plsqlwks

An ncurses SQL and PL/SQL workspace for Oracle databases.

Author and support: unu2000 on Ko-fi.

The mandatory release-gate targets are Oracle Database 19c and Oracle AI Database 26ai. A target is described as continuously tested only after both CI systems have recorded ten consecutive qualifying green runs spanning at least 30 days. See the Oracle compatibility matrix for the tested connection and privilege profiles, safety gate, and integration-test setup.

New here? Follow the installation-to-first-query quick start for copy-ready connection setup, screenshots, practical SQL workflows, troubleshooting, and a complete installed-plugin example.

For implementation ownership and boundaries, see the architecture guide.

Documentation

• Plugin API v1 reference
• Plugin author guide
• Maintained plugin catalog
• Quick start
• Architecture
• Oracle compatibility
• Release guide

Connection

The default connection is:

• user: hr
• password file: the orapass file in the platform user-config directory
• service: free on 127.0.0.1:1521

On Linux, fresh defaults are ~/.config/plsqlwks/orapass for the password, ~/.config/plsqlwks/config.ini for settings, and ~/.local/share/plsqlwks for the workspace. macOS and Windows use their corresponding user config and data directories. An existing /tmp/orapass remains a compatibility fallback, but the app warns about that legacy location and about POSIX permissions other than 0600.

Override the defaults with environment variables:

export ORACLE_USER=hr
export ORACLE_PASSWORD_FILE=~/.config/plsqlwks/orapass
export ORACLE_DSN='127.0.0.1:1521/free'
export PLSQLWKS_WORKSPACE=/path/to/workspace
export PLSQLWKS_MAX_ROWS=200
export PLSQLWKS_ARRAYSIZE=100

Password files preserve leading and trailing spaces; only final CR/LF line endings are removed. On POSIX systems, create the file for the current user and protect it with chmod 600.

PLSQLWKS_MAX_ROWS sets the maximum number of rows in each result page, while PLSQLWKS_ARRAYSIZE sets the Oracle cursor array size. Both values must be positive integers.

Oracle Thin and Thick modes

Thin mode is the default and needs no Oracle Client installation. To use an installed Oracle Client, start with plsqlwks --thick. Use plsqlwks --thin to override a workspace's thick preference for one invocation. The flags are mutually exclusive and are never saved to configuration.

For a persistent preference, edit the selected workspace's config.ini (or the platform configuration file when using the default workspace):

[database]
thick_mode = no
oracle_client_lib_dir =
oracle_client_config_dir =

Set thick_mode = yes to enable Thick mode. Invalid boolean values are errors. Both optional directories expand ~; relative paths are resolved from the configuration file's directory. Blank values use Oracle's normal discovery. The directory settings are used only in Thick mode. All tabs and reconnects share one driver mode; restart after changing mode or client settings.

Install an Oracle Instant Client Basic or Basic Light package compatible with your Python architecture, python-oracledb version, and database. Libraries are installed separately and are not bundled with PLSQLWKS. On Linux, normally leave oracle_client_lib_dir blank and configure ldconfig or LD_LIBRARY_PATH before launching Python. Setting that directory alone does not configure Linux's dependent-library search path. On macOS, an explicit library directory can be useful. When running through SSH or WSL, install the libraries where the Python process runs. For a full Oracle Client installation, configure its Oracle environment before launch.

oracle_client_config_dir selects the directory containing Oracle network configuration such as sqlnet.ora and tnsnames.ora; when blank, Oracle uses its normal lookup, including TNS_ADMIN. Native network encryption is configured through Oracle Client's sqlnet.ora and the server's matching requirements. The existing ORACLE_USER, ORACLE_DSN, and password-file authentication remain in use. See the Oracle Client initialization guide for platform setup and the compatibility contract for validated combinations.

Client-loading failures such as DPI-1047 stop startup before the terminal UI, with no automatic fallback. Check library architecture, required system libraries, and the pre-launch library search path. Mode conflicts or changed initialization arguments require a process restart. Successful connection status includes Thin mode or Thick mode. Help, version, and plugin management commands do not initialize Oracle Client libraries.

Install

Python 3.10 or newer is required, along with a compatible terminal and a Python build that provides the standard-library curses module.

For development, install the package in editable mode:

python3 tools/dev.py install

oracledb is the only runtime dependency. Supporting functionality uses the Python standard library.

For a regular local install, use:

python3 -m pip install .

Run the default test and lint checks from a development checkout with:

python3 tools/dev.py lint
python3 tools/dev.py test core

tools/dev.py is the versioned command surface shared by local development, GitHub Actions, and GitLab CI. Its test profiles sanitize optional test flags before enabling only the requested group. Development and CI installs use the exact versions in constraints/ci.txt; the package metadata keeps broader minimum versions for normal consumers.

From a clean checkout and an activated disposable virtual environment, run the complete non-Oracle CI workflow with one command:

python3 tools/dev.py ci

This checks repository hygiene, installs the constrained development and XLSX dependencies, runs Ruff, mypy, non-Oracle coverage and plugin tests, and builds and smoke-tests the distributions. It removes only packaging artifacts created by that invocation and leaves the coverage reports under coverage-reports/.

Plugin API and maintained plugin tests are optional and are not part of the default core test run. Install XLSX support and run them with:

python3 tools/dev.py install --xlsx
python3 tools/dev.py test plugins

The CSV and HTML export plugins have no additional dependencies. XLSX export uses the optional openpyxl package, kept out of the base PLSQLWKS runtime. Install a distribution with XLSX support through the standard extra:

python3 -m pip install 'plsqlwks[xlsx]'

For an editable development checkout, install the development and XLSX extras together with python3 tools/dev.py install --xlsx. The optional dependency and the managed XLSX command package are installed separately; see the maintained plugin catalog.

Oracle integration tests require the connection environment variables shown above and a nonempty regular password file. Setting PLSQLWKS_TEST_ORACLE=1 is an explicit opt-in, so invalid or missing credentials fail collection rather than silently skipping the live suite. Set PLSQLWKS_TEST_ORACLE_TARGET to 19c or 26ai when the test run must verify that it reached the intended server release:

PLSQLWKS_TEST_ORACLE=1 PLSQLWKS_TEST_ORACLE_TARGET=19c \
  python3 tools/dev.py test oracle

Omit the target for an ad-hoc run against another reachable Oracle database. The complete release-gating setup, including the developer, DML-only, and read-only profiles, is documented in the Oracle compatibility matrix. Run all non-Oracle tests, including PTY and slow coverage, with:

python3 tools/dev.py test non-oracle

After configuring the complete Oracle matrix environment documented in doc/COMPATIBILITY.md, run every test without profile-based deselection with:

./test.sh --all

This enables plugin, PTY, slow, Oracle, and Oracle-matrix tests together and fails collection if the required live Oracle configuration is incomplete.

Run the same non-Oracle and plugin coverage gate used by CI with:

python3 tools/dev.py coverage --report-dir coverage-reports

This writes separate JUnit XML files plus Cobertura XML and coverage JSON. It rejects line or branch coverage below the recorded Python 3.10/3.14 baselines, and applies 95% line and 90% branch floors to transaction safety, SQL analysis, Oracle matrix preflight, and atomic export code.

Ncurses key playback and recording

tools/playkeys.py drives the real PLSQLWKS ncurses process through a POSIX pseudo-terminal. It uses only the Python standard library and is intended for repeatable local, CI, and demonstration flows on Linux, macOS, and WSL.

Write an ordered UTF-8 scenario using wait, text, type, key, and sleep. Recording scenarios can also use record_start and record_stop:

# first-query.keys
wait "db connected"
record_start
text "select 1 as answer from dual;"
key F5
wait "1 row"
record_stop
key CTRL_Q

Run the scenario with the current Python interpreter:

python3 tools/playkeys.py first-query.keys

The default child command is python3 -m plsqlwks. Put a custom command after -- when a workspace or other application option is required:

python3 tools/playkeys.py first-query.keys -- \
  python3 -m plsqlwks --workspace /tmp/plsqlwks-playback

Every wait has a 20-second default timeout and consumes its match in order, like Expect. Terminal control sequences are removed and whitespace is normalized before matching. text sends its quoted UTF-8 value exactly; type sends its value one Unicode character at a time for human-paced demonstrations. Its optional seconds-per-character interval defaults to 0.035 and must be between 0 and 1 second. Newlines and shortcuts should be explicit key actions. sleep accepts a nonnegative delay of at most 300 seconds. Key counts are optional:

type "select 1 as answer from dual;" 0.05
key TAB
key RIGHT 3
key CTRL_PAGE_DOWN

record_start takes no arguments and may appear once. With --record, all earlier child output is omitted, the event clock restarts, and the tool forces a clean redraw at the configured terminal size. Without --record, it is a no-op, so the same scenario can be dry-run first. Put it only after waits and keys have replaced any sensitive startup status that should not enter the cast. Scenarios without record_start retain the original record-from-launch behavior.

record_stop also takes no arguments and may appear once after record_start. It writes a final terminal-attribute reset and excludes all later output from the cast. Put it before save prompts, session cleanup, and curses teardown. Without --record, it is a no-op.

