What are the best tools for troubleshooting BI queries?

1 SQL Editor

A SQL editor is a tool that allows you to write, edit, execute, and test SQL queries. It is the most basic and fundamental tool for troubleshooting BI queries, as it enables you to interact directly with the data source and check the syntax, logic, and output of your queries. A good SQL editor should have features such as syntax highlighting, code formatting, auto-completion, query history, error messages, and query execution time. Some examples of SQL editors are SQL Server Management Studio, MySQL Workbench, DBeaver, and SQLPad.

2 Query Analyzer

A query analyzer is a tool that helps you optimize the performance and efficiency of your SQL queries. It analyzes the query plan, which is the sequence of steps that the database engine uses to execute your query, and provides information such as the cost, duration, and resources of each step. A query analyzer can help you identify and eliminate bottlenecks, such as table scans, joins, subqueries, or functions, that slow down your query or consume too much memory or CPU. Some examples of query analyzers are SQL Server Profiler, MySQL Query Analyzer, Oracle SQL Tuning Advisor, and pgAdmin Query Tool.

3 Data Quality Tool

A data quality tool is a tool that helps you ensure the accuracy, completeness, consistency, and validity of your data. It can help you detect and correct data errors, such as missing values, duplicates, outliers, or invalid formats, that can affect the quality and reliability of your BI queries. A data quality tool can also help you standardize, enrich, and transform your data to meet your business requirements and expectations. Some examples of data quality tools are Talend Data Quality, Informatica Data Quality, IBM InfoSphere QualityStage, and Trifacta Wrangler.

4 Data Visualization Tool

A data visualization tool is a tool that helps you present and explore your data in a graphical and interactive way. It can help you verify and validate your BI queries by comparing and contrasting different data sets, dimensions, and measures, and by identifying patterns, trends, and outliers. A data visualization tool can also help you communicate and share your findings and insights with your stakeholders and audiences. Some examples of data visualization tools are Tableau, Power BI, Qlik Sense, and Google Data Studio.

5 Debugging Tool

A debugging tool is a tool that helps you find and fix errors or bugs in your BI queries or applications. It can help you inspect and modify the state and behavior of your code, such as variables, expressions, breakpoints, and exceptions, and track the execution flow and logic of your program. A debugging tool can also help you test and validate your code against different scenarios, inputs, and outputs. Some examples of debugging tools are Visual Studio Code, Eclipse, PyCharm, and RStudio.

6 Here’s what else to consider

This is a space to share examples, stories, or insights that don’t fit into any of the previous sections. What else would you like to add?