MySQL GUI

Been using phpMyAdmin for administration of MySQL database. The tool is written in php, and it handles most of the standard database task with ease, creating database, create and dropping table, etc. But still, the setup of it still requires a bit of back-end configuration. First, of course you need to install php and add php to your windows environment variables. Since MySQL no longer enable in php by default, you have to enable some dll file in the ini. And there are a couple of changes before you could get phpMyAdmin to actually work.

I have it working in my old machine when I am playing with Xoops. But not before google around a few looking for some hints and tips from php sites, to MySQL sites to phpMyAdmin sites. So I am thinking why can't we have a tool, that just work? Without installing any other components or application other than the tool itself, and without touching on any configuration files.

And of course, with the power of internet these days, I just google around again for tools, or free tools to be precise, for MySQL administration. There are a few of them actually. I have tried Navicat, it is almost what I want, with a simple installation, all the functions for database administration, except that it is not free, although there is a trial version for 30 days.

And so I found another open source option, SQLyog. As the website claim, "it is the most powerful MySQL Manager and MySQL Admin Tool, combining the features of MySQL Query Browser, phpMyAdmin and various other MySQL Front Ends and MySQL Clients in a single intuitive interface." Wow, that sounds great. There are Enterprise and Community edition. As most of the open source applications, these terminology suggest that the Enterprise one will cost you some money ($47 for a single user license in this case) , but with more features, and the community edition mean to be free.

So you could guess which edition I will go for here. Unfortunately, can't report on how it works out at the moment, as I still don't have the time to try it out after the installation. Should update on this pretty soon. Hopefully.