Names are case-insensitive and accept hyphens or underscores. Supported families include Enter and Ctrl-Enter, Tab and Shift-Tab, Escape, Backspace, Delete, Insert, arrows, Home/End, PageUp/PageDown, their Shift/Ctrl variants, F1 through F12, Ctrl-A through Ctrl-Z, Alt-0 through Alt-9, and PLSQLWKS shortcuts including ALT_X, ALT_O, ALT_R, ALT_G, ALT_PLUS, CTRL_ALT_C, CTRL_ALT_R, and CTRL_EQUALS.

Automated mode expects the child to exit successfully after the final action. Use --expect-exit, --timeout, --exit-timeout, --rows, and --cols to change that contract. --quiet suppresses mirrored terminal output without disabling waits or recordings. Use --interact instead to complete the scripted setup and then continue manually in the live terminal.

Pass --record to write the same PTY output as an asciicast v2 JSON Lines file:

python3 tools/playkeys.py --record first-query.keys
asciinema play videos/20260724_plsqlwks_001.json

Recordings use the local date and the next available zero-padded number: videos/YYYYMMDD_plsqlwks_001.json, then 002, and so on. Existing files are never overwritten. Failed scenarios retain their partial recording for diagnosis. Input events and the full process environment are not recorded, but anything visibly rendered by PLSQLWKS—including SQL, results, prompts, and errors—is captured. Review recordings before sharing them.

The four basics_*.keys scenarios form a privacy-gated beginner series covering the workspace and first query, editing multiple statements, tabs/templates/files, and bind-driven result inspection. Each starts recording only after transient connection details have been replaced by a generic editor status. Use the colors in videos/config.ini and keep that configuration free of saved session tabs:

python3 tools/playkeys.py --quiet --record --rows 30 --cols 120 \
  tools/scenarios/basics_01_workspace_first_query.keys -- \
  python3 -m plsqlwks --workspace videos --manual --read-only

Repeat with basics_02_editor_statements.keys, basics_03_tabs_files_commands.keys, and basics_04_binds_results_layouts.keys. Lesson 3 temporarily creates videos/sql/scratch.sql; remove that controlled demonstration file afterward. Detailed rerun and privacy-review instructions are in videos/NEXT_CODEX_RUN.md.

The maintained plugins_*.keys series demonstrates installing and using one managed plug-in per lesson:

• plugins_01_csv_export.keys
• plugins_02_html_export.keys
• plugins_03_xlsx_export.keys
• plugins_04_csv2oratab_preview.keys

Prepare each lesson in its own temporary workspace with isolated XDG_DATA_HOME and XDG_CONFIG_HOME values. Install only its matching managed package with python3 -m plsqlwks plugin install ... --yes, verify with python3 -m plsqlwks plugin list --workspace ... that it is managed and enabled, then start PLSQLWKS with that same environment. The recording begins only after the connected application has replaced startup details with the generic read-only editor frame. An in-application caption shows the ordinary interactive install command and explains that a newly installed package is enabled by default and loaded after restart; the pre-recorded setup performs the actual isolated installation without exposing local paths or connection details.

Lesson 4 uses these dependency and package commands in the same Python 3.10–3.13 environment as PLSQLWKS:

python3 -m pip install 'plsqlwks[csv2oratab]'
python3 -m plsqlwks plugin install \
  plugins/packages/csv2oratab-0.1.0.plwgn --yes
python3 -m plsqlwks plugin list --workspace "$recording_workspace"

Run the last two commands with the lesson's isolated XDG environment and require the list row to report csv2oratab, managed, enabled, and 0.1.0. Copy only tools/scenarios/fixtures/csv2oratab_demo.csv into the otherwise clean recording workspace. The lesson opens the child TUI, previews that local file, and cancels before Oracle target inspection or import, so it performs no database operation and requires no execution entitlement. The host's --read-only option does not govern the independent child connection; do not extend the lesson into an import. Keep the temporary directory and generated lesson artifacts outside the public release tree, and review the exact cast before sharing it.

The repository includes an Oracle-free smoke scenario that waits for a deliberately missing password-file error and quits cleanly:

ORACLE_PASSWORD_FILE=/tmp/plsqlwks-deliberately-missing \
  python3 tools/playkeys.py --quiet --record \
  tools/scenarios/plsqlwks_offline_smoke.keys -- \
  python3 -m plsqlwks --workspace /tmp/plsqlwks-playback-smoke

Run

After installation, start the workspace with:

plsqlwks

Print the installed package version without starting curses with:

plsqlwks --version

The same canonical version is available in the running application through Alt-O -> Application -> About plsqlwks. The compact About dialog closes with Esc or Enter without replacing the current result.

Package or manage trusted plugins without starting curses or connecting to Oracle with:

plsqlwks plugin --help

Select a workspace for one invocation with:

plsqlwks --workspace /path/to/workspace

The CLI option takes precedence over PLSQLWKS_WORKSPACE. For compatibility, a source checkout that already contains a configured workspace/ continues to use it and displays a migration notice; files are never moved automatically.

Fresh workspaces start in manual transaction mode and write [database] autocommit = no to their generated config.ini. Existing explicit yes or no settings are preserved; a missing or malformed setting uses the safe manual fallback.

Choose the initial transaction mode for one invocation with --manual or --autocommit. These options override [database] autocommit from the active config.ini:

plsqlwks --manual
plsqlwks --autocommit

You can also run it directly as a module from the source tree:

python3 -m plsqlwks

The app opens a split-screen terminal workspace:

• editor on top
• results/messages below
• command/status bar at the bottom

The terminal UI uses the active locale for keyboard input and display. If that locale cannot be initialized, the app tries C.UTF-8, en_US.UTF-8, and UTF-8. A valid plain C locale remains active, so configure a UTF-8 locale in the shell when non-ASCII input or display is required.

By default, Oracle operations run serially on one persistent background worker. The UI continues to redraw and accept input while an operation runs, but it rejects a second database operation until the active one finishes.

Set [database] threaded_queries = yes in the active config.ini and restart to give each used editor tab its own Oracle session and worker. Database operations can then overlap across tabs, while each individual tab still runs only one operation at a time. A tab label ending in & has database work in progress. Transactions, result continuations, reconnects, commit/rollback, and F12 mode changes belong to that tab. An F12 change is also saved as the default mode for tabs created later. Closing a tab prompts for its pending transaction; quitting resolves pending transactions one tab at a time. This switch is intentionally available only in config.ini, not through a CLI flag or environment variable. Its default is no, which preserves the single serialized session.

The first Ctrl-C requests interruption of the active tab's operation. During query execution or database row fetching, pressing Ctrl-C again force-disconnects that exact tab's client session and retires its worker. This is a best-effort client-side connection close, not a server-side session kill or process termination. Other tabs and their sessions continue running. Rows already materialized remain viewable but become read-only, and a manual transaction's outcome may need verification after a forced disconnect.

Reconnecting closes open result pages and clears query results loaded by the previous connection. If a manual transaction has pending changes, reconnect first asks whether to commit, roll back, discard the session, or cancel. Commit or rollback must succeed before reconnect closes the old connection. If either action fails, plsqlwks does not close the current connection or clear its loaded results; reconnect can be tried again with an explicit discard. Discard closes the session without resolving the transaction explicitly, so Oracle rolls its uncommitted work back. If the old connection is already dead and reports an error while closing, plsqlwks still attempts the replacement connection and reports the close error as a warning after a successful reconnect. An interrupted Oracle operation or unexpected connection loss is shown in the header and status bar. Rows materialized before the interruption remain available for viewing, but the old continuation cursor and any insert draft are discarded and the result stays read-only; reconnect and rerun the query to restore paging or editing. A cancelled full-export fetch also states whether no pending transaction was tracked, a pending transaction still needs an explicit commit or rollback, or autocommit was enabled. If manual work may have been pending after a lost connection, the status warns that the transaction outcome is unknown and directs you to reconnect and resolve or discard the session.

