OpenEdge Data Administration — Quick Start

Edit your OpenEdge database schema without leaving VS Code. Browse and modify tables, fields, indexes and sequences — the modern equivalent of the classic Progress Data Administration tool.

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Prerequisites

Requirement	Details
VS Code	1.96 or newer
Node.js	v18 or newer — required to run the Data Administration backend server
OpenEdge	Any supported Progress OpenEdge installation
ABL extension	The OpenEdge ABL VS Code extension must be installed and abl.configuration.runtimes must point to your DLC directory

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Install

Install OpenEdge Data Administration from the VS Code Marketplace or from the .vsix file provided by your team.

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Configure a database connection

Add database connections in your openedge-project.json at the project root:

{
  "dbConnections": [
    {
      "name": "sports2020",
      "connect": "-db sports2020 -H localhost -S 10001"
    }
  ]
}

Connections can also be managed through VS Code workspace or user settings.

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Open Data Administration

Three ways to launch it:

1. Click the Data Administration icon (book) in the Activity Bar.
2. Right-click any file in the Explorer → 📖 Dictionary Editor.
3. Run Ctrl+Shift+P → 📖 Dictionary Editor.

The backend starts automatically. The first launch may take a few seconds while OpenEdge initialises.

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What you can do

• Browse tables, fields, indexes and sequences across connected databases.
• Create, edit and delete tables, fields, indexes and sequences.
• Dump and load schema definitions (.df files).
• Dump and load data (.d files).
• Refresh the schema tree at any time from the sidebar.

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Implementation Status

This extension aims to cover the full feature set of the Progress Data Administration tool. The following checklist tracks what has been implemented and what is still pending.

Data Dictionary

• Browse tables, fields, indexes, and sequences
• Create / edit / delete tables
• Create / edit / delete fields
• Create / edit / delete indexes
• Create / edit / delete sequences
• Triggers (view / edit field- and table-level triggers)
• Views

Admin

• Database identification (view/edit database properties)
• Dump definitions (.df schema dump)
• Load definitions (.df schema load)
• Dump incremental definitions
• Load incremental definitions
• Dump data (.d data dump per table)
• Load data (.d data load per table)
• Dump sequence values
• Load sequence values
• Dump security permissions
• Load security permissions
• Bulk dump / load (binary)
• CDC (Change Data Capture) dump / load
• Security — domain management
• Security — permissions management
• Security — encryption policy management
• Alternate buffer pool configuration
• Database options

Dataserver

• MS SQL Server — schema pull (create OpenEdge schema from MS SQL)
• MS SQL Server — schema migration / update
• MS SQL Server — connect / verify connection
• Oracle — schema pull
• Oracle — schema migration / update
• Oracle — connect / verify connection
• ODBC — schema pull
• ODBC — schema migration / update
• Schema comparison (OpenEdge vs foreign DB)

Utilities

• Quick reports (tables, fields, indexes, sequences, views, triggers, user-defined)
• Print reports
• Verify / validate schema
• Update schema (after structural changes)
• Database identification history
• Send SQL to database

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Troubleshooting

Symptom	Fix
Backend fails to start	Check the Dictionary Backend output channel
"No OpenEdge runtime configured"	Set abl.configuration.runtimes in VS Code settings
Port conflicts	Change dictionary.httpPort (default 23005) or dictionary.ablSocketPort (default 23002)

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See USERGUIDE.md for a full feature reference.