SQL Explorer is Peak’s built in SQL client and data visualization tool.

It enables you to create, edit and save SQL queries and then explore and visualize your data using a range of ready-made charts.


Contents

Opening SQL Explorer

Go to Dock > SQL Explorer.
The SQL Explorer screen appears.


From the SQL Explorer screen, you can: 

  • View and search your saved queries. 
  • Delete queries.
  • Launch SQL Editor to edit saved queries or create new ones.



SQL Explorer functions

Hover over a feed to access the following functions:

Shows information about the query:
  • The user that created it
  • When it was last updated
  • Query path (can be copied)
  • CSV path
Launches the SQL Editor to edit the query.
Deletes the query.


SQL Editor Features

Peak's SQL Editor has the following key features:


Multi-tab environment

The interface uses tabs so that multiple queries can be edited and executed simultaneously.


Unresponsive queries will not affect other queries

If you are running multiple queries and one becomes unresponsive, a new worker node will automatically start up to handle your ongoing queries.

You can then stop the misbehaving query and make any necessary changes to it, such as reducing the row limit.

Autoformat SQL code

SQL editor comes with a code library to assist with query writing. Features include: code-completion, suggested keys and table / column autocomplete.

Query history

History of executed queries is available that includes their success/failure status, start time, duration, and progress (if still running).


Support for multiple databases and schemas

SQL Explorer supports multiple types of database such as Redshift or Snowflake.

Users can view the schemas for the selected database type and can preview the schema tables along with their attribute lists and datatypes.

Visualize query responses

SQL editor enables you to visualize your query outputs using a range of ready-made charts.

The VISUALIZE button is only available once a SQL query has executed successfully and a response is available.

The VISUALIZE button is disabled in these conditions:

  • If a query has been run and there is no result
  • If multiple queries are running and a query has not been selected
  • If you change the schema, database or interact anywhere in the current tab after running a query


Copy results

Once your query has run successfully, click COPY RESULTS to copy a query output and paste it into an editor without losing its tabular formatting. 


Row limits

You can select query result row limits of:

  • 500
  • 1,000
  • 2,000
  • No Limit

If you have selected No Limit, you can specify your own limits in your queries.

If you specify a Row Limit you cannot use TOP or LIMIT in your SQL queries.
The system will return results in the UI that are up to 5Mb or 10,000 rows, whichever is less.


Select and execute specific queries from a script

Scripts can contain multiple SQL queries within them. 

SQL editor makes it possible to select specific queries from a script, execute them, and abort queries that are running.|

Save query outputs as a .csv on Amazon S3

Queries can be saved as an .sql file and accessed directly from Downloads.

To get to Downloads, go to Dock and scroll down to the Work Tools section.


Beautifier

This helps to improve the appearance of your queries by adding spaces, tabs and new lines wherever they are needed. It can be used for SELECT, INSERT, UPDATE and DELETE statements. It is agnostic of the database that is targeted.


SQL dialect detection

The system detects the SQL dialect based on the database that you select. For example, if you selected “RedshiftDB” from the database dropdown, the system formats the SQL query based on a Redshift configuration.


Beautify per tab

The Beautify feature works per tab, meaning that each tab can have different SQL dialects and the formatting will be based on the selected database within that tab.


Format configuration

The following formatting convention is used:

  • Indentation of two spaces
  • Separation of multiple queries by an empty line

Copying queries

You can copy queries by clicking the Copy Query button.

This enables you to preserve the formatting when pasting a query.