After a successful quit, plsqlwks records the open file-backed tabs, active tab, and cursor positions in the managed [session.tabs] section of config.ini. Fresh platform-default workspaces use the user-config directory; explicitly selected and legacy workspaces keep config.ini inside the workspace for compatibility. On the next start the app tries each saved path independently, silently skips files that are missing or unreadable, and leaves the initial empty tab in place when none can be opened. A saved cursor position that no longer exists in its file starts at the beginning instead. Untitled, template, and generated schema tabs are not persisted because they do not have a file to reopen.

Worksheet and configuration saves replace their destination atomically while preserving an existing file's POSIX permission bits. A file-backed worksheet also detects when its file was changed or deleted outside plsqlwks and asks whether to overwrite it, reload the disk version, save under another name, or cancel. Reload is available while the file exists, including when a change is detected just before saving. It replaces the editor text without writing to disk; Undo can restore local edits. If reading fails, the local buffer stays intact. Undo and redo update the unsaved-change marker by comparing the current content with the last successful save.

Windows PuTTY keyboard setup

For Windows PuTTY 0.83 and 0.85, use a saved session with these settings before starting plsqlwks on the Linux/Unix host:

PuTTY panel	Setting
Connection → Data	Terminal-type string: xterm-256color
Window → Translation	Remote character set: UTF-8
Terminal → Keyboard	Backspace: Control-? (127); Home/End: Standard
Terminal → Keyboard	Function keys and keypad: Xterm 216+
Terminal → Keyboard	Shifted arrow keys: xterm-style bitmap
Terminal → Keyboard	Keep Control-Alt is different from AltGr enabled
Terminal → Features	Enable Disable application cursor keys mode and Disable application keypad mode
Terminal → Features	Leave Disable bracketed paste mode unchecked
Terminal	Local echo and local line editing: Force off

Save the session and use a UTF-8 locale on the host. Disabling application cursor keys is necessary because curses enables that mode, and PuTTY otherwise drops arrow modifiers even when bitmap mode is selected.

Exact Ctrl shortcuts with the Windows helper

Stock Windows PuTTY does not send Ctrl-Home/End, Ctrl-Shift-Home/End, or Ctrl-Delete at all, and consumes modified PageUp/PageDown for scrollback. Use the optional Windows helper to make the original shortcuts work. Run it on the Windows computer running PuTTY; from a checkout:

powershell.exe -NoProfile -File .\tools\putty_keys.ps1

Focus the PuTTY window running plsqlwks, then press Ctrl-Alt-F12 to enable remapping for that window. The helper console confirms activation. It remaps one selected PuTTY window while the helper is running. Press Ctrl-Alt-F12 again to disable it before using another program in that terminal, or press Ctrl-C in the helper console to stop it. Enabling a different PuTTY window switches the selection to that window.

With the helper enabled, Ctrl-Home / Ctrl-End move to the beginning/end of the editor buffer or the first/last result row. Ctrl-Shift-Home / Ctrl-Shift-End select to buffer boundaries. The helper also restores Ctrl-Delete, Ctrl-Backspace, Ctrl-Enter, Ctrl-PageUp / Ctrl-PageDown, Shift-PageUp / Shift-PageDown, and Ctrl+=. Plain Enter and Backspace keep their normal meaning. The helper requires only Windows PowerShell and its included .NET runtime; it requires no administrator rights or installation. Run the same command with -SelfTest to check its mappings without enabling it.

Alternatives without the helper

Some physical combinations cannot reach plsqlwks distinctly in stock Windows PuTTY. Use the following alternatives; they also work in terminals that send these sequences, and the original bindings remain available elsewhere:

Existing shortcut	PuTTY alternative	Action
Ctrl-Home / Ctrl-End	Alt-Home / Alt-End	Editor buffer start/end; first/last result row
Ctrl-Shift-Home / Ctrl-Shift-End	Alt-Shift-Home / Alt-Shift-End	Select to editor buffer boundaries
Ctrl-Delete	Alt-Delete	Delete next word
Ctrl-Enter	F5 or Alt-X	Execute selection/current statement
Ctrl-PageUp / Ctrl-PageDown	Alt-PageUp / Alt-PageDown	Page focused results; otherwise switch file tabs
Shift-PageUp / Shift-PageDown	Ctrl-Shift-Up / Ctrl-Shift-Down	Extend editor selection by page
Ctrl-Backspace	Alt-Backspace	Delete previous word
Ctrl+=	Alt-O → Database → Reconnect	Reconnect

PuTTY sends the same carriage return for Enter and Ctrl-Enter, and the same DEL byte for Backspace and Ctrl-Backspace. plsqlwks preserves newline and single-character deletion for those bytes. PuTTY consumes Ctrl/Shift-PageUp and PageDown for its own scrollback; changing the function-key setting does not free them. See the PuTTY keyboard settings and scrollback shortcuts.

Use left Alt for application shortcuts; AltGr remains available for characters on international keyboards. Shortcut digits and symbols refer to the character on the active Windows layout: for example, Czech top-row digits need Shift, so Alt-1 is typed with Alt-Shift-1. Use the layout's + or = character for autocomplete refresh. Ctrl-C/Ctrl-Alt-P copy/paste internally, Ctrl-Shift-C/Ctrl-Shift-P use the Windows system clipboard, and Alt-Shift-C/Alt-Shift-P use the Linux clipboard. Ctrl-V and Ctrl-Shift-V retain their configured paste sources; Ctrl-Shift-V defaults to internal paste. SSH does not expose the Windows clipboard to the host. Use PuTTY's native paste (Shift-Insert or right-click) to insert Windows clipboard text as bracketed paste, and PuTTY mouse selection to copy to Windows. Leave plsqlwks' Ctrl-letter shortcuts available to the server when customizing PuTTY clipboard settings.

For troubleshooting, run python3 rchar.py from the checkout in the same PuTTY session to capture a key's actual bytes. Verify the session settings above before reporting a shortcut failure.

Windows Command Prompt keyboard setup

Use plsqlwks through ssh.exe or WSL inside Command Prompt (cmd.exe). The helper supports both the classic Windows console and Command Prompt hosted by Windows Terminal. plsqlwks itself runs on the Linux/Unix host or inside WSL, where Python provides curses.

In one Command Prompt window, connect to the host or start WSL:

ssh user@host

or:

wsl.exe

Then run the installed application in that Linux/Unix shell:

TERM=xterm-256color plsqlwks

In a second Command Prompt window, start the Windows helper from the checkout:

tools\windows_keys.cmd

Keep that helper window open. Focus the terminal running plsqlwks and press Ctrl-Alt-F12; the helper confirms activation. The original shortcuts now reach the application, including Ctrl-Home/End, Ctrl-Shift-Home/End, modified arrows, word deletion, execution, paging, and Ctrl+=. F11 executes the script instead of switching Windows Terminal to fullscreen.

Use a dedicated terminal window for plsqlwks. The helper selects a window, so disable it with Ctrl-Alt-F12 before switching that window to another tab, pane, or program. Press Ctrl-C in the helper window to stop it. Left Alt is used for shortcuts; AltGr remains available for typing. Leave the classic console's Use legacy console option off. Use a UTF-8 locale on the Linux/Unix host.

For Windows Terminal, set "altGrAliasing": false in the Command Prompt profile in its JSON settings. This keeps left Ctrl-Alt-C/R available for commit/rollback on international keyboards while preserving the real AltGr key. See Microsoft's AltGr aliasing setting.

The .cmd launcher uses the included Windows PowerShell runtime and applies its script execution policy only to that helper process. No administrator rights, installation, or permanent policy change is needed. Keep windows_keys.cmd and putty_keys.ps1 together when copying them elsewhere. Run tools\windows_keys.cmd -SelfTest to check the helper without enabling it. The original powershell.exe -NoProfile -File .\tools\putty_keys.ps1 command also works from Command Prompt and continues to support PuTTY.

Windows Terminal and WSL clipboard shortcuts

PLSQLWKS provides three clipboard methods: System (Windows), WSL/Linux (Wayland/X11), and Internal. WSLg can bridge Windows and Linux contents, so the two external methods may access shared contents.

