Eclipse Data Tools Platform

One Eclipse subproject is the Data Tools Platform project, or DTP. Data tools are mainly about databases. Alongside supporting developers directly, DTP offers data connectivity, including to sources other than relational databases, and a layer of abstraction over the data. Other Eclipse components can use these capabilities, including the Business Intelligence and Reporting Tools project, or BIRT.

DTP is new to me, so I haven’t really tested it yet. From what I’ve read, it should support ordinary data browsing, SQL syntax highlighting, running SQL statements, exporting DDL schemas and viewing execution plans. Since DTP is still far from 1.0, features like a debugger and visual SQL builder aren’t finished. The SQL Development Tools project has a good overview of planned features.

Installing DTP is straightforward. In Eclipse 3.2, all the subprojects are available through Help >> Software Updates >> Find and Install and the predefined Callisto Discovery Site (what is Callisto?). It lets you add DTP and other useful projects to Eclipse, such as the Web Tools Project and BIRT.

For more on DTP, I recommend these articles.

• Eclipse Callisto Project Profile: Data Tools Platform
• Eclipse.org Data Tools Project DTP Gets Started