I was testing a reported bug in SQL Developer today – so the bug I was looking for wasn’t there (YES!) but I found a different one (NO!) – and I was getting frustrated by having to check the same boxes over and over again.

What I wanted was INSERT STATEMENTS to the CLIPBOARD.

Not what I want!

I’m always doing the same thing, over and over again. And I never go to FILE – that’s too permanent for my type of work. I either want stuff to the clipboard or to the worksheet. Surely there’s a way to tell SQL Developer how to behave?

Oh yeah, check the preferences

So you can set the defaults for this dialog. Go to:
Tools – Preferences – Database – Utilities – Export

Now I will always start with ‘INSERT’ and ‘Clipboard’ – woohoo!

Now, I can also go INTO the preferences for each of the different formats to save me a few more clicks.

I prefer pointy hats (^) for my delimiters, don’t you?

So, spend a few minutes and set each of these to what you’re normally doing and save yourself a bunch of time going forward.