Show HN: DataSpeeder Instant End-User Web GUI for MySQL | Hacker News Reader

Show HN: DataSpeeder Instant End-User Web GUI for MySQL

dataspeeder.com

71 pointsDataSpeeder48 comments

I like the look of this. It's amazing how nothing ever really grew to fill the void Access/FileMaker pro left - yeah I know they're still around but barely used.

Also, and off-topic, but I wish PostgreSQL had some official 'test' databases that people could download to learn SQL with, Northwind-style.

pgexercises.com comes pretty close to that test db.

Not exactly what you're looking for, but Splitgraph [3] has some solid datasets you can mess with.

Also, seekwell [0] might be able to fill that void depending on your use case and we're rapidly making improvements. So far we have highly customizable Forms [1] and editable tables [2] which you can add to a dashboard and expose to non-technical people on your team. We have a company with over 100 people in sales and operations using this daily. Supports Postgres, MySQL, Snowflake and SQL Server.

0 - https://seekwell.io/

1 - https://www.notion.so/Forms-6c37026024db4f7a8b149f5bd38d7cf5

2 - https://www.notion.so/Parameters-e18b84a0e07d42ba981a449e2e5....

3 - https://www.splitgraph.com/

Well, there is Chinook ( https://github.com/lerocha/chinook-database ) which was inspired by Northwinds, available for most popular RDBMSs. I used it to teach an intro to SQL course. It has some issues, but that's to be expected (and probably ideal for real-world considerations).

Thanks for the kind words! I've been building database client GUIs since the old Delphi days in the late 90s. There's so much about those RAD tools that I miss.

After many years of building custom web applications for employers and clients, I wanted to build a tool that does the regular (and always required) data entry parts of the application for you ... Instead of always having to start from scratch on each new project.

After many months of hard work, it's a pleasure to release DataSpeeder. Thanks again for the nice comment!

@DataSpeeder | www.dataspeeder.com

Not to knock this product; it's really impressive, and I like it, but it makes me wonder: does nobody just use phpmyadmin (or some phpmyadmin-like) for this kind of thing?

I have, and it's worked for me; even if it's a little daunting at first.

Come on, it's the last thing I want to show to a non dev, or even to a dev. phpMyAdmin's interface is so cluttered, and way harder in the eyes for anyone who just want to go through the data and not deal with every part of the database with knobs all over the place, it's like sitting in a cockpit.

For sure, I think it's good for another purpose (playing with phpMyAdmin taught me to write queries by hand!)

I also got into the more nitty-gritty nuances of mysql through with phpmyadmin. Many things I find being done on client side "dashboard" applications can be handled by a mysql view, which can then be pulled up in phpmyadmin.

>> I also got into the more nitty-gritty nuances of mysql through with phpmyadmin.

Have to say phpmyadmin is underappreciated. Guess a bit of UI makover can do wonders for it.

I was speaking more to devs, but I agree to an extent.

I suppose I didn't realize how much a bad UI would alienate developers.

> Come on, it's the last thing I want to show to a non dev, or even to a dev. phpMyAdmin's interface is so cluttered, and way harder in the eyes for anyone who just want to go through the data and not deal with every part of the database with knobs all over the place, it's like sitting in a cockpit.

Thanks for replying, because that's a good description for part of the motivation to build the tool, and it's nice to hear that others are of the same mind.

I've worked on many projects over the years and typically I've seen need for different tools at both ends ... the complex "cockpit" for the power-user, and then the easy front end for something simple.

Building all of time-consuming little custom web utilities were the inspiration for this product. I hope others like me will find it useful.

Thanks for the kind words, and the feedback!

The idea here is that DataSpeeder enables the power user doing the db work to provide a simple web GUI for "non-admin" users who need to see some subset of the data in an easy way.

It's been my experience on projects over the years that there comes along a requirement to provide a simple view into a complex system.

All of those little custom web utilities were the inspiration for this product.

Rather than building a custom web app utility from scratch (because we're already too busy with day-to-day tasks and deadlines), DataSpeeder gives you a simple and easy end-user web GUI to the MySQL data that you can get up and running immediately.

Perhaps a scaled-down PhpMyAdmin deployment might get you there with some work and user-training, but DataSpeeder gets you something simple online very quickly ... Take a look at the "Create An Application" tutorial videos to see how fast it can be done: https://www.dataspeeder.com/support

Thanks again for the feedback!

Congrats! Looks similar to https://popsql.com/ who just happened to raise a $3.4M seed round in this space:

https://techcrunch.com/2020/09/08/popsql-raises-3-4m-seed-ro...

Thanks for the links ... I'll take a look at popsql.com and see what they're about. Very impressive, and good for them!

@DataSpeeder | www.dataspeeder.com

Holy cow, I really like this. Super simple.