Clipboard	Copy	Paste
System (Windows)	Ctrl-Shift-C	Ctrl-Shift-P
WSL/Linux	Alt-Shift-C	Alt-Shift-P
Internal	Ctrl-C	Ctrl-Alt-P

Each fixed shortcut uses only its assigned target. Copying externally leaves the internal clipboard unchanged. Ctrl-C interrupts a running database operation first; otherwise it copies internally. Ctrl-Alt-C still commits or applies the active insert draft, and Ctrl-Alt-R rolls back. Ctrl-P finds the previous occurrence of the last search string, retaining case sensitivity and wrapping at the start of the worksheet. The copy shortcuts work for editor selections, result cells/ranges, DBMS_OUTPUT selections and schema-browser object names. Paste works in the worksheet, paste-enabled prompts and editable cell text dialogs.

Open Alt-O → Preferences → Clipboard to inspect the fixed shortcuts and backend capabilities, configure legacy copy/cut destinations and choose the sources for Ctrl-V and Ctrl-Shift-V. Save persists settings in your workspace config.ini; Cancel discards changes. The new C/P shortcuts ignore these settings. Ctrl-X and legacy copy commands retain configured destinations and an internal copy; cut remains one immediate Undo edit. New workspaces without Windows tools default legacy copy/paste to Linux.

[clipboard]
copy_to_windows = yes
copy_to_linux = no
ctrl_v_source = windows
ctrl_shift_v_source = internal

Paste sources are windows, internal, or linux. Windows paste reads Windows exclusively: failure or empty contents causes no insertion and explicit feedback. Internal paste performs no OS access and cancels a pending paste for that target. The fixed copy shortcuts update only their selected clipboard; legacy copy/cut updates internal text immediately and then attempts configured external destinations in a background worker. Windows copy tries PowerShell, then clip.exe on failure, and verifies contents by readback when a reader is available. Copy-only Windows access is labelled unverified. Each Linux provider is attempted when Linux copying is enabled. A Linux success does not conceal a Windows failure.

If Windows Terminal consumes a shortcut, forward it to PLSQLWKS. To configure explicit forwarding, open Settings → Open JSON file and add these entries to actions, keeping the other actions:

{ "command": { "action": "sendInput", "input": "\u0003" }, "id": "User.PlsqlwksInternalCopy" },
{ "command": { "action": "sendInput", "input": "\u001b[112;7u" }, "id": "User.PlsqlwksInternalPaste" },
{ "command": { "action": "sendInput", "input": "\u0010" }, "id": "User.PlsqlwksPreviousMatch" },
{ "command": { "action": "sendInput", "input": "\u001b[99;6u" }, "id": "User.PlsqlwksSystemCopy" },
{ "command": { "action": "sendInput", "input": "\u001b[112;6u" }, "id": "User.PlsqlwksSystemPaste" },
{ "command": { "action": "sendInput", "input": "\u001b[99;4u" }, "id": "User.PlsqlwksWslCopy" },
{ "command": { "action": "sendInput", "input": "\u001b[112;4u" }, "id": "User.PlsqlwksWslPaste" },
{ "command": { "action": "sendInput", "input": "\u0016" }, "id": "User.PlsqlwksPaste" },
{ "command": { "action": "sendInput", "input": "\u001b[118;6u" }, "id": "User.PlsqlwksAlternatePaste" }

Replace the existing copy/paste entries in keybindings with the entries below, keeping the other keybindings:

{ "id": "User.PlsqlwksInternalCopy", "keys": "ctrl+c" },
{ "id": "User.PlsqlwksInternalPaste", "keys": "ctrl+alt+p" },
{ "id": "User.PlsqlwksPreviousMatch", "keys": "ctrl+p" },
{ "id": "User.PlsqlwksSystemCopy", "keys": "ctrl+shift+c" },
{ "id": "User.PlsqlwksSystemPaste", "keys": "ctrl+shift+p" },
{ "id": "User.PlsqlwksWslCopy", "keys": "alt+shift+c" },
{ "id": "User.PlsqlwksWslPaste", "keys": "alt+shift+p" },
{ "id": "User.PlsqlwksPaste", "keys": "ctrl+v" },
{ "id": "User.PlsqlwksAlternatePaste", "keys": "ctrl+shift+v" }

This setting applies to every Windows Terminal profile and tab. Restart plsqlwks after upgrading and reopen Windows Terminal if it retains old bindings. The command menu offers equivalents when a terminal intercepts the shortcuts. The optional tools/putty_keys.ps1 helper also forwards these shortcuts when enabled for the active Windows terminal window.

Keyboard navigation, resizing and dialogs remain available while clipboard commands run. Windows paste waits behind pending external copies. If you change the paste target's text, cursor, selection or active tab before it finishes, the pending paste is cancelled; repeated external paste requests for that target are ignored. Requests retain the settings in effect when submitted.

For native Windows Terminal paste, wait until application copy reports that the Windows clipboard has been updated. Native paste reads the Windows clipboard independently and receives no internal fallback. Its bracketed paste payload is inserted directly without a second clipboard lookup.

Windows Terminal's Copy on select setting can overwrite the clipboard when you select terminal text with the mouse. Turn it off if you want only explicit copy commands to change the Windows clipboard. See Microsoft's send input action.

Keys

Global

Key	Action
Alt-O	Open the top-left commands menu
Alt-I	Show connection information for the active tab
F1	Help
F6	Switch between DBMS_OUTPUT and normal results
F7	Cycle fullscreen grid, fullscreen editor, and 2/3 editor + 1/3 grid
F8	Toggle result grid / row-detail output
F9	Show/focus/hide schema browser
Shift-F9	Toggle Schema Browser between normal and half-screen width
Shift-Alt-F9	Toggle Schema Browser between full-screen and its previous width
F12	Choose autocommit or manual transaction mode
Ctrl-Up / Ctrl-Down	Scroll the focused pane or visible DBMS_OUTPUT by one line
Ctrl-W	Close current file tab
Ctrl-PageUp / Ctrl-PageDown	Scroll focused results by one page; otherwise switch file tabs
Alt-1..Alt-9	Jump to visible file tab
Ctrl-Q	Quit
Ctrl-C while running	Interrupt the active operation; press again during a query/fetch to force-disconnect its session
Ctrl-Alt-C	Insert the active result-grid draft, or commit when no draft is active
Ctrl-Alt-R	Roll back the current transaction

Connection information

Press Alt-I, or choose Alt-O → Database → Connection information, from the editor, results or schema browser. A centered dialog shows the connected user, current schema, service, database and unique database name, container, instance, server host, session SID, server timestamp with fractional seconds and timezone, database/session time zones, Oracle version, driver version and Thin/Thick mode, autocommit and read-only mode. The information is refreshed from the active tab's existing session without changing worksheet results, transactions or unread DBMS_OUTPUT. A busy active session uses the existing operation-running feedback; a disconnected session shows Not connected without reconnecting.

The dialog keeps [ OK ] visible. Press Enter or Space to accept, or Esc/Ctrl-Q to close. Use Up/Down, PageUp/PageDown or Home/End to scroll long details; resize the terminal to change the layout. Requests cancelled or completed after switching away from their tab do not open a late dialog. The Windows keyboard helper forwards Alt-I; a Windows Terminal profile that consumes it can forward \u001bi with a sendInput action bound to alt+i.

