Golden is our SQL query tool for Oracle databases. GoldSqall is a similar product that supports a number of popular databases natively, including Oracle. Golden is optimized for Oracle and includes many Oracle specific features such as DBMS_Output, SQLPlus specific commands, Oracle explain plan and describe support, etc. GoldSqall is more of a general purpose product. All of our products can be used for 30 days before purchase and do not interfere with each other. They are easy to install and uninstall if needed.

32bit programs need to use 32bit database clients. 64bit programs need to use 64bit database clients. Use the version that matches the client files that you have installed. The 64bit version can access more memory than the 32bit version, but beyond that there are no differences. Note that client bitness does not have to match the bitness of the database server.

In general we email registrations and support answers within an hour of receipt if they arrive during business hours (East coast USA time.) First check your junk or spam email folder just in case our email has been filtered by your mail system. Please make sure you can receive email from the benthicsoftware.com domain.

Our GoldSqall product is an SQL query, scripting, editing, and exporting tool with native support for Oracle, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, Firebird, SQLite, and SQL Server, and can also be used with any database that has an OLEDB or ODBC driver.

Visit the product page for each of our products for detailed information on their features and how to purchase: Golden, GoldSqall, PLEdit, GoldView, and ImpExpPro.

In addition, visit the Benthic Software Blog for tips on using our products along with tips for using Oracle and Databases/SQL Queries in general.

First attempt to login. Click 'Ok' on any errors and then click 'Close' on the login window. Now choose "Connection Diagnostics" from the help menu. There's a button to copy the text to the clipboard so you can easily paste it into an email message. Email it to us at support@benthicsoftware.com with a description of the problem and any error messages and we'll get back to you ASAP.

Email your issue to support@benthicsoftware.com. We'll take a look and get back to you ASAP. Please describe the problem and if possible include your connection diagnostics (see the previous question.)

It's important to use the version that works with your Oracle Server. In general this means that you should use an Oracle Client version that is equal to or higher than the highest Oracle Server version that you use. Newer versions of our products use the Oracle Unicode Client calls by default and therefore require clients that support these calls. If you need to use an older Oracle Client you can uncheck the "Use Unicode Oracle Client Calls" option on the login options window. In general we recommend the 11.2 Oracle Client or higher as Oracle fixed a problem described in the next question.

On 64bit Operating Systems, the installer will install 32bit software into a directory containing "(x86)". Some versions of the Oracle Client won't work if an application using the client is installed in a directory path containing "()" characters. To fix this just install the program to a directory that doesn't have "()" characters in it, or install a newer version of the Oracle Client that doesn't have this problem. This is Oracle Bug #3807408 and should be fixed in newer client versions (note: this seems to be fixed in the 11.2 client.)

This means that the program couldn't load the Oracle Client. This can happen in the following cases:

1. The Oracle Client is missing or installed incorrectly.
2. You are trying to use the 64bit version of the Oracle Client with either Golden 5.x or the 32bit version of Golden 6.x. Golden 5.x needs the 32bit Oracle Client.
3. You are trying to use the 32bit version of the Oracle Client with the 64bit version of Golden 6.x. Golden 6.x 64bit needs the 64bit Oracle Client.
4. The user does not have read or execute rights to the Oracle Client files.

To quickly check if it's a rights problem, right click the startup icon and choose "Run as administrator". If that fixes the problem then the issue is that the user account is missing read or execute rights to an Oracle Client file.

This generally means that the Oracle Client version is older than the Oracle Server version or doesn't properly support Unicode. Either install a newer Oracle Client or uncheck the Unicode OCI Calls option in the login options window. Note that using an Oracle Client version older than your server can cause problems with certain newer datatypes like timestamps.

The best thing to do is to install the 32bit Oracle Instant Client to a directory and set the "Oracle Client DLL" field in our program's login options window to the oci.dll file that is in the Instant Client directory. If you do this then there is no need to change the system path. You can use the TNS_ADMIN environment or registry setting to force the location of your tnsnames.ora file.

1. Install the 32bit Oracle Instant Client. You can use the Instant Client Package - Basic Lite files (depending on what features you need.) You do not have to put the instant client directory in the system path.
2. Install Golden and go to the Login Options window (options button on the login window) and set the "Oracle Client DLL" field to the OCI.DLL file from step 1.
3. You can then either use the EZConnect method for the login database field (e.g. //hostname/sid) or use a tnsnames.ora file. You can use a tns_admin environment or registry variable to force the location of the tnsnames.ora file if needed.

GoldSqall has native driver support for Oracle, MySQL/MariaDB, PostgreSQL, Firebird, SQLite, and SQLServer. In addition, you can connect to any database with an OLEDB or ODBC driver.

Click on the “options” button of the login window. Under “Database Driver Options” change the DB Type to SQLServer, OleDB, or ODBC as appropriate and then enter "StatementTimeOut=300" (replacing 300 with desired value) into the “Properties” field. The value is in seconds.

Click on the “options” button of the login window. Under “Database Driver Options” change the DB Type to “MySQL” (if it isn’t already) and enter the following into the “Properties” field:

MYSQL_SSL=TRUE

The SQLBuilder (and popup helper lists) will default to "current_schema". Usually this is either a default for your database account or it can be set with a command. In PostgreSQL the current schema is the first schema listed in the search_path session variable. If you'd like to change the default schema just add "set search_path to myschema" (where myschema is the desired schema name) to the "AutoScript" field on the login item window for that login list item.