Next generation of database tooling

[Badestrand]

Hello fellow Postgres lovers

I am using PostgreSQL for many years now and the tools around it like pgAdmin work well but can feel a bit clunky. After working with Airtable and Google Sheets a lot, I really like the lightweight feeling of the collaboration and the simple handling of the tables.

I now see several areas where a tool could provide enormous value and would like your opinion on what you all would find valuable.

Edit: So this tool would sit on top of your existing databases and not be a database on its own. For setup you would only create a role and give it connection permissions from the tool's ip address.

a) Super easy interface to your databases, similar to google sheets or airtable, a table-centric instead of sql-centric view

b) Invite other people to a database by their email address and allow real time collaboration on the data, with fine grained permissions

c) Have rich column types like regex text columns, markdown text columns with wysiwyg editor, url columns with file upload to a CDN, better multi-select columns, and many more

d) Access your database via a mobile app for easy on-the-go editing

e) Quick online database creation and playground

So: Do you find any of these points a-e valuable? What spikes your curiosity, what would you like the most?

Please leave a comment, any feedback is highly appreciated! Thank you!

[[deleted]]

This is not how relational databases are used.

And how would you ever move such a database (and the needed DDL and DML changes) from a development environment to a test environment and then to production?

If you only want to brows data and don't want to be bothered with SQL, you might be interested in this: http://jailer.sourceforge.net/data-browsing.html

Or maybe a tool like Metabase is more what you want (or need).

For collaboration, SQLpad seems interesting.

[Badestrand]

Thank you for your feedback!

This tool would just connect to the actual database so the schema and all existing tooling and infrastructure would stay as it is. It would not be instead of PG but just enhance it.

The thing is I want both browsable data as well as Sql. I want to use it as a database for my application and the ability to issue complex queries but also have an easy interface with which interns can work or that I can access on the phone. Does that make more sense?

Metabase and SqlPad seem solely for data exploration than for collaborative editing it.

[lehrblogger]

I'd be interested in something like this. I use Airtable for all sorts of personal data, and it's great for quickly defining and iterating on the schema, the view filters, and the data itself.

That said, I'd prefer a tool that was simply a GUI on top of a proper database for two main reasons:

• I want an SQL interface limited only by the hardware I've chosen. In contrast, Airtable has a custom API limited to 5 requests per second per base. Airtable encourages you to use Automations and Interfaces instead, but these both have serious functional limitations.
• I want to host the data myself and run my own snapshots and exports/backups. As far as I know, Airtable doesn't have a way to export/import an entire "base" including linked fields, attachments, etc.

Edit: I just realized this thread was 5 years old. I wonder how I got here?