Editor

Key	Action
Printable text	Insert text
Arrow keys	Move the cursor
Shift-Arrow	Select SQL text
Home / End	Move to the beginning/end of the current line
Shift-Home / Shift-End	Select to the beginning/end of the current line
Ctrl-Home / Ctrl-End	Move to the beginning/end of the editor buffer
Ctrl-Shift-Home / Ctrl-Shift-End	Select to the beginning/end of the editor buffer
PageUp / PageDown	Move by page
Shift-PageUp / Shift-PageDown	Select by page
Ctrl-Left / Ctrl-Right	Move one word
Ctrl-Shift-Left / Ctrl-Shift-Right	Select one word
Backspace	Delete before the cursor
Delete	Delete at the cursor
Ctrl-Backspace / Ctrl-Delete	Delete the previous/next word
Enter	Insert a new line
Tab	Focus the results or DBMS_OUTPUT pane
Shift-Tab	Autocomplete keywords, schema objects, and columns
F2 / Ctrl-S	Save buffer
F3 / Ctrl-O	Open file
F4	New template
F5 / Ctrl-Enter / Alt-X	Execute selected SQL or current statement
F11	Execute selected SQL or whole buffer as a script
Alt-G	Generate SELECT, INSERT, or UPDATE with table or view columns
Alt-+	Refresh autocomplete metadata cache
Alt-R	Rename current buffer
Ctrl-T	New file tab
Ctrl-R	Refresh workspace file list
Ctrl-E	Explain current statement
Ctrl-B	Toggle -- comment on the current line or selected lines
Ctrl-F	Open literal Find/Replace with the Find next action
Alt-O -> Editor -> Replace text	Open Find/Replace at the replacement field
Ctrl-G	Go to line
Ctrl-N	Move to the next search occurrence
Ctrl-P / Alt-O → Editor → Previous search match	Move to the previous search occurrence
Ctrl-U	Uppercase selected SQL code
Ctrl-L	Lowercase selected SQL code
Ctrl-C / Ctrl-Alt-P	Copy/paste internally
Ctrl-Shift-C / Ctrl-Shift-P	Copy/paste the System (Windows) clipboard
Alt-Shift-C / Alt-Shift-P	Copy/paste the WSL/Linux clipboard
Ctrl-X	Cut selected text
Ctrl-V	Paste clipboard text, expanding each tab to two spaces
Ctrl-Shift-V	Paste the alternate source (internal by default)
Terminal paste	Paste text as one edit, expanding each tab to two spaces
Ctrl-Z / Ctrl-Y	Undo / redo
Ctrl+=	Reconnect

Use / on a line by itself after PL/SQL objects or anonymous blocks when running a script. With no selection, F11 asks: To run the whole buffer, press Enter. Esc cancels. Press Enter to continue or Esc/Ctrl+C to cancel before bind prompts and execution. Executing selected text does not require this additional confirmation. Script execution reports statement progress as n/total and stops at the first failed statement while preserving earlier results. Scripts are sent directly to Oracle, not through SQL*Plus or SQLcl: client commands such as PROMPT, SPOOL, and SET SERVEROUTPUT, and &/&& substitution variables, are rejected before bind prompts or execution. Oracle SQL statements such as SET TRANSACTION remain supported. A standalone SET DEFINE OFF line is accepted locally and omitted from database execution. It does not enable substitution variables. Execution and explain errors report mapped editor line and column diagnostics. The cursor moves only when the buffer still matches the source that was sent to Oracle; if it changed while the operation ran, the result warns about the stale source instead. Use Alt-O -> Editor -> Next execution diagnostic or Previous execution diagnostic to visit additional locations from the most recent unchanged source. When executed or explained SQL contains bind variables such as :id, plsqlwks opens a text box for each value and sends the answers as Oracle bind parameters. Unquoted bind names are case-insensitive, so :id and :ID share one prompt and value. Quoted bind names remain case-sensitive. Set [database] remember_bind_values = yes in the active config.ini to prefill future bind prompts with values entered earlier in the same app session.

Editor Find/Replace works only in the current buffer and treats both the search text and replacement text literally, without regular expressions or replacement backreferences. Both fields are single-line and preserve surrounding spaces. Ctrl-F opens the combined dialog with Find next; use Alt-O -> Editor -> Replace text to open it at the replacement field. The dialog provides Find next, Replace, Replace all, and Cancel actions. Ignore case is enabled by default; turn it off to require matching uppercase and lowercase letters. Replace changes the selected matching occurrence, or the next match from the cursor, and then selects the following match. Replace all changes every match in the current buffer. Either replacement operation is recorded as one undoable edit. Ctrl-N repeats the last search forward and Ctrl-P repeats it backward. Both retain the case setting and wrap around. Alt-O → Editor → Previous search match provides the same backward search.

Editor paste expands every tab character to two spaces and keeps multiline text in one undoable edit. This applies to all fixed and configured paste shortcuts and to native terminal paste while the editor is focused; clipboard contents themselves are not changed. Native paste requires a terminal that supports the standard bracketed-paste protocol, with Ctrl-V remaining available as the fallback.

Editor autocomplete is available with Shift-Tab. It completes PL/SQL keywords, current-schema object names, and table/view columns from cached or lazily loaded database metadata; multiple matches open a picker. Quoted and mixed-case object and column names retain their exact spelling and are inserted with Oracle-safe double quoting, while conventional unquoted completion remains case-insensitive. Use Alt-+ to reload schema-object metadata and clear cached column metadata.

Editor syntax and explain-plan colors can be overridden in the active config.ini with color names or numeric curses color indexes. Unsupported values fall back to the built-in palette for the current terminal:

[editor.colors]
keyword = bright-cyan
string = green
number = orange
comment = blue
bind = bright-magenta
operator = white

[explain.colors]
connector = cyan
operation = bright-yellow
object = green
metrics = gray
text = white

The bottom status bar starts with [ ] when there is no observed uncommitted work and [*] when manual mode has pending changes. Commit and rollback messages include the local timestamp and the tracked row count, for example Committed transaction, 2026-06-12 10:12:15, 7 row(s) changed. Direct DML and ROWID grid edits contribute exact row counts; PL/SQL blocks can mark the transaction as pending with an unknown row count. Quitting or switching from manual mode to autocommit while changes are pending asks whether to commit, roll back, or cancel. The selected transaction mode is stored under [database] autocommit in the active config.ini; with threaded queries it applies immediately to the active tab and becomes the default for future tabs.

Read-only mode is a client-side guardrail that rejects statements which the SQL scanner recognizes as database-writing. Select it with --read-only, --read-write, or [database] read_only in config.ini. It is not a security boundary: a function invoked by an otherwise valid SELECT can perform work outside the visible statement, including an autonomous transaction. Use an Oracle account with only the required privileges when writes must be prevented by the database. In read-only mode, Ctrl-E explains SELECT and WITH statements by opening a cursor and reading DBMS_XPLAN.DISPLAY_CURSOR; direct EXPLAIN PLAN remains disabled because it writes to PLAN_TABLE.

Results And Explain Plan

Key	Action
Esc / Tab	Return to the editor
Arrow keys	Move through result-grid cells
Shift-Arrow	Select a rectangular range of result-grid cells
PageUp / PageDown	Move by a visible page in the result grid
Home / End	Move to the first/last result-grid column
Ctrl-Home / Ctrl-End	Move to the first/last result-grid row
F8	Toggle result grid / row-detail output
Ctrl-C	Copy a cell/range internally; ranges offer header handling
Ctrl-Shift-C	Copy the same cell/range to System (Windows)
Alt-Shift-C	Copy the same cell/range to WSL/Linux
F10	View or edit a mapped text cell in a ROWID-backed result
Enter	Edit the selected ROWID-backed result cell when available
INS	Prepare a draft insert row for ROWID-backed results
Ctrl-Alt-C	Insert the active draft row, or commit the transaction when no draft is active
Up / Down	Scroll explain-plan lines
PageUp / PageDown	Scroll explain-plan lines by page
Home / End	Move to the first/last explain-plan line

When more result rows are available, PageDown at the loaded end fetches and appends the next result page. Hold Shift while pressing an arrow key to select a rectangular range in the data grid. Ctrl-C copies a single cell immediately. For a Shift-selected rectangle, it prompts between Copy with header (the default) and Copy without header, then copies quoted tab-separated rows with no trailing line break, suitable for pasting into a spreadsheet. The status bar reports the selection size and, when typed numeric values are available, Count, Numeric, Sum, Avg, Min, and Max; text and NULL values are not parsed as numbers. The displayed average uses fixed notation and round-half-up rounding to two decimal places by default. Trailing fractional zeros and the decimal separator are removed, and a rounded positive or negative zero is shown as 0. Configure between 0 and 12 decimal places in the active config.ini, then restart PLSQLWKS:

[ui]
result_selection_average_decimal_places = 2
result_selection_average_scientific_notation = no

Set result_selection_average_scientific_notation to yes to display the average in uppercase scientific notation; the decimal-places setting then controls the number of mantissa decimal places. These settings change only the status-bar average. Sum, Min, Max, and copied cell values retain their full precision. Missing, malformed, Boolean, or out-of-range decimal-place values use the default of 2, and an invalid scientific-notation value defaults to no.

