I usually upgrade to the next-gen ubuntu release a month or two before it comes out so I can test QGIS and other software on the new platform. Today I was looking for a visual query designer for PostgreSQL because I wanted to make some complex queries with multiple joins. I'm ok for dealing with a few simple joins when hand writing my SQL but when things get complex, having a visual query builder is a great time saver.

I tried a whole bunch of options today:

- pgdesigner (linux) crashed all the time and was unusable
- SQL Maestro (win) a very nice looking app but commercial and runsonly under windows.
- Navicat (linux via wine) looked reasonable at first but had some severe rendering issues preventing me from being able to see therelation lines between entities. It also seemed to have trouble actually running the SQL it generated. Also it is commercial software and I prefer FOSS.
- OO Base (linux) with the sjdbc driver. I was able to test connect, but try as I might I couldnt get it to save my connection and let me enter the visual design mode.

Finally I took a re-look at PGAdmin III. I have used it on and off over the years but usually settle back to using psql from the command line. Imagine my surprise to see that in version 1.10 that ships with Karmic, it now includes a visual query builder.

Visual Query Builder in PGAdmin III

This is a real notch in the belt for postgres as we are now able to provide a simple solution for novice users to build their own queries visually!

by Tim Sutton at 3:30 PM under postgres , visual query designer