A web-based GUI that lets users connect to PostgreSQL databases through a browser has been released.

Writing about the new GUI on the Open Source Consulting Group blog, its creator Jim Mlodgenski explains why it is needed:

“With the growing use of PostgreSQL in the cloud, users are bumping into the challenge of how to interact with their databases. Experienced PostgreSQL users happily ssh into the instance and bring up psql, but there are a ton of new users to PostgreSQL who still aren’t comfortable with psql and want a GUI.”

Until now most Postgre users who wanted a GUI chose pgAdmin, which has recently reached v1.18.0, but that needs a VPN to ensure a secure database connection without the need for opening firewalls.

Mlodgenski says that he came to the conclusion that the best road forward was to just start from a clean slate:

“I decided to write things in Java since that’s what I know well and it lets you create a cross-platform application very easily. I also used the Google Web Toolkit since Google is pretty good at making interactive UIs on the web. There are a number of other UIs out there that have a very good web-based GUI for PostgreSQL, but none of them are open source, which I believe is critical in the success of the project. So… OpenSCG is now releasing PostgreSQL Studio under the PostgreSQL license.”

PostgreSQL Studio has a web-based console that can be used to carry out PostgreSQL database development tasks securely. It supports PostgreSQL 9.2.x and 9.3.x, Postgres-XC 1.0.x and Postgres-XC 1.1.x, and vFabric Postgres 9.2.4. You get a schema browser that shows you the database objects for the currently active connection for your selected schema. A detail browser shows the features of all the database objects and lets you modify them, with object-specific functions such as creating an index or granting security. A SQL worksheet can be used to enter and process individual SQL statements during a database session. Any executed statements can also show the SQL execution plan which provides a detailed outline for how PostgreSQL processes each statement.

Finally, you get a set of object wizards that let you create database objects without needing to know the PostgreSQL syntax. There are wizards for creating tables, views, indexes, constraints, triggers and sequences.