Hurricane Rita caused a lot of problems for us, leaving us without Internet access for months. As Humberto approached, we weren’t too worried since it was only a category 1 hurricane. Unfortunately, it hurt us.

Power was just restored at Runtime Labs HQ and we’re hoping to get caught up on email/phone messages over the weekend. Today’s priority is household cleanup — throwing out spoiled food, restocking the fridge, cleaning branches off the yard, etc. We’re also hoping to get a generator setup for other RTL staffers today.

Runtime Labs is proud to announce the release of MacSQL 3.1. This free, major upgrade offers a number of new features including:

• MacSQL is a Universal application that runs on PowerPC- and Intel-based Macintoshes.
• A new MySQL 4.1+ plugin that supports connecting to MySQL 4.1 and greater database servers (fully licensed from MySQL AB).
• A new PostgreSQL 8.1+ plugin offering greater speed and SSL support.
• Job Manager supports scheduled, unattended exports including rotation of backups.
• Support for generating Entity-Relationship Diagrams using OmniGraffle and OmniGraffle Pro.
• Documents are now indexed by Spotlight.
• SQL Server plugin updated and includes full Unicode support.
• Query editor now supports expressions with function calls, and the distinct qualification.
• FileMaker Pro Synchronization now supports connecting to FileMaker via ODBC.
• WebScript Assistant supports PHP 5.
• Create Table Tool redesigned including support for MySQL enum and set data types.
• Query Maker supports autocompletion.
• Text imports now allows mapping column names based on data instead of blindly picking the column order.
• Spreadsheet supports LinkBack
• Supports Growl for Import, Export, FM Synch notifications.

For users of MacSQL 3.1b19 (our last beta release), the following changes were made to the final version:

• New Connection Dialog: fixed crashing bug when window wasn’t closed by
  Connect or Cancel button.
• SQL Server: fixed potential crashing bug when connected to SQL Server 7.
• Create Table Tool: database menu selets default/current database correctly.
• Export: xslt label no longer appears unless exporting xml.
• Statistics: now records server version numbers.

MacSQL 3.1 is available from our downloads page.

MacSQL Version 3.1b19 is now available. We are considering this version to be a final candidate release — unless a significant bug is found that we feel must be addressed, there will be no changes between this version and the final release of MacSQL 3.1 next week. (The one exception is documentation — we still have a little work to complete on the user manual.)

An updater and full download are available from our downloads page.

Changes in this version include:

• Fixed bug that could result in crash when document was closed
  (particularily if services or applescript was used).
• Revert Document menu item now only enabled when document is dirty.
• Query Editor and Schema Viewer properly reload data when document is
  reverted.
• Schema Viewer: add/edit relationship save button is now dynamically
  enabled based on if there is a name and destination column.
• Statistics: help button works.
• Statistics: prompted at initial launch to enable/disable stats reporting.

Version 3.1b17 is now available. This update includes bug fixes to MySQL 4.1+, SQL Server, and PostgreSQL8+ support, along with improvements to the Query Editor, Query Maker, and Export Assistant. It also introduces a Statistics window that collects information about how MacSQL is used along with the option/setting to anonymously send this data to Runtime Labs so we can evaluate what features to work on improving.

An updater and full download are available from our downloads page.

[slug]macsql-31b17-released[/slug]Version 3.1b17 is now available. This update includes numerous AppleScript bug fixes, improved Oracle support, and improvements to the Query Editor.

An updater and full download are available from our downloads page.

[slug]macsql-31b16-released[/slug]Version 3.1b16 is now available. This update includes improved SQL Server 2005 support, FileMaker/ODBC Synch on Intel Macs, and bug fixes to export, scripting, along with fixes for a number of crashing bugs submitted by users through MacSQL’s Crash Reporter.

[slug]macsql-31b15-released[/slug]Version 3.1b15 is now available. This update includes fixes for the Query Editor, Spreadsheet, Schema Viewer, and numerous updates to the help files.

[slug]macsql-31b14-released[/slug]Version 3.1b14 is now available. This update includes fixes for Leopard, FM Synch, and showing distinct values for a column from the Schema Viewer.

[slug]macsql-31b2-released[/slug] I totally forgot that the 3.1 beta releases were all set to expire on October 31. So I uploaded 3.1b12 today, which is basically b11 with Spotlight support (and an expiration date of Dec 31).

I’ve never been a big fan of Spotlight, but maybe that was because it was incredibly slow on my PowerBook G4. Even on a dual G5 it seemed slow to me. But on my MacBook Pro it is very snappy and I can see the appeal. (I think a large part of why it sucked for me was that I’ve always had a lot of external hard drives and it would have to spin them all up anytime a search was done.)

But, I know it is important to Apple and many users, so starting with MacSQL 3.1b12, MacSQL documents will be indexed by Spotlight. And even better, if you searched for a database or table, when the document opens the Schema Viewer will display the first database/table that matches your search term.

As to a release schedule, look for 3.1b12 very soon, likely this week. The main things we’re working on right now are the documentation and new artwork. We hope to get a final release of MacSQL 3.1 out the door before Thanksgiving.