Working with the Table Editor

The Table Editor provides a graphical interface for working with table data. You can sort, filter, add, edit and remove the data as well as perform other, associated tasks.

• Opening a table in the Table Editor
• Protecting a table from accidental modifications
• Switching between subsets of rows
• Making all rows visible simultaneously
• Navigating to a specified row
• Navigating to related records
• Sorting data
• Filtering data
• Using quick filtering options
• Reordering columns
• Hiding and showing columns
• Restoring the initial table view
• Using the Structure view to sort data, and hide and show columns
• Using the quick documentation view
• Transposing the table
• Enabling coding assistance for a column
• Modifying cell contents
• Adding a row
• Deleting rows
• Managing database transactions
• Comparing tables
• Copying table data to the clipboard or saving them in a file
• Copying a selection to the clipboard
• Changing data output format
• Saving a LOB in a file
• Updating the table view
• Viewing the query
• Working with the CREATE TABLE statement

Opening a table in the Table Editor

In the Database tool window, do one of the following:

• Double-click the table of interest.
• Click the table and click on the toolbar (if the toolbar is not currently hidden).
• Select the table and press F4.
• Right-click the table and select Table Editor from the context menu.

As a result, the table opens in the Table Editor on a separate editor tab.

Protecting a table from accidental modifications

To protect a table from accidental modifications in the Table Editor, you can make it read-only. To do that, click the padlock icon in the lower-right corner of PhpStorm workspace.

As a result, the icon appearance will change to , a padlock will appear on the corresponding editor tab, and you won't be able to make changes to the table.

To turn off the table's read-only status, click the padlock icon again.

Note that the tables with the read-only status in the Table Editor can still be modified when using the database console or in the Database tool window.

Switching between subsets of rows

If only a subset of all the rows is currently shown, to switch between the subsets, use:

•  First Page
•  Previous Page (Ctrl+Alt+Up)
•  Next Page (Ctrl+Alt+Down)
•  Last Page

See also, Making all rows visible simultaneously.

Making all rows visible simultaneously

If you want all the rows to be shown simultaneously:

1. Click on the toolbar and select Settings.
2. Switch to the Database | Data Views page, specify 0 in the Result set page size field, and click OK.
3. Click or press Ctrl+F5 to refresh the table view.

See also, Updating the table view and Result set page size.

Navigating to a specified row

To switch to a row with a specified number:

1. Do one of the following:
   • Press Ctrl+G.
   • Right-click the table and select Go To | Row from the context menu.
   • Select Navigate | Row from the main menu.
2. In the dialog that opens, specify the row number and click OK.

Navigating to related records

If a row references a record in a different table or is referenced in a different table, you can switch to the corresponding table to see the related record or records.

To switch to a referenced row:

1. Do one of the following:
   • Press Ctrl+B.
   • Select Go To | Referenced Data from the context menu.
2. If more than one record is referenced, select the target record in the pop-up that appears.

To switch to a row that references the current one, or to see all the rows that reference the current one:

1. Do one of the following:
   • Press Alt+F7.
   • Select Go To | Referencing Data from the context menu.
2. Select the target in one of the following categories:
   • First Referencing Row. All the rows in the corresponding table will be shown and the first of the rows that references the current row will be selected.
   • All Referencing Rows. Only the rows that reference the current row will be shown.

The options described above can also be accessed by using one of the following:

• F4.
• Go To | Related Data in the context menu.
• Navigate | Related Data in the main menu.

Sorting data

You can sort table data by any of the columns by clicking the cells in the header row.

Each cell in this row has a sorting marker in the right-hand part and, initially, a cell may look something like this: . The sorting marker in this case indicates that the data is not sorted by this column.

If you click the cell once, the data is sorted by the corresponding column in the ascending order. This is indicated by the sorting marker appearance: . The number to the right of the marker (1 on the picture) is the sorting level. (You can sort by more than one column. In such cases, different columns will have different sorting levels.)

When you click the cell for the second time, the data is sorted in the descending order. Here is how the sorting marker indicates this order: .

Finally, when you click the cell for the third time, the initial state is resorted. That is, sorting by the corresponding column is canceled: .

You can turn on the Sort via ORDER BY option, to enable sorting the data by the corresponding DBMS.

See also, Restoring the initial table view and Using the Structure view to sort data, and hide and show columns.

Filtering data

1. If the filter box is not currently shown, click on the toolbar and select Row Filter.
2. In the filter box, specify filtering conditions.

   The filtering conditions are specified as in a WHERE clause but without the word WHERE, e. g. name LIKE 'a%' AND notes LIKE '%metal%'. Within the LIKE expressions, the SQL wildcards can be used: the percent sign (%) for zero or more characters and underscore (_) for a single character.

   

   To apply the conditions currently specified in the box, press Enter. To cancel filtering, delete the contents of the filter box and press Enter.

