Foreword (by the Toadman)

I've been working on TOAD now for more than six years . Or has it been seven? I no longer really remember. But the very same incentives that motivated me to create TOAD are still the driving factors behind the continued development of TOAD: a constant desire to create a better development tool for Oracle developers; one that provides a simple GUI interface over all the daily tasks that a developer might encounter.

I have to back up and amend that last statement to include DBAs because the introduction of the DBA module now pushes the number one tool for Oracle developers into the DBA arena. TOAD has truly become the ubiquitous Oracle utility.

TOAD has been popular and remains popular for many reasons, the majority of which I attribute to a very passionate core group of users who drive the product and never allow us to slow down. They maintain the pace and accept nothing less than total encapsulation of their tasks within their favorite tool. And we ”the TOAD team ” obligingly comply . The TOAD users ”the Toadies ”are our inspiration, our motivation, and ultimately, the source of our rewards. One of my favorite user remarks was a simple "bodacious tool, dude." Such direct feedback from our users keeps our programming fires fueled.

One of the greatest benefits of the growth of TOAD has been the opportunity to work with Oracle experts whose feedback helps make TOAD a more valuable product for the users, including experts such as Bert Scalzo and Dan Hotka with whom I've had the pleasure of working these past few years. Dan has been a long time supporter of TOAD and Bert has been the architect for many of the DBA features in TOAD today. I take a great deal of pride in knowing that these two have come together in collaboration to publish this resource for TOAD users.

In closing, I'd like to thank Dan and Bert for this effort. I had been asked in the past to write a TOAD guide but just could not find the free time. I'd also like to thank y'all for your continued support and feedback. I hope Mr. Toad's Wild Ride continues for years to come.

Jim McDaniel, Toadman