Navicat

Navicat

Original author(s)	PremiumSoft
Developer(s)	PremiumSoft
Initial release	2002
Operating system	Cross-platform
Available in	Multilingual (8)
Type	SQL database management and development system
License	Proprietary / Shareware
Website	www.navicat.com

Navicat is a series of graphical database management and development software produced by PremiumSoft CyberTech Ltd. for MySQL, Oracle, SQLite, PostgreSQL and Microsoft SQL Server. It has an Explorer-like graphical user interface and supports multiple database connections for local and remote databases. Its design is made to meet the needs of a variety of audiences, from database administrators and programmers to various businesses/companies that serve clients and share information with partners.^[1][2]

History

The initial version of Navicat was developed in 2001 by a Hong Kong University of Science and Technology student in six months. The main target of the initial version was to simpify the management of MySQL installations.^[3] In 2008, Navicat for MySQL was the winner of the Hong Kong ICT 2008 Best Business Grand Award and Best Business (Product) Gold Award.^[4]

Supported platforms and languages

Navicat is a cross-platform tool and works on Microsoft Windows, Mac OS X and Linux platforms. Upon purchase, users are able to select a language for the software from eight available languages: English, French, German, Japanese, Korean, Polish, Simplified Chinese and Traditional Chinese.

Development

Navicat for MySQL

Officially released in March 2002, the Windows version of Navicat for MySQL became the first product offered to the public by PremiumSoft. Subsequently, the company released two additional versions of Navicat for MySQL on the Mac OS X and Linux operating system in June and October 2003 respectively.^[5][6]

Navicat for PostgreSQL

PremiumSoft continued to expand their Navicat series by releasing Navicat for PostgreSQL for Windows in October 2005 and then for MAC OS X in June 2006. The Linux version of Navicat for PostgreSQL would not be released until 3 years later in August 2009.^[7]

Navicat for Oracle

In August 2008 Navicat decided to further continue their product line and branch out into the Oracle community, creating Navicat for Oracle for Windows and Mac. In August of the following year they followed up with a version for the Linux Platform.^[8] The Oracle version of Navicat supports most of the latest Oracle objects features including Directory, Tablespace, Synonym, Materialized View, Trigger, Sequence, and Type, etc.^[9][10]

Navicat for SQLite

Navicat for SQLite was released for Windows and Mac OS X simultaneously in April 2009, and the Linux version soon followed two months later in June of the same year.^[11] In April 2010, Navicat Premium began including Navicat for SQLite starting from version 9 to expand the usability of Navicat Premium.^[12]

Navicat Premium

In 2009, PremiumSoft released Navicat Premium, a series of Navicat software that combines all previous Navicat versions into a single version and can connect to different database types including MySQL, Oracle, and PostgreSQL simultaneously, allowing users to do data migration between cross databases. Navicat Premium version also supports cross-platform administration, serving Windows, Mac OS X and Linux. In April 2010, version 9 of Navicat Premium was released, which added the connectivitity of SQLite database to Navicat Premium, allowing Navicat Premium to connect to MySQL, Oracle, Postgresql and SQLite in a single application. In November 2010, support for Microsoft SQL Server was added. In January 2011, SQL Azure was included.^[12][13]

Navicat for SQL Server

Microsoft SQL Server is currently the newest addition to the list of database Navicat supports. The new line of product, called Navicat for SQL Server, was released in November 2010 for the Windows platform and Mac OS X. Also at the release, the SQL server version was included in the Premium version of Navicat. In January 2011, support for SQL Azure was added.^[14]

Features

Some of its features include:

• Visual query builder
• SSH and HTTP tunneling^[2]
• Data and structure migration and synchronization^[15]
• Import and export and backup of data^[16]
• Report builder
• Task scheduling and wizards tool

There are differences in the features available across operating systems.^[17]

Navicat also supports forks of MySQL such as Drizzle, MariaDB, OurDelta, and Percona

Revision History

Below is a table of different versions and releases of Navicat.^{[18][19][20][21][22]}