For simple queries against one current-schema base table that include ROWID, press Enter on a directly selected table column to update it by rowid. Exact quoted and mixed-case table and column names are supported and safely quoted; schema-qualified, cross-schema, joined, and otherwise ambiguous results remain read-only. Press INS in the grid to prepare a draft row at the top of the grid, edit its cells with Enter, use Ctrl-Alt-C to insert it, or use Esc to cancel it. While entering a cell, use Left/Right or Home/End to move within the existing text and Backspace/Delete to edit around the cursor. Ctrl-V and native terminal paste insert clipboard text at the cursor while preserving tabs. Because Enter uses a single-line prompt, multiline paste is rejected without changing the value; use F10 for multiline text. DATE and TIMESTAMP cells offer a choice between an ISO value and database-side SYSDATE.

F10 is available only for a mapped text column in a ROWID-backed result. It opens a multiline viewer for character types (CHAR, VARCHAR/VARCHAR2, NCHAR, and NVARCHAR/NVARCHAR2) and CLOB/NCLOB. Press E in the viewer to edit when the selected cell is safe to update. In edit mode, Enter inserts a newline, Ctrl-V or native terminal paste inserts exact clipboard text as one undoable edit, and Ctrl-S saves; F10, Esc, or Ctrl-Q cancels without saving. The original Enter command remains the single-line cell editor. A rectangular selection, busy or disconnected session, read-only mode, or truncated LOB can be viewed but not edited. F10 is unavailable for non-ROWID results, computed or unmapped columns, and non-text cells.

Database null values are displayed and entered as <NULL> in editable results. Plain NULL is stored as literal text. Grid edits compare the selected cell's originally loaded typed value as well as the ROWID. If another session changes that cell or deletes the row first, the edit is rejected and the query must be refreshed. Changes to other cells in the same row do not cause a conflict. NUMBER input uses decimal notation with a period; DATE and TIMESTAMP input uses ISO YYYY-MM-DD[ HH:MM:SS[.ffffff]]; RAW and BLOB input uses hexadecimal bytes. Character and CLOB input is preserved as entered. Types that cannot be compared without losing information, including time-zone timestamps and timestamps with precision above six, are read-only in the grid. In both driver modes, ordinary SELECT/WITH queries format zoned timestamps on Oracle to preserve their zone and fractional precision. Query forms that cannot use this projection show explicit lossless-fetch-unavailable markers for non-null zoned values on the native fetch path. Use an explicit TO_CHAR expression with the required precision and zone fields for those query forms. Displayed CLOB and BLOB values are limited to the first 65,536 characters or bytes and include a truncation marker with the full size. Truncated LOB cells cannot be edited safely. Schema-browser DDL is always read in full. To copy DBMS_OUTPUT, show it with F6 and focus it with Tab. Use Shift+navigation to select text and Ctrl+C to copy; Ctrl+A selects all output. Alt-O -> Results -> Copy all DBMS_OUTPUT also copies the whole buffer while another pane is focused. Tab/Esc returns to the editor. Home/End move within a displayed line; Ctrl+Home/End move to the output boundaries.

Copying preserves the stored text, whitespace, blank lines, and statement headings, without screen wrapping or padding. The existing system clipboard backends are reused: Ctrl+C copies internally, Ctrl+Shift+C copies to Windows, and Alt+Shift+C copies to WSL/Linux. Fixed external shortcuts do not fall back to another clipboard. Ctrl+C still cancels a running operation before performing a copy. Selection belongs to its file tab, survives appended output and resizing, and resets when execution replaces the output.

DBMS_OUTPUT is collected after each statement and after every fetched result page without replacing a real query grid. Output-read or cursor-cleanup failures are displayed as warnings while preserving successfully fetched rows. PL/SQL compiler warnings are also retained with successful statement results; compiler errors remain execution failures with navigable source locations. F7 cycles a grid fullscreen view that starts with the table header on the first terminal line and uses the last line for data, an editor-only fullscreen view, and a split layout with 2/3 editor and 1/3 data grid.

Install the desired maintained exporters from the plugins/ catalog, restart PLSQLWKS, and use one of these command paths for the active table:

• Alt-O -> Results -> Export result to CSV
• Alt-O -> Results -> Export result to HTML
• Alt-O -> Results -> Export result to XLSX

Each command opens an Export rows picker with Loaded rows only (default) selected first. Keep that choice for the safe default, which exports exactly the rows currently loaded in the grid without fetching. Choose All available rows (keep the result grid unchanged) to fetch every continuation page into a private export buffer, including results larger than 10,000 rows, without appending those rows to the grid. Escape cancels the picker. The status bar shows the number of rows prepared during fetching and determinate write progress; Ctrl-C cancels the active phase. Cancelling while rows are fetched keeps the originally loaded grid rows but makes them read-only and discards the interrupted cursor; cancelling only the file-writing phase leaves the result unchanged and leaves the destination unchanged.

The prompt initially shows only a timestamped filename, and successful exports report only the completed filename. Relative names are resolved under the active workspace's results/ directory; absolute paths are also accepted, and an existing file requires confirmation before replacement. A full export requires a live continuation when more rows remain; if the result is disconnected or already detached, choose the loaded-row default instead. Commit or cancel an active insert draft before exporting so its temporary row cannot be included. Each enabled export remains available in read-only mode because it does not execute SQL or change a transaction.

Installed exporters can be enabled independently in the active config.ini:

[plugin.csv-export]
enabled = yes

[plugin.html-export]
enabled = yes

[plugin.xlsx-export]
enabled = yes

Set an exporter's enabled value to no to omit its command from the Results menu. A newly installed package is enabled by default unless that workspace already records an explicit disabled preference for its exact ID; a missing or malformed value is enabled. The plsqlwks plugin enable and disable commands update the same workspace-local setting for managed plugins. Python entry-point plugins installed separately with pip remain unmanaged. Changes take effect after restarting PLSQLWKS.

The HTML command writes a standalone UTF-8 HTML5 document with column headings and table rows, followed by the exported-row count and any additional-row notice. The result title is used only as browser-tab document metadata, not as a visible heading. Document titles, column headers, and cell values are escaped as untrusted text. The document contains a static embedded stylesheet, no JavaScript, and no external resources. It reports when more rows remain after the selected export mode and does not open a browser after export.

The XLSX command writes one Query result worksheet with a header row and the display rows selected by the loaded or full export mode. The header row is frozen by default so it stays visible while scrolling. Genuine source numbers become native Excel numeric cells when they fit Excel's range and 15-significant-digit precision; fixed-point scale such as 10.50 is preserved. Numeric-looking character data and unsafe-precision numbers remain exact text and can still receive Excel's number-as-text warning. Headers and other values, including text beginning with =, +, -, or @, remain literal strings and are never interpreted as spreadsheet formulas. The workbook contains no macros or external links and is not opened after export. XLSX support remains optional and obtains openpyxl>=3.1 from the standard plsqlwks[xlsx] extra. The extra provides the dependency; the xlsx-export .plwgn package provides the command, so both must be installed. Each column uses the larger of its bold column name or widest data value, estimated with Calibri 11-compatible proportional glyph widths, clamped from 3 through 60 units, and given a 17-pixel fit margin. Wrapping remains based on logical visual length: values over 60 visual units or containing explicit line breaks are wrapped.

The HTML plugin accepts three plugin-owned environment settings. They are captured when PLSQLWKS loads the plugin:

PLSQLWKS_HTML_EXPORT_NULL_VALUE="(null)"
PLSQLWKS_HTML_EXPORT_THEME="dark"
PLSQLWKS_HTML_EXPORT_DATE_FORMAT="%d.%m.%Y"

PLSQLWKS_HTML_EXPORT_NULL_VALUE replaces the exact <NULL> grid display token and defaults to empty; set it to <NULL> or another marker to keep NULL values visible. PLSQLWKS_HTML_EXPORT_THEME is bright (the default) or dark; both select only packaged static CSS, and printing uses a readable bright palette. PLSQLWKS_HTML_EXPORT_DATE_FORMAT is empty by default and otherwise uses Python strftime syntax with the same conservative ISO-display matching described for CSV below. These settings affect only generated HTML and do not expand Plugin API v1.

