The HANA Web Console from Brandeis Consulting
Veröffentlicht am 14. September 2021 von | SAP HANA | SQLScript | Training |
The HANA Web-Console (HWC) from Brandeis Consulting is the quick entry into SQLScript programming on the SAP HANA database. For trainings and also for the daily work with SQLScript it is very practical, if you don't have to start the SAP HANA Studio or Eclipse first. And not every participant in our e-learning courses has the time or inclination to deal with the installation of the tools. That's why we developed the HANA Web Console (HWC). With this tool you can easily query the data model from the English edition of my book SQLScript for SAP HANA .
A first test of our HANA Web-Console
For example, the data model contains a table TASKS with tasks. With a little query, we can take a look at those. Just enter the statement SELECT * FROM TASKS in the input field below and click on the Execute button.
A picture of the HANA Web-Console in SE16 style ;-)
And more complex queries with anonymous blocks are also possible.
What is the HWC?
The name says it all: The HANA Web Console is an SQL console for SAP HANA as a web application. The focus is on simplicity. Less is more. For our SQLScript courses, a very simple SQL console is actually sufficient. And it doesn't matter whether that's the SQL console from SAP HANA Studio, the Web-Based Development Workbench, or the Database Explorer of the Web IDE. The most important difference comparing to these three: The HWC just runs. Tests can be carried out at any time without configuration and lengthy start-up.
Use cases for the HANA Web Console((Not all features are implemented yet.))
- Live training courses, the HWC can be used directly as a standalone application. No configuration and tedious setup. Just share the URL with everyone and you're good to go.
- In e-learning courses, the HWC can be positioned within the learning content. The participant can perform the exercises directly inplace and does not have to switch between the programs.
- Interactively in blog posts, readers can directly try out what the author means. The console can be prefilled with queries.
- The console can provide limited, read-only access to an SAP system to support development.
Limitations of the HANA Web Console
But of course, there are some limitations. Because our HWC is unprotected on the Internet for everyone to reach. That is why we have restricted this access accordingly:
- Only read operations are allowed
- The user and the schema cannot be changed
- Dynamic SQL is not allowed
- Only one instruction can be executed at a time. This can also be an anonymous block, so that complex programs can be tested.
The HWC is still under development. It can be changed or moved at any time. So please don't use it in blogs or articles yet.
Same Same - but different: The model for the HWC
The sqlbolt.com site has been a model and inspiration for the HWC in many aspects. This is a simple, interactive SQL tutorial that I recommend to attendees who are unsure if their SQL skills are sufficient for the SQLScript Basics or SQLScript for BW Consultants training. What excited me most was the mix between content and exercises. And all this without installing a development environment or complicated connection parameters.
And that's how the idea of the HANA Web Console came about. Same concept, but slightly different. HWC's initial focus is more on blogs and articles than training. The project was implemented by our working student Gautam Kumar and will be further supervised by him.
Outlook
The first version of the HANA Web Console is just about ready. And already it is incredibly practical and with me personally almost daily in use. I'm looking forward to my next blog article with SQLScript where I can incorporate the HWC.
But there are also other features planned:
- Presetting with a query
- A history of the last queries
- Selection of different configurations (schema/user/stylesheet...) via URL parameter
There will be a lot more happening here in the coming months. I will keep up to date on this page.
I welcome any feedback on the HANA Web Console. Suggestions are very welcome.
