Here is an example of connecting to Oracle database in Database Tour software.

First, check whether Oracle is installed on your computer. You can search for it in the list of services.

Installing Oracle

If Oracle was not installed, download the installation package for Windows from Oracle website. There can be several installation packages available, therefore read theri descriptions carefully. Unpack the downloaded archive to a new folder, for example, C:\Oracle Installation and then launch the installer from that folder (it usually has .msi extension). For novices, it is recommended to use default paths and settings during the installation.

Connecting to Oracle database

There are several methods to connect Oracle databases in Database Tour. Here, the recommended method is described: connecting using FD engine. This method provides faster database-to-database exporting comparing to ODBC and other alternatives and does not need a separate driver.

Before trying to connect an Oracle database in Database Tour, you need to check your local tnsnames.ora file.

Note: Oracle binaries can be either 32-bit or 64-bit. The latest versions are 64-bit. To work with Oracle 64-bit, you need to use Database Tour 64-bit, and vice versa. Each Database Tour edition (i.e. Standard and Pro) has both 32-bit and 64-bit versions. On Windows 64-bit, you can install both and use them depending on what type of work you need to do.

Let's begin:

  1. Launch the Database Tour application.
  2. Click Connect / Open Data Source button or choose Database | Connect / Register... menu.
  3. Switch to FD interface.
  4. In the list of database types, choose Oracle.
  5. In the list below, fill the connection parameters. Connecting to Oracle Database The most important parameters are:
    • Vendor homepath
      It is recommended to specify the vendor path explicitly. It must be a path to a folder that contains Oracle binaries. Note, that there can be multiple Oracle homes on one computer (after several Oracle installations). Database Tour shows all them in the drop-down list for this parameter; if this list is empty, something went wrong earlier or you are using other Database Tour architecture (32-bit instead of 64-bit or vice versa).
    • Database
      This is a required parameter. Specify the database name in the form as it is specified in tnsnames.ora file from <Vendor homepath>\network\admin folder. Database Tour shows all database entries from this file in the drop-down list for this parameter.
    • OS authentication
      Choose Yes if you want to connect to the database with your Windows credentials. Otherwise, you need to use the standard way by specifying the database username.
    There is a full list of available parameters.
  6. In the Database alias field, specify a friendly name to your database. It will be shown in the list of registered databases to facilitate access to the database.
  7. Click Test to test the connection. In the case of success, click OK to register and open the database. Later, you can access this database by its alias in the list of registered databases or from the drop-down list of the Connect / Open Data Source button .

See also