANALYZER\output\ICA Program2002-03-09 173031.sdb *** BEGIN *** CDocEngine_FMS.GenerateDocumentation AT 3/9/02 5:30:33 PM "Language: ceština: Err 21776, [SQL-DMO]The name 'ceština' was not found in the Languages collection. If the name is a qualified name, use [] to separate various parts of the name, and try again." "Language: romāna: Err 21776, [SQL-DMO]The name 'romāna' was not found in the Languages collection. If the name is a qualified name, use [] to separate various parts of the name, and try again." "Language: slovencina: Err 21776, [SQL-DMO]The name 'slovencina' was not found in the Languages collection. If the name is a qualified name, use [] to separate various parts of the name, and try again." "Language: e???????: Err 21776, [SQL-DMO]The name 'e???????' was not found in the Languages collection. If the name is a qualified name, use [] to separate various parts of the name, and try again." "Language: ?????????: Err 21776, [SQL-DMO]The name '?????????' was not found in the Languages collection. If the name is a qualified name, use [] to separate various parts of the name, and try again." "Language: ???????: Err 21776, [SQL-DMO]The name '???????' was not found in the Languages collection. If the name is a qualified name, use [] to separate various parts of the name, and try again." "Language: ???: Err 21776, [SQL-DMO]The name '???' was not found in the Languages collection. If the name is a qualified name, use [] to separate various parts of the name, and try again." Replication: cannot document replication objects using SQLDMO 7. Client must be upgraded to SQLDMO 8 or later. *** END *** CDocEngine_FMS.GenerateDocumentation AT 3/9/02 6:18:35 PM

None of the information in the error log looked terrible relevant. I assume that everything else ran fine.

Viewing Results

The results pane has 4 tabs: Summary, Properties, Issues and Performance Tips. The Summary tab lists a subset of the items under the Properties tab. The Properties tab appears to list all of the properties for the selected object. At first I thought that the Issues and Performance Tips tabs would provide really useful information, but according to the manual there are only 14 issues and 11 performance tips provided. Most of the issues and tips are at the server or database level.

The one annoying thing I found about the results pane is that after you resize the fields they revert back to their original sizes when you select another object or tab. The reason that this was so frustrating is that the fields are sized too small. There is plenty of white space to the right.

 

Running Reports

This is the heart and soul of Access Analyzer. A quick look at the user guide lists 77 reports! They have a similar format to the one used in Access Analyzer. And, both the header and footer can be customized. The reports offer a great way to quickly document your SQL Server. One thing that I really like about the reports is the ability to filter any objects(s) out. But, the coolest feature of the reports is the ability to toggle a group tree for each report. You use the group tree to navigate the reports. This is very handy on large reports.

Help

The user guide for this product is typical of FMS user guides. It is short and not bogged down with details. The user guide is formatted into the on-line help. So there really is no reason to open the book, just press F1 instead.

Conclusion

Total SQL Analyzer is a great tool for documenting your SQL Server databases. It is easy to get installed and easy to use. It provides a comprehensive set of reports. However, it is a little short on analysis. Perhaps they should have called it the Total SQL Documenter.

Toi B. Wright
President
Metroplex Access Developers