Activating TOAD's Read-Only Mode
Most people don't realize that TOAD comes with two modes of operation entirely under their control: read/write or read-only. These modes are controlled by the license files in the TOAD install directory. When the TOAD.LIC file is a copy of (i.e., its contents are equivalent to) the FULLTOAD.LIC file (the default), then TOAD operates in read/write mode. When the TOAD.LIC file is a copy of the READONLY.LIC file, then TOAD operates in read-only mode. Here "read-only" refers to the fact that TOAD users cannot save or commit anything to the database. Read-only users are still permitted to create, modify, and save data and SQL files on their local Windows PC; they just cannot permanently affect anything on the database. Thus they cannot create objects, modify data, compile PL/SQL code, drop objects, or do anything else that would have either permanent or lasting effects on the database. For many analysts, this is a viable option.