SQL DATA LENS documentation
First steps, the reference documentation for every feature, and where to go when something does not behave the way you expected.
SQL DATA LENS is a Windows desktop SQL client for InterSystems IRIS and Caché: a server tree, an IRIS-aware SQL editor, table and global browsers, administration views and performance tooling in one application. It talks JDBC, installs per user, and needs nothing installed on the database server.
This page is the entry point. If the application is already running and you only want to know how one part of it works, jump straight to the reference documentation below. If you have just downloaded it, start at the top.
Start here
Four steps from a download to a result grid. On a machine with IRIS or Caché installed locally, the whole sequence takes a few minutes.
-
Download the current release. Version 4.00, Windows 10, 11 and Windows Server (64-bit), ~155 MB. There is no sign-up and no registration, and every download includes a full 30-day Pro trial. Go to the download page →
-
Unzip it or run the installer. The portable ZIP needs no administrator rights and can live on a network share; the installer adds Start-menu entries and installs per user. Both contain the same application. Installation guide →
-
Create your first IRIS or Caché connection. In the Server Navigator, right-click the Connections node and choose Add Server. Enter a name for the connection, the host name or IP address, the port, the driver version and your login. If IRIS or Caché is installed on the same machine, use Tools → Import Caché Connections instead and the existing server registrations are read for you — only the password is left to type. How the Server Navigator works →
-
Run your first query. Right-click a server or namespace and choose New query, or press
Ctrl+O, and you have an editor bound to that namespace. Code completion, execution plans and eight export formats are all in there. How the SQL editor works →
Licence keys are optional to begin with. Started without a key, the application runs the Free Edition or the 30-day Pro trial. When you have a key, enter it under Help → Manage licence — see licence activation.
Reference documentation
Each feature has its own page describing what it does, where it sits in the interface and what it is good for. Together they are the reference manual.
Only here
The parts of SQL DATA LENS that exist because it was built for InterSystems, not adapted to it.
Global Browser
Walk the multidimensional globals under your SQL schema, drill into subscript levels and resolve $LISTBUILD values into readable fields.
Query Cloud
Join data from several IRIS namespaces, several servers, and even SQL Server, Access or CSV files — client-side, with nothing installed on any server.
SQL performance
Scan for redundant indexes and unindexed foreign keys, hunt down expensive cached queries, read execution plans and profile with PTools.
Administration
The daily operational view of an IRIS or Caché instance, next to the SQL you are already writing.
Better than the generic answer
Things every SQL client does, done with IRIS and Caché in mind.
Server Navigator
Group your connections however your organisation works, and see all namespaces without configuring a single JDBC URL.
SQL editor
IRIS-aware code completion, syntax highlighting built for IRIS SQL, formatting, parameterised queries, execution plans and eight export formats.
Class Viewer
Browse class and routine source (including INT code) and copy a class to another namespace or another server from the context menu.
Database diagrams
Turn a twenty-year-old Caché namespace into a diagram you can actually hand to a colleague.
Beyond IRIS
SQL Server, PostgreSQL, MariaDB, SQLite, Trino and more over JDBC — plus DuckDB with drag-and-drop analysis of CSV, Parquet and JSON files.
The everyday essentials
The daily working surface: grids, cell values, script libraries.
Table Viewer
Open a table, filter it, sort it, edit cells in place and see IRIS-specific details other tools never show you.
Data Inspector
Open any cell as text, HTML, XML, JSON, an image or raw binary — useful the moment a column holds more than a number.
Script Manager
Organise hundreds of SQL scripts, preview them without opening them, and run them against the right connection.
Security & privacy
Runs entirely on your desktop, no telemetry, no admin rights required, signed binaries and a bundled private Java runtime.
Installing, licensing and buying
- Installation — system requirements, the portable ZIP and the installer, where settings are stored, updates and clean removal.
- Licence activation — entering a key, activating online or through a browser, proxies, second machines and deactivation.
- Installer exit codes — what the setup program returns during a silent or deployed installation.
- Pricing and editions and the purchasing FAQ — what the Free Edition covers, what a licence costs, VAT, invoices and purchase orders.
Staying current and getting help
- What's new — the release notes. The current release is 4.00, published 23 August 2026.
- Blog and knowledge base — worked examples, connection recipes and troubleshooting articles, including the broken WMI repository error some machines hit during activation.
- Support — how to reach us, what to put in a report, and what each edition includes. Email goes to support@sqldatalens.com and is answered by the people who build the product.
Next step
If you have not installed it yet, that is the shortest route to knowing whether any of this is useful to you: download it, point it at a test namespace and open a table.
Last updated: 23 August 2026
Explore your IRIS data from SQL down to globals
Download, unzip, connect. Your first namespace is on screen in about three minutes.
Windows 10, 11 and Windows Server (64-bit) · ~155 MB · version 4.00 · full 30-day Pro trial included