Table name case odd behaviour

[William Robertson]

Say you want to query USER_ALL_TABLES. You start typing and enter

SELECT *
FROM user

at this point the Code Assistant kicks in and suggests a list. "USER" is a keyword so it is highlighted and uppercased in your query, but the list continues with USER_ALL_TABLES etc. You highlight USER_ALL_TABLES and press Enter. It takes off the bold and enters USER_ALL_TABLES, but it is either all uppercase, or occasionally (and bizarrely) in mixed case, i.e. User_All_Tables.

I haven't been able to find a way to reproduce the mixed case behaviour consistently, but the whole not-the-case-you-expected thing seems to start when the portion of a table or view name that you type before the code assistant kicks in forms a keyword. I think.

 

[William Robertson]

Followup:

Looks like typing the underscore before you make the selection causes the selected object name to change to mixed case.

 

[Marco Kalter]

I cannot immediately reproduce this. I always get the same case for USER and USER_ALL_TABLES. What is your preference setting for the "Coding Style" of the Code Assistant (Tools > Preferences > Code Assistant page)?

 

[William Robertson]

"Smart".

I should have mentioned that I want keywords in uppercase, and tables/columns/variables etc in lowercase.

 

[William Robertson]

I notice this bug is still present in 7.0.

To reproduce, set
Preferences > Code Assistant > Coding Style = "Smart"
Preferences > Editor > Keyword case = "Uppercase"

then start typing a keyword (in lowercase) that also forms the start of a table or view name etc, such as "user".

When the Code Assistant pops up a list of choices ("user_all_tables" etc),

• Choose one off the list. It will be in all uppercase.
  Or,
• Type an underscore, then pick one off the list. It will be in mixed case.

If the first text you typed had not been a keyword (for example, if you had typed "dict" and been prompted with "dict_columns" and "dictionary"), the selection would be supplied in lowercase.

 

[Marco Kalter]

I should have mentioned that I want keywords in uppercase, and tables/columns/variables etc in lowercase.

In that case:

• Preferences > Code Assistant > Coding Style = "Lowercase"
• Preferences > Code Assistant > Use original case = OFF
• Preferences > Editor > Keyword case = "Uppercase"

That does it for me, though the Code Assistant will initially insert keywords in lowercase. As soon as you move away from the keyword, it is converted to uppercase.

 

[Stew Stryker]

Thanks Marco! This has bugged me for a while but never enough to mention. I mean, Developer is SO good that I ignore little foibles like this!

BTW, if you can stand some blathering praise...

I told my boss yesterday that we needed to renew our maintenance agreement so we could get V7. I said the payback for the cost could be measured in improved productive in a matter of days, just from the new features! Then I told him Developer made me so much more productive that if they wouldn't spring for it I'd pay it out of my own pocket!

Yeah it was a little hyperbole to the boss to let him know how good Developer was! No, I wouldn't really pay for my own license just to get the V7 enhancements!

But I can't ever imagine coding Oracle without PL/SQL Developer! Seriously!

 

[William Robertson]

That seems to fix it. Thanks!

I'll second Stew's comments btw. I actually did pay for my copy myself (well, I expensed it & got the tax back ) and I'm glad I did.

 

[Marco Kalter]

Then I told him Developer made me so much more productive that if they wouldn't spring for it I'd pay it out of my own pocket!

That's not much of a threat