FOSSPicks

SQL editor

Falcon

Even when they're part of your day job, databases can be difficult to handle. It's not because they're necessarily difficult to understand in principle, but because even the simplest organization can quickly appear complicated as soon as the data set starts to grow. It becomes even harder to manage when the only interface with a database, outside of its API, is an abstract SQL command line. Typing commands to query the number of episodes recorded by your digital TV platform is almost as easy as typing commands to delete every recording you ever made. And SQL will invariably reply to them both with a simple OK. The answer, of course, is to use something more visual and friendly. For example, phpMyAdmin is a great choice if you want to edit or query a remote database without resorting to the command line.

Falcon, however, is a brilliant new and modern approach to the same problem. It's a front-end GUI to your databases with two major features: It will connect to, or load, many different database types, and your queries are performed and results generated in real time, complete with data visualization. This means the app is just as good at connecting to a remote MariaDB server as it is loading a local SQLite file. Entering these details is the first step to getting Falcon started. After that, the GUI is taken up mostly with a query editor and, by default, a table view of the output. You can also browse all the rows and cells via a hierarchical view on the left, so you don't need to remember what things are called. But the best feature becomes apparent when you have some output generated, because you can switch from the table view to a chart view where there are many, many different chart types you can use to plot the data for a more meaningful view.

Project Website

https://github.com/plotly/falcon

See lots of pretty charts, export them, and never be afraid of typing SQL commands again.

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