Decent simple SQL Server client

I keep a copy of the old isqlw.exe and the 2-3 DLLs that are needed for it. That is, the SQL 2000 Query Analyzer. It runs from an USB drive, no install needed.


I searched for a tool that was truly portable and did not require a prerequisite like the .NET framework or a Java virtual machine. I found HeidiSQL which works for SQL Server and MySQL, and it's free. It offers either an installer or a portable version and is still under active development.


Try Query Express. Its free and small (100 KB executable).


Mini SQL Query...

https://github.com/paulkohler/minisqlquery

Note

If you are having errors, log an issue at https://github.com/paulkohler/minisqlquery/issues rather than sending a down-vote to stack-overflow, that won't help the open source project! Over the years I have managed to reproduce and fix most errors, several of them are logged via codeplex, many by email - some are harder to diagnose and fix due to not having the same platform setup but even a stack trace with the DB type is a help.

PK :-)

  • It's a about 2mb download (SQLite is included by default now)
  • Connects to SQL Server (or many other ADO.NET provider enabled databases such as Access, SQLite or even Excel files etc)
  • Requires .NET v3.5 as a minimum to run
  • Supports basic SQL Syntax highlighting
  • Can export data and create insert data scripts
  • Can run off USB drive
  • Has an 'Database Inspector'
  • Has a 'quick table viewer'
  • Contains simple statement generation
  • Has an inbuilt 'code generator'

The official tool blurb:

Mini SQL Query is a minimalist SQL query tool for multiple databases (MSSQL, MSSQL CE, SQLite, OLEDB, MS Access/Excel files etc). The tool uses a generic schema engine taking advantage of the ADO.NET providers. Mini SQL Query is also easily extended with plugins.

The whole reason it came about was the need to run queries on remote machines with little access, slow links, can run off a USB key etc etc ;-)

screen shot

PK :-)