Rider Help

Managing data sources

About data sources

To be able to work with your databases in Rider, you should define them as data sources. See Connecting to a database.

In addition to data sources that correspond to real databases (DB data sources), Rider also supports DDL data sources. These are represented by one or more SQL files containing data definition language statements (SQL DDL statements).

Metaphorically, DDL data sources function as databases without data.

Data sources provide the basis for SQL coding assistance and code validation.

Creating a DB data source for H2 or SQLite by means of drag and drop

If you have H2 or SQLite database files available locally, you can create DB data sources for them by dragging the files to the Database tool window. The files can be dragged from the Solution tool window, or from your file manager (e.g. Explorer or Finder).

  1. If the database files are in your project folder, open the Solution tool window. Otherwise, open your file manager.
  2. Open the Database tool window.
  3. Select the file or files of interest in the Solution tool window, or in your file manager.
  4. Drag the selected file or files into the Database tool window. (For each of the files a separate data source will be created.)
    /help/img/idea/2017.2/DBNewDBDragAndDrop.png
  5. If you don't have the necessary database driver files yet, you can download them now. Click /help/img/idea/2017.2/iconManageDataSources.png on the toolbar of the Database tool window. (Alternatively, select Properties from the context menu.)
  6. In the Data Sources and Drivers dialog that opens, within the line Download missing driver files, click the Download link.
  7. Click Test Connection to make sure that Rider can properly communicate with the database.
  8. Click OK in the Data Sources and Drivers dialog.

Creating DB data sources by importing connection settings

Files that contain database connection settings can be used for creating DB data sources.

  1. If the files that you want to import the settings from are not in your project yet, copy them there.
  2. Open the Database tool window.
  3. Do one of the following:
    • Click /help/img/idea/2017.2/new.png on the toolbar and select Import from sources.
    • Right-click the area under the toolbar or any of the existing data sources, point to New and click Import from sources.

    The Data Sources and Drivers dialog opens. The names of candidate data sources are shown in the left-hand pane in green.

  4. Specify the driver files if they are missing.

    Do one of the following:

    • To download the necessary driver, click the Download link.
    • To specify the driver files that you already have available on your computer, click the <DriverName> link to the right of Driver.

      On the page where the driver settings are shown, under JDBC drivers / Additional, click /help/img/idea/2017.2/new.png and select the files in the dialog that opens.

      Go back to the page with the data source settings.

  5. Click Test Connection to make sure that Rider can properly communicate with the database.
  6. Click OK in the Data Sources and Drivers dialog.

Creating a DDL data source

  1. Open the Database tool window and click /help/img/idea/2017.2/iconManageDataSources.png on the toolbar.
  2. In the Data Sources and Drivers dialog that opens, click /help/img/idea/2017.2/new.png and select DDL Data Source.
  3. In the Name field, if necessary, edit the name of the data source.
  4. Under DDL Files, click /help/img/idea/2017.2/new.png and select the necessary SQL file or files in the dialog that opens.
  5. From the Extend list, if necessary, select another data source as a parent. As a result, the data source whose properties you are editing will "inherit" all the DDL definitions from its parent.
  6. Click OK to save the settings and close the dialog.

Creating a DDL data source by means of drag and drop

You can create DDL data sources by dragging DDL SQL files to the Database tool window. The files can be dragged from the Solution tool window, or from your file manager (e.g. Explorer or Finder).

  1. If the necessary DDL SQL files are in your project folder, open the Solution tool window. Otherwise, open your file manager.
  2. Open the Database tool window.
  3. Select the file or files of interest in the Solution tool window, or in your file manager.
  4. Drag the selected file or files into the Database tool window. For a new data source to be created, the red border, when dropping the file or files, should surround most of the window area (rather than one of the existing data sources).
    /help/img/idea/2017.2/DBNewDDLByDragAndDrop.png

Changing data source settings

  1. Open the Database tool window and select the data source of interest.
  2. Do one of the following:
    • Click /help/img/idea/2017.2/iconManageDataSources.png on the toolbar.
    • Select Properties from the context menu.
    • Press Alt+Enter.
  3. In the Data Sources and Drivers dialog that opens, edit the settings as necessary. See:

Making a DB data source available in all your projects

When a DB data source is created, it's assigned to a project. That is, by default, it's available only in the project in which it was defined.

If you want to make a data source available in all your projects, you should make it global:

  1. Open the Data Sources and Drivers dialog (e.g. Alt+Enter ) and select the data source of interest.
  2. Click /help/img/idea/2017.2/icon_importCopyrightProfile.png on the toolbar or select Make Global from the context menu.
  3. Click Apply or OK.

In a similar way, you can move a global data source to the project level - to make it available only in the current project: use /help/img/idea/2017.2/icon_importCopyrightProfile.png or Move to Project from the context menu.

Note that the DDL data sources exist only on the project level.

Removing data sources

To remove unnecessary data sources, you can use the Database tool window or the Data Sources and Drivers dialog.

Using the Database tool window. Select the data sources to be removed and do one of the following:

  • Press Delete.
  • Select Delete from the context menu.
  • Select Edit | Delete.

Using the Data Sources and Drivers dialog. Select the data sources to be removed and do one of the following:

  • Click /help/img/idea/2017.2/delete.png on the toolbar.
  • Press Delete.
  • Select Remove from the context menu.
Last modified: 11 October 2017