I think you need to adjust pricing to differentiate between big corporate users and small developers. I'd pay $199 once (not per year) for my own use. But if I were running an IT shop at a larger corp, I'd pay a lot more. See if there is a way to expand your pricing both at the high and the low end.

Like all simple apps, I expect I'd run into roadblocks quickly without some customizability. The trick for you is to figure out how to add some of that without losing your main value prop, which is simplicity.

In particular, I'm sure I would want to customize screens. I didn't download the app and try it so I don't know if that's there, but I didn't see it in the video.

Also, consider supporting Postgres. MySQL and SQL Server usage are trending down, and Postgres is trending up.

https://trends.google.com/trends/explore?date=today%205-y&ge...

> Holy cow, I really like this. Super simple.

Thanks! You have no idea how nice that is to hear. Making something work is one thing, making it simple is another. A lot of effort went into designing it to be simple, so reading that, you've given me a lift. :)

> I think you need to adjust pricing to differentiate between big corporate users and small developers

Thanks for the pricing feedback, that's incredibly useful as well.

> I expect I'd run into roadblocks quickly without some customizability. The trick for you is to figure out how to add some of that without losing your main value prop, which is simplicity.

> In particular, I'm sure I would want to customize screens ... Also, consider supporting Postgres.

Great feedback. Moving forward anything is possible, but a lot is going to depend on this kind of great feedback. I need to focus on the new features that users need for their deployments. I'm hoping to learn what these valuable required enhancements are by engaging with the users who try out the tool.

"Screen customizing" would currently include being able to reorder fields, whether individual fields are visible or invisible and editable or read-only on the view/edit/create pages. Also whether the fields are visible as columns in the main display table, and whether those columns are sortable. And there's also the ability to choose appropriate editor widgets based on data type when appropriate (date-pickers, drop-down lists, and so on).

The "Create an Application" video tutorials on www.dataspeeder.com/support show a lot of these features.

Thanks again for taking the time to write!

Website is quite slow. I'm sure you're under load RN, but if possible I'd recommend setting the site behind a CDN (there's a free tier of Cloudflare). Best of luck!

Thanks for letting me know! Hosted at GoDaddy.

I'll see if there's anything I can get them to do to fix it.

Looks great, there's a very defined use-case and the video is very clear.

Does anyone know of any other similar piece of software, preferably open source, that allows for complete customization? I have another use-case different from the one on this product and I could use some advice.

Hey there - We (seekwell [0]) let you create highly customizable Forms [1] and editable tables [2] which you can add to a dashboard and expose to non-technical people on your team. We have a company with over 100 people in sales and operations using this daily. Supports Postgres, MySQL, Snowflake and SQL Server.

0 - https://seekwell.io/

1 - https://www.notion.so/Forms-6c37026024db4f7a8b149f5bd38d7cf5

2 - https://www.notion.so/Parameters-e18b84a0e07d42ba981a449e2e5...

That does everything from ingesting an existing database to forms? Not really, not perfectly (not that this is "perfect" either).

There's some things that get close though, like Directus (directus.io). API-wise there's PostgREST ( http://postgrest.org/ ), PostGraphile ( https://www.graphile.org/postgraphile/ ) and Hasura ( https://hasura.io/ ). Commercially there's Supabase (https://supabase.io/) which is new and based on PostgREST and their own tooling, and SubZero ( https://subzero.cloud/ ) which is similar.

There are some non-ingestion (requires you to use the frontend) headless CMS options that may also fill this space ( https://headlesscms.org/ ) if you tilt your head and squint.

This space seems to be growing, primarily on the API side, I imagine the frontend side may be next.

Currently my favorite is PostgREST and custom VueJS forms (using Quasar for "rapid dev"), but requires lots of 'bring your own' work.

Saw @dancodes review after making a comment.

Please see here : https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=24412737

Thanks for that! I set out to make a simple solution to a real problem that I had experienced on a lot of web development projects. I hope it's useful to others as well.

I looked around for a long time for a similar tool -- open source or otherwise -- and I never found something exactly like what I had in my head. So I decided to built it myself.

I'd be very interested in hear about your "other different use-case" ... I'm very open to making enhancements and adding new features driven by specific user's needs. If you'd like to chat about what you're trying to build, please drop me a line and maybe we can make something happen!

I'm curious to know how you handle relationships and communicate that in a beginner-friendly way.

Hi -- thanks for asking! I'm especially proud of that part of the application because it took a lot of effort to get right ... it was actually the most difficult part to design and implement. In the end, I'm very happy with the result.

You can see a video demo of configuring and using Data Relationships in "Create an Application (Part 3)" here ...

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lQ_1FtwsB6A

Note: Links to videos "Part 1", "Part 2", and "Part 3" can be found at: https://www.dataspeeder.com/support

Does that help? If you had a more specific question about it, let me know and I'll try to elaborate (or simplify ;-).