   To reapply a memorized filter, click and select the filter in the list. See also, Filter history size.

   

   To cancel filtering and hide the filter box, click .

Using quick filtering options

In addition to specifying filtering conditions manually (see Filtering data), you can use quick filtering options.

Available as context menu commands, these options are a set of filtering conditions for the current column name. The conditions themselves depend on the value in the current cell.

To use a quick filtering option:

1. Right-click a cell of interest and point to Filter by.
2. Select the necessary condition from the list.

Reordering columns

To reorder columns, use drag-and-drop for the corresponding cells in the header row.

See also, Restoring the initial table view.

Hiding and showing columns

To hide a column, right-click the corresponding header cell and select Hide column.

To show a hidden column:

1. Do one of the following:
   • Right-click any of the cells in the header row and select Column List.
   • Press Ctrl+F12.

   In the list that appears, the names of hidden columns are shown struck through.

   

2. Select (highlight) the column name of interest and press Space.
3. Press Enter or Escape to close the list.

See also, Restoring the initial table view and Using the Structure view to sort data, and hide and show columns.

Restoring the initial table view

Click on the toolbar and select Reset View to restore the initial table view after reordering or hiding the columns, or sorting the data. As a result, the data, generally, becomes unsorted, the columns appear in the order they are defined in the database, and all the columns are shown.

Using the Structure view to sort data, and hide and show columns

When working with the Table Editor, the table structure view is available in the Structure tool window or as the corresponding popup.

The structure view shows the list of all the columns and lets you sort the data as well as hide and show the columns.

To open the Structure tool window, do one of the following:

• Select View | Tool Windows | Structure in the main menu.
• Click Structure on the left-hand tool window bar.
• Press Alt+7.

To open the structure popup, do one of the following:

• Right-click a cell in the table header row and select Column List.
• Press Ctrl+F12.

In the tool window or the popup, select the column of interest and do one of the following:

• To sort the data by this column in the ascending order, press Shift+Alt+Up. (In the tool window, you can, alternatively, select Sort | Ascending from the context menu.)
• To sort the data in the descending order, press Shift+Alt+Down. (In the tool window, alternatively, Sort | Descending.)
• To cancel sorting by this column, press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Backspace. (In the tool window, alternatively, Sort | Unsorted.)
• To hide the column (or show a hidden column), press Space. (The names of hidden columns are shown struck through. In the tool window, alternatively, the Hide Column or Show Column context menu command can be used.)

  

The shortcuts for sorting table data (Shift+Alt+Up, Shift+Alt+Down and Ctrl+Shift+Alt+Backspace) can be used in the Table Editor without opening the structure view.

See also, Sorting data, Hiding and showing columns and Restoring the initial table view.

Using the quick documentation view

The quick documentation view provides details about the values in the selected cell or cells. For example, if a cell contains long text, normally, you can see only its beginning. The whole text is shown in the quick documentation view.

If a cell contains an image, you can see that image in the quick documentation view.

You can also see the records referenced in the current record as well as the records that reference the current one.

If necessary, you can switch to the transposed view. This is when the rows and columns are interchanged. Thus, for a row, the cells are shown one beneath the other.

To open the quick documentation view, press Ctrl+Q or select Quick Documentation from the View or the context menu.

To switch to the transposed view, click Transposed View. See also, Transposing the table.

To close the quick documentation view, press Escape.

Transposing the table

The transposed table view is available. In this view, the rows and columns are interchanged.

To turn this view on or off, click on the toolbar and select Transpose. Alternatively, use the Transpose context menu command.

Enabling coding assistance for a column

You can assign a column one of the supported languages (e.g. SQL, HTML or XML): right-click the corresponding header cell, select Edit As and select the language. As a result, you get coding assistance for the selected language in all the cells of the corresponding column.

You can also assign a language to an individual cell.

Modifying cell contents

You can modify values in the table cells and, if appropriate, upload files.

1. To start editing a value or uploading a file, do one of the following:
   • Double-click the corresponding table cell.
   • Right-click the cell and select Edit Value or Edit Maximized from the context menu.
   • Select the cell and press F2 or Shift+Enter. In the latter case, the cell will be maximized.
   • Select the cell and start typing. Note that in this case the initial cell contents are deleted right away and is replaced with the typed value.
2. When in the editing mode, you can:
   • Modify the value right in the cell. To start a new line, use Ctrl+Enter. To save the changes, press Enter. To restore an initial value and quit the editing mode, press Escape.

     

   • Maximize the cell if you need more room for editing. To do that, press Ctrl+Shift+Alt+M, or right-click the cell and select Maximize.

     When working in a maximized cell, use Enter to start a new line and Ctrl+Enter to save the value. To restore an initial value and quit the editing mode, press Escape.

