# Tips and tricks

The following tips and tricks give some helpful ideas for increasing your productivity.

- Database Connections

- Schema-based persistence.xml

Tip | Description
--- | ---
Database Connections | When starting a new workbench session, be sure to reconnect to your database (if you are working online). This allows Dali to provide database-related mapping assistance and validation.
Schema-based persistence.xml | If you are behind a firewall, you may need to configure your Eclipse workspace proxy in the Preferences dialog (Preferences > Internet > Proxy Settings) to properly validate a schema-based `persistence.xml` file.