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Visual HSQLDB Workspace

HSQLDB GUI Client for Windows, macOS, and Linux

VisuaLeaf is one visual workspace for HSQLDB, the HyperSQL database that runs embedded in Java applications and test suites: connect to a running HyperSQL server, browse tables, auto-draw ER diagrams from your foreign keys, build SQL visually, and chart the results.

Free to start No credit card required Works on Windows, macOS and Linux
VisuaLeaf visual HSQLDB workspace showing tables, an ER diagram from foreign keys, and a query builder side by side

A Database That Lives Inside an Application Is Hard to Look At

HyperSQL is small, standards-conscious and usually embedded, which makes it excellent to run against and awkward to inspect. VisuaLeaf gives it a proper client: open the running database, see the schema your code created, and query it like any other.

The database ships inside the application

HyperSQL running in-process has no listener for anything else to attach to, so whatever your application just wrote stays sealed inside it.

The bundled manager is a Swing window

It works, and it is a tree plus a text area — no diagram, no charts, no saved connections, and a look that has not changed in a very long time.

Foreign keys never draw themselves

HyperSQL enforces real constraints, and nothing renders the schema they describe until a violation forces you to go looking.

In-memory and file databases behave differently

The same application can run against data that vanishes at shutdown or data that persists, and the difference is one line of configuration.

A visual workflow for HSQLDB

Connect to a running server, browse tables, map foreign keys into a diagram, build SQL, and chart results — all in one workspace.

Built Around What Makes HSQLDB HSQLDB

Server-mode connections, standards-based SQL, foreign keys, and results, explored, queried, and visualized instead of typed into a Swing text area.

Table Management

Manage tables visually instead of hand-writing DDL. Add, rename, and edit columns with their types, defaults, primary keys, and foreign keys, then work across tabbed panels for indexes and constraints. Hit Show DDL to read the full CREATE TABLE statement any time.

Table management on HSQLDB

See What Your Application Built

Open the database your application or test suite is using and page through the tables, columns, indexes and constraints it created. It is the fastest way to answer whether the schema your code describes is the schema that actually exists.

Browsing tables created by an application on HSQLDB

ER Diagrams from Foreign Keys

Auto-draw an interactive ER diagram from the real foreign keys and constraints in your HyperSQL database, then drill into columns, indexes, constraints and CREATE statements — a quick check that the model in your code matches the one in the database.

ER diagram from HSQLDB foreign keys

A Visual Workflow for Everyday HSQLDB Tasks

VisuaLeaf connects the steps HyperSQL users usually handle separately: connect to a running server, explore tables, build SQL, and visualize the results.

Built for Different HSQLDB Users

Whether you debug a failing test, review what an application created, prototype a schema, or learn SQL, VisuaLeaf gives you a clearer way to work with HyperSQL.

Developers

Open the database your application runs against, check what it created, and debug SQL against real rows.

Test and Platform Engineers

Compare the schema HyperSQL produced against the one in your production engine, and catch drift before it ships.

Data Analysts

Write JOINs and aggregations against a local dataset and chart the results without a separate tool.

Students and Beginners

Learn standards-based SQL on a database that starts instantly, and read the SQL the query builder writes.

Frequently Asked Questions

Is VisuaLeaf a good HSQLDB GUI?
Yes. VisuaLeaf connects to HyperSQL over JDBC and gives it a modern desktop client: browse tables and views, auto-generate ER diagrams from real foreign keys, build SQL visually, page through rows, and chart the results, with saved connections that survive between sessions.
How do I connect VisuaLeaf to HSQLDB?
Run HSQLDB in server mode and connect on port 9001 with your database alias, user and password. VisuaLeaf downloads the HSQLDB JDBC driver for you the first time you create the connection.
Can I connect to an embedded or in-memory HyperSQL database?
Only if it is reachable over the network. A HyperSQL database embedded inside a running JVM has no listener for another process to connect to. Starting it in server mode makes the same database available to VisuaLeaf while your application continues to use it.
Can I inspect the database my application created?
Yes, and it is the most useful thing to do with a GUI here. Point VisuaLeaf at the HyperSQL server your application or test suite is using and look at the tables, columns, indexes and constraints that actually exist, rather than inferring them from your entity classes.
Does VisuaLeaf generate ER diagrams from an HSQLDB schema?
Yes. VisuaLeaf reads foreign keys, primary keys, and constraints to auto-draw an interactive ER diagram, which is a quick way to confirm the model your code describes is the model the database ended up with.
Does it work with both in-memory and file-based HyperSQL databases?
Yes, as long as the server exposes them. HyperSQL can serve an in-memory database or a file-backed one over the same server port, and VisuaLeaf connects to either. What it cannot reach is a database that only exists inside another process with no listener.
Which platforms does VisuaLeaf run on?
VisuaLeaf ships native builds for Windows, macOS, and Linux, so your whole team can work with HyperSQL in the same visual tool. It also connects to MongoDB, PostgreSQL, MySQL, MariaDB, SQL Server, and SQLite from a single workspace.

More Than an HSQLDB Client

VisuaLeaf started as a MongoDB workspace and grew into a multi-database visual environment. One app, one workflow, across the databases your team actually uses.

And VisuaLeaf does not leave you staring at a wall of SQL and grids. It visualizes everything — HyperSQL schemas become interactive diagrams, queries become visual builders, and results become charts and dashboards.

MongoDB MySQL MariaDB SQL Server Azure Cosmos DB Amazon DocumentDB SQLite

Built by Developers, For Developers

VisuaLeaf is made by an independent software studio that ships often and listens to the developers who use it every day.

Ready to Work Visually with HSQLDB?

Download VisuaLeaf Community Edition and open the database your application runs against, draw ER diagrams from your foreign keys, build SQL visually, and chart results in one workspace.

Download Free Community Edition
No credit card required
VisuaLeaf HSQLDB charts and dashboards built from query results