Online Tools for Data Professionals (T-SQL Tuesday #101)
T-SQL Tuesday #101 is hosted by Jens Vestergaard (@vestergaardj), and the topic is My Essential SQL Server Tools. There are several tools that I use every single day, such as Notepad++, Redgate SQL Prompt, and BimlExpress. Since I have already covered my favorite tools in other blog posts, I want to take a slightly different approach this time and share some of my favorite online tools.
5 Useful Online Tools
Ok, I admit it, these online tools are not just for data professionals 😊 However, they are essential to my workday as a data warehouse and business intelligence consultant. I use them for data modeling, test data generation, accessibility tests, documentation, and task tracking.
SQL Database Modeler
One of the newer online tools I have started using is SQL Database Modeler. This tool allows you to design SQL Server database models directly in your browser. You can forward-engineer your model to create all the scripts necessary to create the physical database, or you can reverse-engineer an existing database to create a model from it. The tool is easy to learn and use, and I like how the interface looks. As I’m writing this, SQLDBM is still in beta, so I’m looking forward to seeing what new features will be added.
Mockaroo
When I need to quickly create smaller sets of test data or dummy data, I use Mockaroo. It is highly configurable with over 140 built-in field types for locations, personal information, product information, technical information and much more. Every field type can be customized, and you can also use your own regular expression to generate data. The data can then be exported to CSV, JSON, SQL, and Excel formats. The interface is simple to use and understand, and you can save your schemas and data sets for later reuse.
Coblis
Coblis, the Color Blindness Simulator, allows you to view how someone with a color vision deficiency sees images. I use this when creating reports, documentation, and presentations. Does everything still make sense if the colors are changed or removed, or have I relied too much on my perception of color? With tools like Coblis, it’s easy to check these things before someone else points it out to you.
Toggl
While working on projects, including personal projects, I track all the time I spend on tasks with Toggl. The time tracker keeps me focused on the task I’m working on, the dashboard gives me a quick overview of my day or week, and the reports can be used when invoicing clients. And the best part? Toggl reminds me when I forget to track my time or if I leave a timer running on accident. Yay for helpful online tools!
Grammarly
Finally, I have started running all my blog posts, e-mails, and documentation through Grammarly. While I’m confident writing English, it’s not my native language, and I make mistakes. Grammarly helps me reduce spelling and grammar errors, and I have even learned a few new grammar rules! A word of caution, though: never trust any tool blindly. On several occasions, and especially when writing about technical topics, Grammarly has notified me about “errors” that are not actually errors.
About the Author
Cathrine Wilhelmsen is a Microsoft Data Platform MVP, international speaker, author, blogger, organizer, and chronic volunteer. She loves data and coding, as well as teaching and sharing knowledge - oh, and sci-fi, gaming, coffee and chocolate 🤓