Quite liked the demo video and landing page. Simple and easy to use GUI. Pricing is a bit steep.

Does this provide full schema edit operations like creating index, triggers etc ?

We are in similar space but as an API framework[1] for all SQL Databases.

So with GUI, one also gets REST/GraphQL APIs instantly on any SQL database.

However, I should admit our data browser is basic. And product is free.

[1] : https://github.com/xgenecloud/xgenecloud

The video reminds me very much of Forest (forestadmin.com) and I think they have a free tier (I used for a while for a side project).

Thanks for the kind words!

DataSpeeder is intended to give devs and db admins (who live in the world of power tools like PhpMyAdmin and MySQL Workbench) the ability to provide a simple web GUI for non-admin end-users to view/modify data. So it was intentionally designed without admin-level functionality like editing the database schema directly.

Thanks for the link to your tool, I will look into it.

Actually, one of the (many) features that I (with my coder hat on) would like to implement next is exposing the data via REST APIs. But I (with my manager hat on) need to focus on the specific features that users say are most needed for their deployments.

By the way, let me know if you see an organic way that our tools could work together and complement each other. Partnering would be cool!

Thanks again.

Downloaded for trying it out. Setup steps are too many unfortunately.

Happy to have a chat. My email is registered with you.

Possibly OT, but I appreciate that the screenshots are in Firefox

I started using Firefox instead of IE way back when it was new, and (flirtations with Safari notwithstanding) I've never had a compelling reason to stop using it. So I'm still on board.

Also, I like the way the black title bar frames the application window. :)

Hey, please don't put a URL at the bottom of every comment. You can add it to the "about" section of your user page (https://news.ycombinator.com/user?id=DataSpeeder), which is linked to from the top of every comment you make. Thanks :)

Thanks for the help. I'm new to the forum, and I thought a sig might be useful, but I want to be a good citizen. I will remove it everywhere now. Thanks again!

(Update: Looks like I have no 'edit' option for posts that are not new. I won't be able to remove the link from all of them, but I'll do what I can!)

Hey, congrats on getting this out. My product (1) is in the same space. Just watching your video. Are you allowing complex queries through your GUI? Like Grouping, Aggregates or even JOINs? That is what I am focusing on initially. Airtable for RDBMS.

1) https://github.com/brainless/dwata

I don't get that at all from your website. I'd consider simplifying your pitch. I can't tell what you're selling from your site.

Hey thanks. That is not the site, that is the open source project, so meant for technical audience I would say.

What would you say was not clear to you? I have been demoing this to a couple people each week and would love your feedback.

The site also needs updates, but the pitch is more for businesses there. Here is the site: https://dwata.com

Yes, the site is what I looked at. "Scale your business operations" doesn't tell me anything. Nor does any of the other verbiage in your hero area.

The next thing I see is "What is your professional role?" Uh, who cares? Just tell me what your product is. I'm not interested in vague benefits.

Thanks, yes the hero needs cleaning. I haven't been focusing on the product site for some time.

I'm also going to clean the personas. People usually like that, so I'll have to ask more.

Reminds me of Django's build in admin dashboard...something that's been super useful for debugging, QAing, etc.

To be honest, Django Admin seems much more evolved that the product showcased here.

With DA, you can fully customize the UI, have fine grained access control, create any kind of custom action, etc.

Requires you to use Django ORM to manage your DB schema though. But I would rather have an ORM/migration tool anyway.

In the spirit of sharing related work, there was another Show HN post about 7 months ago for ESQLate, which seems similar: https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=22073037

I wonder if this will tip the scales away from Django being a favorite in Python development since this will destroy one of its USPs.

Thanks for the response, I'll look into Django and the Django community in more detail.

If you have any direct links to appropriate Django articles, communities, or tutorials to share, that would be great.

Reminds me of FileMaker, MS Access, Kexi or Glom.

Thanks, I think that's placing me in the right ballpark and where I want to be. I had not heard of Kexi or Glom, so I'll look into them.

Looks nice! Can you elaborate how this compares to some open source solutions, for example react-admin?

Thanks!

> Can you elaborate how this compares to some open source solutions, for example react-admin?

I would say that ...

React-Admin is a programming framework that a skilled React programmer can use to produce an application with great features that are limited only by the skills, drive, and dev time of the programmer. It looks like a very impressive and powerful programming framework to me.

DataSpeeder, on the other hand, is not a programming framework. It is a finished application that is ready to run immediately, can be deployed by a non-programmer, and has intentionally simple features that were designed to solve a specific problem ... Providing an instant end-user web GUI for MySQL.

To see the differences in how the tools are used, you can take a look at this (very nice!) React-Admin tutorial ...

https://marmelab.com/react-admin/Tutorial.html

And then take a look at the DataSpeeder "Create an Application" video tutorials ...

https://www.dataspeeder.com/support

I hope that helps!

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