Version	Platforms & Release dates						Some notable features
	MySQL	PostgreSQL	Oracle	SQLite	SQL Server	Premium
4.x	Windows: March 2002 Mac OS X: June 2003 Linux: No release	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Analyze, check, and repair tables Visual user manager to administer users and privilege Schedule backup file Import and Export data from MS Excel and MS Access
5.x	Windows: January 2003 Mac OS X: January 2004 Linux: September 2004	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Back up database and tables to SQL scripts Execute SQL script Multiple SQL editors with syntax highlighted feature
6.x	Windows: April 2004 Mac OS X: November 2005 Linux: October 2005	Mac OS X: June 2006	N/A	N/A	N/A	N/A	Import data from ODBC Connection to MySQL Server through SSH Able to set schedule on profiles
7.x	Windows: November 2005 Mac OS X: November 2007	Windows: October 2005 Mac OS X: December 2007	Mac OS X: August 2008	N/A	N/A	N/A	Data and structure Synchronization Able to drag and drop tables Create parameter queries
8.x	Windows: January 2008 Mac OS X: February 2009 Linux: January 2008	Windows: January 2008 Mac OS X: April 2009 Linux: August 2009	Windows: August 2008 Mac OS X: April 2009 Linux: August 2009	N/A	N/A	Windows: June 2009 Mac OS X: June 2009 Linux: August 2009	Virtual grouping Server Monitor to change system variables Allows form view Able to preview SQL before execution
9.x	Windows: April 2010 Mac OS X: April 2010 Linux: June 2010	Windows: April 2010 Mac OS X: April 2010 Linux: June 2010	Windows: April 2010 Mac OS X: April 2010 Linux: June 2010	Windows: April 2010 Mac OS X: April 2010 Linux: June 2010	Windows: November 2010 Mac OS X: November 2010 Linux: N/A	Windows: April 2010 Mac OS X: April 2010 Linux: June 2010	History log viewer Allows unicode character reports Import and export connections Word completion for SQL editors
10.0	Windows: September 2011 Mac OS X: September 2011 Linux: September 2011	Windows: September 2011 Mac OS X: September 2011 Linux: September 2011	Windows: September 2011 Mac OS X: September 2011 Linux: September 2011	Windows: September 2011 Mac OS X: September 2011 Linux: September 2011	Windows: September 2011 Mac OS X: September 2011 Linux: N/A	Windows: September 2011 Mac OS X: September 2011 Linux: September 2011	Data Modeling Tool ER Diagram view Database wide search Minify SQL

See also

• Comparison of database tools

References

1. ^ http://onlamp.com/pub/a/onlamp/2004/12/22/navicat.html
2. ^ ^{a b} http://www.lasplash.com/publish/Software_Reviews_and_News_130/navicat_mysql_gui_review.php
3. ^ "IT Twins被迫崇洋". Next Magazine. 2009-05-07. 
4. ^ Winner of the HKICT Awards 2008: Best Business Grand Award selected winner of HKICT Award of the Year
5. ^ Navicat for MySQL release notes
6. ^ http://www.techmixer.com/navicat-mysql-mysql-database-management-tools-for-windows
7. ^ Navicat for PostgreSQL release notes
8. ^ Navicat for Oracle release notes
9. ^ Navicat for Oracle overview
10. ^ http://www.techmixer.com/navicat-for-oracle-windows-oracle-administration-tools/
11. ^ Navicat for SQLite release notes
12. ^ ^{a b} Navicat Premium release notes
13. ^ http://www.techmixer.com/navicat-premium-cross-database-administrator-management-tool
14. ^ Navicat for SQL server overview
15. ^ http://www.webdotdev.com/nvd/content/view/438/
16. ^ http://ted.onflash.org/2005/04/navicat-review-mysql-administration.php
17. ^ Navicat Feature Matrix, for MySQL, PostegreSQL, Oracle, SQLite, SQL Server
18. ^ MySQL versions
19. ^ PostgreSQL versions
20. ^ Oracle versions
21. ^ SQLite versions
22. ^ Premium versions

External links

• Official website