The XLSX plugin has equivalent plugin-owned environment settings, captured when PLSQLWKS loads it:

PLSQLWKS_XLSX_EXPORT_NULL_VALUE="(null)"
PLSQLWKS_XLSX_EXPORT_THEME="dark"
PLSQLWKS_XLSX_EXPORT_DATE_FORMAT="%d.%m.%Y"
PLSQLWKS_XLSX_EXPORT_AUTO_FILTER="no"
PLSQLWKS_XLSX_EXPORT_AUTO_WIDTH="no"
PLSQLWKS_XLSX_EXPORT_FREEZE_TOP_ROW="no"

PLSQLWKS_XLSX_EXPORT_NULL_VALUE replaces the exact <NULL> display token and defaults to empty; set it to <NULL> or another marker to keep NULL values visible. PLSQLWKS_XLSX_EXPORT_THEME selects the bundled bright (default) or dark cell styles. PLSQLWKS_XLSX_EXPORT_DATE_FORMAT is empty by default and otherwise applies Python strftime directives to the same strict ISO-shaped display strings as CSV and HTML. Formatted date and text values remain literal spreadsheet strings rather than formulas or typed Excel dates. The PLSQLWKS_XLSX_EXPORT_AUTO_FILTER setting enables Excel's column filter controls by default. It accepts case-insensitive, whitespace-tolerant 1, yes, true, or on to enable them and 0, no, false, or off to disable them; an unset or malformed value falls back to enabled. When enabled, the filter range spans exactly the header and exported rows, without applying filter criteria or initially hiding any rows. PLSQLWKS_XLSX_EXPORT_AUTO_WIDTH controls proportional sizing from the widest header or exported data value and uses the same boolean syntax. When filtering is enabled, the header candidate includes three extra character units for the filter dropdown. Auto-width defaults to enabled; disabling it leaves Excel's default column widths while preserving the existing multiline and over-60-unit cell wrapping. PLSQLWKS_XLSX_EXPORT_FREEZE_TOP_ROW uses the same boolean syntax, defaults to enabled, and keeps row 1 visible while scrolling; disabling it leaves the worksheet unfrozen. Freezing is independent of filtering and automatic widths. These settings belong to the maintained XLSX plugin and do not define a declarative Plugin API v1 settings schema.

The maintained CSV export formatting can be customized in its active workspace section:

[plugin.csv-export]
separator = ,
null_value =
date_format =
protect_formulas = no

separator must be one character and defaults to a comma. null_value defaults to empty, replacing the exact <NULL> display value with an empty CSV field. Set it to <NULL> or another marker to retain a visible value. date_format defaults to empty, which preserves displayed date values. When set, it uses Python strftime syntax and formats only calendar-valid, full-string ISO display values shaped as YYYY-MM-DD or YYYY-MM-DD HH:MM:SS[.digits][+/-HH:MM], with one to six fractional digits; other text is exported unchanged. This deliberately strict heuristic cannot identify non-ISO or otherwise preformatted database date text, while matching text-column values are indistinguishable from dates and are formatted too.

protect_formulas defaults to no, preserving the exact field content and existing CSV representation. Set it to yes for CSV files intended to be opened by people in spreadsheet software. The protected mode quotes every field and prefixes formula-triggering values with a tab, including risky ASCII and full-width prefixes and leading control characters. This also makes legitimate leading signed values such as -42 text and leaves the tab in data seen by programmatic CSV readers. OWASP notes that no CSV neutralization is universal across all spreadsheet applications and save/re-open workflows, so validate this opt-in mode with the applications in use.

Schema Browser

Press F9 to open or focus Schema Browser. While it is focused, F9 closes it and returns to the SQL buffer. Press Tab to keep the browser open and focus the SQL buffer, so you can edit SQL beside the tree; press F9 to return to it. Filters, selected objects, expanded branches and cached metadata are retained.

Shift-F9 opens/focuses the browser and toggles its normal width with a left half-screen pane; the SQL buffer and results stay on the right. Shift-Alt-F9 opens/focuses a full-screen browser with its filter header and status line, and pressing it again restores the previous normal or half-screen width. From a full-screen browser, Tab, returning to the editor with Esc, or loading/inserting SQL also restores that previous width. Shift-F9 switches a full-screen browser to half-screen. Closing it with F9 retains the side-by-side width for reopening. Browser sizes last for the current application session.

Opening/focusing the browser exits an incompatible F7 editor/grid fullscreen view, restoring the saved SQL/results split or the two-thirds-editor layout. F7 retains its existing editor/grid layout cycle. A terminal that consumes the new shortcuts can forward \u001b[20;2~ for Shift-F9 and \u001b[20;4~ for Shift-Alt-F9 with Windows Terminal sendInput actions. The Windows keyboard helper forwards both shortcuts while preserving AltGr combinations.

The F9 schema browser groups tables, views, procedures, functions, package specifications, package bodies, types, type bodies, triggers, sequences, indexes, and private synonyms from the current schema. Type while the browser is focused to filter object names with a case-insensitive substring match; groups without matches are hidden and matching groups expand automatically without changing their saved expansion state. Exact quoted and mixed-case names are preserved when columns, routines or definitions are loaded, with Oracle-safe quoting applied to metadata requests.

Press Enter on a table or view to choose Insert SELECT (the default), Load DDL, or Copy object name. Insert SELECT adds a select * statement for the SQL-safe, unqualified object name to the current buffer and focuses the editor; it does not execute the query. Copy object name places that SQL-ready, unqualified identifier on the clipboard. For standalone procedures, functions and other object types, Enter offers Load DDL (the default) and Copy object name.

Package specifications and bodies show their own compilation status immediately before the package name: C means compiled, I means invalid compilation and ? means status unavailable. A compiled specification can have an invalid body. Press Enter on either part to load the specification, body or both, or copy the package name. The selected part is the default; unavailable parts are omitted. Each loading mode has its own tab, and loading both puts the specification before the body in one SQL buffer.

Press Space on either package part to expand its public procedures and functions, including while filtering. The browser loads signatures in the background and shares the cache between the two package sections. P marks a procedure and F a function; overloads have separate signature rows. Private body routines are excluded because a worksheet cannot call them. Press Enter on a routine to insert a default PL/SQL call block at the current cursor, replacing selected text as one undoable edit, and focus the editor. The block declares typed variables for every parameter, including parameters with defaults and OUT/IN OUT parameters, and a result variable for functions. Edit the input values before running it. Insertion does not execute or compile the call. Unsupported or incomplete signatures report a reason and leave the buffer unchanged.

Press Space on a standalone procedure or function to expand its callable signature with parameter directions, types and the function return type. Press Enter on the signature to insert the same owner-qualified call template as for package routines. The parent object's Enter menu still offers Load DDL and Copy object name. Signatures load asynchronously and are cached until refresh.

The Types group includes object and collection types; Type bodies lists their implementations separately. Enter offers Load DDL or Copy object name. Loading a type fetches its specification only; loading a type body fetches its body only, with owner-qualified DDL and a single slash terminator. Type attributes and methods do not expand into child rows.

Press Space on a table or view to expand or collapse its column subtree, including while filtering. Column names appear in database order and are loaded in the background on first expansion, then cached. Columns are informational leaf rows; object actions apply to their parent table or view. Ctrl-F opens an object-name filter prompt that accepts spaces. Filtering matches object names and shows all children beneath expanded matching objects. Ctrl-R refreshes objects and package statuses, clears cached columns and routines, and collapses object branches, retaining the filter and group expansion state.

Key	Action
Printable text	Filter object names
Backspace	Delete the final filter character
Esc	Clear a nonempty filter, or return to the editor when the filter is empty
Up / Down	Move through browser entries
PageUp / PageDown	Move through browser entries by page
Tab	Focus the SQL buffer, keeping the browser open
F9	Close the browser and focus the SQL buffer
Shift-F9	Toggle normal/half-screen width and focus the browser
Shift-Alt-F9	Toggle full-screen/previous width and focus the browser
Enter	Expand a group, choose an object action, or insert a routine call
Space	Expand/collapse table/view columns, package routines or standalone signatures; on groups, expand/collapse with an empty filter or add a space to an active filter
Ctrl-F	Edit the object-name filter, including spaces
Ctrl-R	Refresh database objects/statuses and clear column/routine subtrees and caches

Cell Viewer

Key	Action
E	Enter multiline editing when the cell is safe to update
Esc / Enter / F10 / Ctrl-Q	Close the viewer
Up / Down	Scroll cell text
PageUp / PageDown	Scroll cell text by page
Home / End	Move to the first/last cell-viewer line
Ctrl-S (editor)	Save the multiline edit
Ctrl-Alt-P / Ctrl-Shift-P / Alt-Shift-P / configured V keys / terminal paste (editor)	Paste exact clipboard text as one undoable edit
Enter (editor)	Insert a newline
F10 / Esc / Ctrl-Q (editor)	Cancel the multiline edit

Prompts And Pickers

Key	Action
Printable text	Type into prompts or filter picker options
Ctrl-V / Ctrl-Shift-V / terminal paste	Paste single-line text; tabs are preserved and multiline text is rejected
Backspace	Delete before the prompt cursor or picker filter
Enter	Accept the prompt or selected picker item
Esc / Ctrl-Q	Cancel the prompt or picker
Up / Down	Move through picker options
PageUp / PageDown	Move through picker options by page

Workspace Layout

workspace/
  sql/       saved SQL files
  plsql/     saved PL/SQL files
  results/   CSV, HTML, XLSX, and other result output

The first launch creates the workspace folders and starter SQL/PLSQL files.