     

   • Upload a file into the field (e.g. to replace an existing file with a new one). To do that, right-click the cell and select Load File. Then select the necessary file in the dialog that opens.
   • Replace the current value with null. To do that, right-click the cell and select Set NULL.
   • Edit a value in the cell as a fragment in one of the supported languages (e.g. SQL, HTML or XML). To do that, right-click the cell, select Edit As and select the language. As a result, you get coding assistance for the language you have selected.

     

Adding a row

If on the toolbar is enabled, you can add rows to the table.

1. To start adding a row, do one of the following:
   • Click on the toolbar.
   • Right-click the table and select Add New Row from the context menu.
   • Press Alt+Insert.

   Note that the context menu Clone Row command (Ctrl+D) can be used as an alternative.

2. Enter the values into the cells. For instructions, see Modifying cell contents.
3. To save the new row, select Submit New Row from the context menu or press Ctrl+Enter.

Deleting rows

If on the toolbar is enabled, you can delete rows. To do that:

1. Select the row or rows that you want to delete.

   Rows are selected by clicking the cells in the column where the row numbers are shown. To select more than one row, use mouse clicks in combination with the Ctrl key.

2. Do one of the following:
   • Click on the toolbar.
   • Press Ctrl+Y or Delete.
3. Confirm you intention to delete the selected row or rows.

Managing database transactions

The Auto-commit check box, and the Commit  and Rollback  icons on the toolbar let you manage database transactions.

The Auto-commit check box is used to turn the autocommit mode for the database connection on or off.

In the autocommit mode, each SQL statement is executed in its own transaction that is implicitly committed. Consequently, the SQL statements executed in this mode cannot be rolled back.

(Each change of a value in the table, or adding or deleting a row results in executing an SQL statement.)

If the autocommit mode is off, transactions are committed or rolled back explicitly by means of the Commit () or Rollback () command. Each commit or rollback starts a new transaction which provides grouping for a series of subsequent SQL statements.

In this case, the data manipulations in the transaction scope are committed or rolled back all at once when the transaction is committed or rolled back.

Comparing tables

You can compare the current table with any other table which is open in the table editor or shown in the Database Console tool window. To do that, click on the toolbar and select the table of interest.

The comparison results are shown in the differences viewer.

Copying table data to the clipboard or saving them in a file

1. Do one of the following:
   • Click on the toolbar, and select To File or To Clipboard.
   • Right-click the table, point to Dump Data and select To File or To Clipboard.
2. If you are saving the data in a file, select the output format (the extractor), and then specify the file name and location.

If only a subset of rows is currently shown, all the rows are copied to the clipboard or saved in a file anyway.

See also, Changing data output format.

Copying a selection to the clipboard

To copy selected cells or rows to the clipboard, press Ctrl+C or select Copy from the main or the context menu.

If the table is shown transposed (see Transposing the table), the range of cells is copied transposed (as shown) if the Allow Transposition option is on and non-transposed (as in the original table) otherwise.

To turn the Allow Transposition option on or off, right-click the table, point to Data Extractor: <current_format> and click Allow Transposition. Alternatively, click on the toolbar and click Allow Transposition.

Changing data output format

When you copy table data to the clipboard (the Copy and Dump Data | To Clipboard commands), unless you change the format, the data are output as Tab-Separated Values (TSV).

To change the output format or to define a new format for the output:

1. Do one of the following:
   • Click on the toolbar.
   • Right-click the table and point to Data Extractor: <current_format>.
2. Do one of the following:
   • To select a different output format, click the name of the format.
   • To define a new delimiter-separated values format, or to view or modify the settings for an existing one, click Configure CSV Formats. As a result, the CSV Formats Dialog will open.

Saving a LOB in a file

If a cell contains a binary large object (a.k.a. BLOB or LOB), you can save such a LOB in a file.

1. Right-click the cell that contains the LOB of interest and select Save LOB To File.
2. In the dialog that opens, specify the name and location of the destination file and click OK.

Updating the table view

To refresh the table view, do one of the following:

• Click on the toolbar.
• Right-click the table and select Reload Page from the context menu.
• Press Ctrl+F5.

Use this function to:

• Synchronize the data shown with the actual contents of the database.
• Apply the Result set page size setting after its change.

Viewing the query

To see the query that was used to generate the table:

• Click View Query on the toolbar.

  If necessary, you can select the query text and copy it to the clipboard (Ctrl+C).

To close the pane where the query is shown, press Escape.

Working with the CREATE TABLE statement

Click the DDL tab (in the lower-left part of the Table Editor) to see the CREATE TABLE statement used to create the table.

If necessary, you can edit this statement and then run it ( on the toolbar or Ctrl+Shift+F10).

To regenerate the CREATE TABLE statement for the current state of the table in the database, use or Ctrl+F5.