The interface
The window has three parts: the menu bar and toolbar at the top, the connection tree on the left, and tabs filling the rest.
Menu bar
| Menu | What is in it |
|---|---|
| File | New SQL Query Ctrl+T · Close Tab Ctrl+W · Export connections · Import connections · Exit Alt+F4 |
| Connection | Manage Connections |
| Table | Export as CSV/JSON · Refresh F5 — both apply to the active table tab |
| Tools | Query Console Ctrl+T · Data Transfer · Recreate DB from XML · Knowledge Lab · Settings |
| View | Compact View · Full Screen — both reserved, not active yet |
| Help | License Status · Activate License · Buy License… · Online Documentation · Keyboard Shortcuts F1 · Report Bug · Feature Request · About |
TIP
Most of the heavy tools are not in the menu bar. They open either from the toolbar or from the right-click menu on a database in the sidebar — see below.
Toolbar
| Button | Opens |
|---|---|
| New Query | A SQL editor tab |
| New Table | The table designer |
| Export / Import | Export and import wizards |
| Search | Search across tables |
| Compare | Data Compare — prefilled from the active table tab |
| Profiler | Query profiler — prefilled from the active SQL tab |
| Connections | The connection manager |
| Settings | Settings |
| F1 | The shortcut list |
Buttons that need a database dim when no connection is open.
Sidebar
The sidebar is a tree: connection → database → Tables, Views, Queries, Functions. Click a node to expand it, double-click a table to open its data. The search box above the tree filters tables by name.
Each connection can carry a colour tag and a group name, which is how you keep production and development visually apart. See Creating connections.
Selecting several at once
Ctrl-click (Cmd-click on macOS) adds a node to the selection, Shift-click takes the range between the last click and this one. It works on tables, views and saved queries, and a selection never mixes them: Ctrl-clicking a view while tables are selected starts a new selection rather than combining the two.
Right-click inside a selection and the menu acts on all of it; right-click outside it and the menu acts on that one node.
Right-click on a connection
Open / Close connection · Edit Connection · Delete Connection · New Database · User Management
Right-click on a database
This is the main entry point for the tools:
- ER Diagram
- New Database · + New table · New view · Triggers
- Backup / Restore
- Dump SQL file ▸ Structure and data · Structure only
- ▶ Execute SQL file
- Structure Compare · Data Transfer · Visual Query Builder · Process List · Task Scheduler(Data Compare, Data Search and the Profiler live on the toolbar instead.)
- Paste Table · Drop Database
Right-click on a table
Open Data · Open Structure · Rename Table · Copy Table · Import into table · Dump SQL file ▸ · Duplicate · Truncate (reset AI) · Empty (DELETE FROM) · Drop Table
With several tables selected the menu collapses to Copy N tables, Duplicate N, Maintenance and Drop N tables. On the Tables group node you get Paste table(s) here, Copy all tables and Drop all tables.
Copying and pasting tables
Copy Table puts the table — or the whole selection — on an internal clipboard, and a bar at the top of the sidebar shows what is on it, with a button to clear it. Paste on a database or on its Tables node:
- Same connection — each table is copied server-side, one after another, taking the first free
<name>_copy1,<name>_copy2… name. - A different connection — the Data Transfer wizard opens with those tables already ticked, which is also how a copy between engines is done.
Right-click on a view, query or routine
Views offer Open View, Open Design, Copy DDL, Duplicate and Drop view; with several selected, Copy DDL of N, Duplicate N and Drop N views. Saved queries offer Copy SQL, Duplicate, Delete query, and Open folder for the ones read from disk — those cannot be deleted here, only duplicated. Functions and procedures open the routines editor.
Tabs
Everything you open becomes a tab: table data, table structure, SQL editors, the ER diagram, comparison tools, the profiler, Knowledge Lab and so on. Ctrl+W closes the active tab, Ctrl+T opens a new SQL editor.
Tabs can also be popped out into their own window, which is useful on a second monitor.
Status and warnings
NabuSQL warns you before you lose work rather than after:
- Editing a table with no primary key shows Table has no primary key — updates cannot be targeted reliably.
- Changing page or row count with unsaved edits asks for confirmation first.
- Destructive actions (truncate, empty, drop) always ask, and name the object in the question.