Rowan User Guide

Chapter 10

Settings

Settings slide up over the window when you press Ctrl,. Every option applies the moment you change it, and Rowan remembers it; there's nothing to save.

Use Settings#

  • Press Ctrl,, or choose Settings… from the menu.
  • Choose a category on the left: General, Table, Editor, Fonts & Colors, Security, Connections, Keymap or About.
  • To find an option, press CtrlF and type in Search settings. Only matching options show, on every page.
  • Choose Done or press Esc to close Settings. The toolbar stays live while it's open.
Tip

Options that belong to one connection, such as Safe Mode, Read-only and its tag, are in the connection's own form, not here. See Create a connection.

General#

The General page of Settings with Application, CSV File and Connections sections
Settings > General.

Application#

Reopen closed workspaces at startup
Opens the windows and workspaces you had open last time. When off, Rowan opens to the connection list.
Ctrl+T to open
Whether CtrlT opens an SQL Editor or an Empty Tab. An empty tab is filled by the next table you open.
Database stack names
Shows each workspace's name beside its icon in the database stack. When off, the stack is a narrow strip of icons.

CSV File#

How CSV is written when you export results, use Copy as CSV, and where the export wizard starts.

Delimiter
Tab, comma or semicolon.
Quote
If needed, Always ", Always ' or Never. NULL stays an empty field either way. With Never, a value holding the delimiter, a quote or a line break will break the file.
Line break
\n, \r\n or \r. Copy as CSV always uses \n.
Decimal
A period or a comma, for numbers. Excel in much of Europe wants a comma.

Connections#

Keep connection alive
Pings every 30 seconds, so idle connections aren't dropped and a lost one shows at once.
Query timeout
Seconds before Rowan offers to reconnect when the server doesn't answer. Leave it empty for 300, or enter 0 to never ask. Needs Keep connection alive.

Table#

The Table page of Settings with Data Rendering and Values sections
Settings > Table: how data shows and is counted.

Data Rendering#

Alternating row background colors
Faint stripes on every other row.
Auto hide table scrollers
When off, a grid's scroll bars stay in view.
Count rows exactly
Only when asked, Always, or for tables under a size, such as Under 100,000 rows. Bigger tables show an estimate; click it to count.
Convert PostGIS geometry to WKT
Shows geometry as text such as POINT(1 2), not hex.

Values#

Rows per page
How many rows Rowan fetches at a time, for tables and query results.
Time zone
Server shows timestamps as the server sends them; Local converts those that carry a zone to your computer's.
Full timestamps
Adds fractions of a second and the offset.
Thousands separators
For whole numbers and numerics. Copy and export keep the plain number.
Booleans
Checkbox or true / false text.
Long text
Show in full, or cut after a number of characters. The row detail and copy always give it in full.
Pin primary key
Keeps the primary key at the left while you scroll. Any column can be pinned from its header's menu.
Default sort
For tables you haven't sorted: Primary key, ascending, Primary key, descending, or None, as stored.
Row detail search
Fuzzy (ordli finds order_lines) or Contains.
Pretty JSON
Indents JSON in the row detail and Quick Look.

Filters#

The lower part of the Table page with the Filters section
Filter defaults, at the bottom of the Table page.
Filter column
Where a new filter starts: Primary key, Any column or Raw SQL.
Filter operator
= or Contains.
Column order
In the filter's column menu: Table order or By name.
Filter bar
Remember per table, Always show or Always hide. Remembered tables keep their filters too.

Editor#

The Editor page of Settings with SQL Editor options
Settings > Editor.