Plugin API

Plugin API version 1 is a deliberately small, command-only extension point. See the API reference for the normative contract and the plugin author guide for packaging and maintained-plugin guidance. The maintained CSV, HTML, and XLSX exporters and csv2oratab importer are ready-to-install managed API-v1 packages in the maintained catalog, not wheel modules. The exporters use the public ResultExportRequest contract for the host-owned loaded/full picker, continuation fetching, destination prompt, progress, and cancellation. Third-party generators can use the public CodeGenerationRequest contract for host-owned, current-schema metadata reads, cancellation, stale-editor checks, and fresh unsaved-tab creation; plug-ins receive only frozen metadata, never a database connection, cursor, worker, arbitrary SQL capability, or UI internals. Self-contained pure-Python plugins can be built as deterministic .plwgn archives containing a declarative install.plw and payload/, then managed without pip or network access:

plsqlwks plugin package /path/to/plugin-source
plsqlwks plugin install /path/to/plugin-source/dist/example-1.0.0.plwgn
plsqlwks plugin list
plsqlwks plugin disable example
plsqlwks plugin enable example
plsqlwks plugin uninstall example

Install is global for the current user and defaults to enabled; enablement is a workspace-local preference. Managed archives load directly without extraction, so use relative imports and importlib.resources. The manager has no install hooks or dependency resolver and supports no native extension modules. Every lifecycle change requires a restart. See the managed-package guide for the exact manifest, source layout, validation, replacement, and trust rules.

Table DDL Export

Schema Compare

Install plugins/packages/schema-compare-0.1.0.plwgn and restart the updated host. Alt-O -> Database -> Compare schema objects chooses two schemas on the current connection and compares visible object names/types and logical definitions. Browse changed, one-sided, equal and unavailable objects; filter by name/type/status, open unified differences with Enter, and cycle original definitions with Tab. Ctrl-E exports all or filtered differences to CSV, HTML or XLSX, including summaries, line numbers and visibility notes. CSV/HTML need no extra; XLSX uses plsqlwks[xlsx]. The comparison preserves transactions, sequence state and the original editor/results. See the catalog guide for rules and limits.

E-R Diagram

Install plugins/packages/er-diagram-0.1.3.plwgn with plsqlwks plugin install and restart the updated host. Alt-O -> Database -> Export E-R Diagram (SVG/PNG/PDF) opens a Bright / Dark theme picker followed by an SVG / PNG / PDF format picker. Use arrow keys and Enter; defaults are Bright and SVG. Then filter and check current-schema tables and views and export their columns, keys and foreign-key relationships. Connectors show numbered foreign-key names matching the detailed relationship notes. Relative destinations use the results directory. SVG uses the standard library; PNG/PDF require the optional er-diagram extra and the Cairo library. See the catalog for installation instructions. See the catalog guide for controls and limits.

Table DDL Export

Install plugins/packages/table-ddl-export-0.1.1.plwgn with plsqlwks plugin install and restart. Alt-O -> Database -> Export table DDL lets you choose a schema, filter table names as you type, select tables, and optionally remap them to another schema and prefix tables, indexes, constraints and triggers while updating static table references. It automatically includes related sequences and directly referencing packages, functions, procedures, and views, and follows required source-schema tables, views, SQL types and program units recursively. Unreadable type or program definitions become named destination prerequisites. Types retain their names; prefixed copies in the source schema reuse existing types. Definitions, constraints, indexes, foreign keys and triggers are ordered by creation dependencies in a new unsaved SQL tab for review. Generation activates that tab and focuses its editor. See the selection keys and remapping details.

Dependencies walker

Install the optional dependency browser and restart PLSQLWKS:

plsqlwks plugin install plugins/packages/dependencies-walker-0.1.0.plwgn

Choose Alt-O -> Database -> Dependencies walker and enter an object name, optionally qualified by schema. Expand with Enter/Right, collapse with Left, and use D (Depends on) or U (Used by) to follow the selected object in either direction. Backspace restores the previous tree; R refreshes and Esc closes. Packages combine specification/body relationships with labels.

The walker reads only visible Oracle-recorded dependencies, loads branches on demand, marks cycles, and leaves database-link references unexpanded. Dynamic SQL and foreign-key graphs are outside this view. See the plugin catalog for all controls and installation details. No additional runtime dependency is required.

Maintained csv2oratab integration

The maintained csv2oratab-0.1.0.plwgn catalog package adds Alt-O -> Data -> Import data with csv2oratab and embeds the readable csv2oratab 1.0.0rc1 application. Its auditable source and ready-to-install archive are included in the PLSQLWKS source distribution, but not the application wheel. Install its dependency extra into the same supported Python 3.10-3.13 environment as PLSQLWKS, then install the package from a checkout or unpacked source distribution:

python3 -m pip install 'plsqlwks[csv2oratab]'
plsqlwks plugin install plugins/packages/csv2oratab-0.1.0.plwgn
plsqlwks plugin list

The extra supplies cryptography>=42; it does not supply the managed package. Install both optional dependency groups with python3 -m pip install 'plsqlwks[csv2oratab,xlsx]' when both csv2oratab and XLSX export are needed. A newly installed csv2oratab package is enabled by default and supports the normal disable, enable, and uninstall commands.

The csv2oratab Python distribution can alternatively register its existing plsqlwks.plugins entry point. Use either that wheel integration or the managed package, not both. If both are present, the managed command wins and PLSQLWKS reports the duplicate entry point as a startup warning.

The command suspends the PLSQLWKS screen and starts csv2oratab in a child process in the active workspace. That child owns its Oracle connection and uses csv2oratab's Oracle environment and license configuration; Plugin API v1 does not transfer the host connection or credentials. Its TUI defaults are stored in <workspace>/.csv2oratab.ini, never the host <workspace>/config.ini, and the PLSQLWKS screen is restored when it exits. Catalog availability does not alter csv2oratab's commercial licensing, legal-review requirements, or database-execution entitlement.

Python distributions installed separately with pip can still add commands to the Alt-O menu through the standard plsqlwks.plugins entry-point group:

[project.entry-points."plsqlwks.plugins"]
example = "example_package.plugin:create_plugin"

A minimal plugin factory is:

from plsqlwks.plugins import Plugin, PluginCommand, PluginContext


def show_loaded_count(context: PluginContext) -> None:
    result = context.get_active_result()
    count = len(result.rows) if result is not None else 0
    context.set_status(f"{count} row(s) are currently loaded")


def create_plugin() -> Plugin:
    return Plugin(
        id="example",
        name="Example commands",
        commands=(
            PluginCommand(
                id="show-loaded-count",
                section="Results",
                title="Show loaded row count",
                handler=show_loaded_count,
            ),
        ),
    )

Both a managed package factory and a Python entry point must resolve to a zero-argument callable returning Plugin. Handlers receive only PluginContext: it provides an immutable snapshot of the active tabular result, the results directory, insert-draft detection, raw plugin-scoped workspace settings, the editor's suggested table, host-managed result export and code generation, text and overwrite prompts, status updates, and UI error reporting. The host-owned enabled option is hidden. API v1 does not provide database execution, mutable results, the application or UI state, keyboard registration, drawing, events, lifecycle hooks, arbitrary background jobs, declarative settings schemas, hot reload, or workspace-local executable plugins.

The [plugin.csv-export] section and the documented HTML/XLSX environment variables configure only their corresponding maintained packages. Generic raw INI options are visible only to the matching plugin ID; enabled remains host-owned lifecycle state.

Installed plugins are trusted, in-process Python code. They are not sandboxed; install plugins only from sources you trust.