SQL Developer 2.1: Early Adopter introduces PL/SQL Unit Testing

SQL Developer 2.1 early adopter is now available for download from OTN. Go to the main SQL Developer pages on OTN for more details and the links to the download site. The announcement includes links to a number of documents that you should skim through before you start.

An early adopter is your opportunity to take a look at a build and feedback your findings to the development team before the product is released as production software.

SQL Developer 2.1 includes lots of new bits of code, like the updated data grids. With these you'll be able to sort data based on drop lists and highlight records based on the data. To name just two of the many new features.
In addition to this the release includes a free Data Modeler Viewer. This extension to SQL Developer allows you to open any model created in the stand alone SQL Developer Data Modeler. You can also open the Data Model Viewer and then drag tables from the Connections navigator to the Relational model to create a model of your objects. These models can't be saved, but you can drag the tables around on the diagram to see how the relate to each other and to see the tables and foreign key constraints on a model.

Perhaps the most significant feature of all is the new PL/SQL Unit Testing Feature. Using this, you can build unit tests for your PL/SQL code stored in the database. The unit tests are saved in a unit test repository and can be rerun when needed. Ideally you can build up a suite of tests and rerun them when you code is changed to test and trap regressions. Walk through this Oracle By Example tutorial, available on OTN, to learn a little more about this new feature.

If you have any feedback on the new early adopter, then please use the SQL Developer forum on OTN.