SQL Editor#

Automatically save queries while editing
A saved query's file is written as you type, with no dot on its tab.
Results
For a run with more than one statement: Split into Tabs or Append in One Tab.
Return on error
Stops at the first statement that fails.
Key binding
Standard or Vim. See Vim mode. With Vim on, more options appear: Vim: use the system clipboard, Vim: Ctrl+D and Ctrl+U scroll, Vim: Ctrl+R redoes, and Vim settings file, whose Open rowan.vimrc button opens the file.
Indent width
2, 4, 6 or 8 spaces.
Indent with spaces
When off, Tab types a real tab.
Auto-close brackets
Quotes too. Typing the closing one steps past it.
Highlight current line
A faint band behind the line with the cursor.
Show invisible characters
Spaces, tabs and line ends, drawn faintly.
Suggest while typing
Opens suggestions as you type. CtrlSpace shows them anytime.
Suggestion keyword case
UPPER, lower or As Typed.
Accept suggestions with
Enter or Tab, Enter, or Tab. A list that opens by itself always takes Tab.
The lower part of the Editor page with Format SQL and Query Parameters sections
Format SQL and Query Parameters, at the bottom of the Editor page.

Format SQL#

Indent type
Standard, Tabular Left or Tabular Right. Tabular always indents 10 spaces.
Keyword case
UPPER, lower or As Typed.
Commas
Trailing ends a line with the comma; Leading starts the next.

Query Parameters#

Enable query params
Placeholders ask for a value before running; values are bound, never pasted in.
Format
:id, %id%, ?, ${id}, $id or {{id}}.
Look inside quoted strings
Finds placeholders in '…' too; the value goes in escaped.

Fonts & Colors#

The Fonts and Colors page with Theme, Accent color, Density and font settings
Settings > Fonts & Colors.

Theme#

Theme
System follows Windows; or choose Light or Dark.
Accent color
Blue, Purple, Pink, Red, Orange, Green or Graphite, for selections, focus and buttons.
Density
Comfortable, or Compact to fit more rows in the grid and sidebar.
Translucent sidebar
The sidebar shows a hint of your desktop through it. Needs Windows 11 with transparency effects on; otherwise it's a solid color.
The left sidebar with the Windows 11 translucent backdrop behind its items
With Translucent sidebar on, Windows 11 tints the sidebar with your desktop.

Fonts#

SQL Editor
The editor's font and size. Ctrl= and Ctrl- zoom from this size.
Data Table
The grid's font and size, and its Cell padding: space at each side of a value. Rows grow to fit a bigger size.
Sidebar
The font and size for items, queries and history, and Padding: extra room above and below each row.

Colors#

The Colors section with swatches for modified, new and deleted rows
Tints for staged edits, with a hex field and Reset for each.

Modified rows, New rows and Deleted rows set the tints for staged edits. Pick a swatch or type a hex color; Reset puts one back. Restore Defaults puts every font, size, padding and tint back, and leaves the theme and accent as they are.

Security#

The Security page with Safe Mode and Passcode sections
Settings > Security.
Default Safe Mode for new connection
The level new connections start with. See Safe Mode.
Confirm writes without WHERE
Asks before an UPDATE or DELETE changes every row.
Statement timeout
15 seconds, 30 seconds, 1 minute, 5 minutes, or Never. The server stops a runaway query. Doesn't apply to exports.
Enable passcode
Asks for it when Rowan opens and after it's been away. Queries keep running while locked. Change Passcode… changes it.
Auto lock if away for
1 minute, 5 minutes, 1 hour or 5 hours.

Connections#

Connection Sources#

Where the welcome window's connections come from. Local is this computer. Add Source… adds a folder, for example one in Dropbox or OneDrive that your team shares; its connections appear in the welcome list under a group with the source's name.

  • Rename a source in place, change its Folder…, or Remove it. Removing takes it off the list; its folder and files stay where they are.
  • A connection is kept in the file of the group it's in, so dragging a connection into or out of a source's group moves it between files.

Queries and History#

The folder that holds your saved queries (its Queries folder), your history and your open tabs. Choose Choose…, or type a path and press Enter, to move them, for example to a synced folder. If the new folder has none of its own, what's there now moves along. Restore Default goes back to Rowan's own folder.

Keymap#

Every command and its shortcut, by area, with a search field. Click a shortcut to change it. See Change a shortcut.

About#

Rowan's version and build date, Copy Build Info for bug reports, and links to tryrowan.app and the Third-Party Licenses. See About Rowan.