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Operations Overview
The Enitity Relationship Modeler helps in designing and editing database schemas and relationships through graphical representation of abstract concepts. Tables, views, relationships and constraints are converted to shapes, lines, nodes and vectors so that complex abstract interactions and processes can be viewed in a coherent diagram. The models created in the ER Modeler immediately translate into queries and commands that databases can understand. Any database connection within Aqua Data Studio can be used to generate an ER Model, and any model built within the Entity Relationship Modeler can be converted into a DDL script for importing into any database available to Aqua Data Studio. It is possible to migrate database schema from one database server, vendor or version into any other database server through the ER Modeler's "Convert To" tool. For more on how to convert a model from one database to another see the "Converting ER Model DB to DB" section. The Entity Relationship Modeler uses Aqua Data Studio's Docking Framework, allowing users to undock its various panes and panels into separate windows.
The ER Modeler can be used for the following:
Creating a New Diagram: New diagrams can be created manually by drawing entities on a sheet and altering their attributes.
Extracting a Diagram From a Database: A diagram can be extracted from an existing database, its schema objects quickly drawn for modification by the ER Diagram Generator.
Converting a Diagram From one Database into a Model for another Database: If migration is required, the DDL of one database can be converted to the DDL of another database through the use of the "Convert to" tool in the Tools menu. See the "Converting ER Model DB to DB" section for how this process works.
Saving, Modifying and Sharing Diagrams: Diagrams can be saved, opened, documented, modified and shared with groups. When a diagram is added to the script mount for a database server, the mount can be included in a source control repository. All of the developers in an organization can then access the same model, modify it and track the modifications.
Printing Diagrams: Diagrams can be printed, enlarged and laminated for use as a poster for quick reference. The dimensions of the print out can easily be altered and enlarged.
Saving a Diagram As an Image: The diagram can also be saved as a JPG or PNG image for inclusion in word processing documents or presentation slides.
Workspace and Dockable Framework Overview
There are four major functional areas within the ER Modeler Workspace. It is within these four areas, Model Node Browser, Sheet, Object Properties Pane, and Overview, that the majority of ER Modeling editing and creating occurs.
Model Node Browser: Presents all of the objects within a diagram in a tree containing all relationships, tables, views and notes. The tree can be expanded or collapsed to display more detailed information such as Indexes and Constraints.
Sheet: Shows the diagram contents in independent views for manual or automatic layout. This is the drawing area of the ER Diagram. Objects can display on more than one sheet at a time.
Object Properties Pane: Displays, in non-editable form, the properties of the selected object or objects.
Overview: A bird’s eye view of the current sheet, allowing fast navigation with a draggable and resizeable zoom rectangle. The rectangle indicates what portion of the diagram is currently being viewed.
A more in depth description of the Modeler's menus and panels follows. The numbers are associated with the numbered areas in the screenshot.
1. Menu Bar: Contains all of the menus available in the ER Modeler. Its menus are context sensitive based on the current selection in the model. All available menus are listed below.
2. Tool Bar - Contains button icons for the viewing and display of items in the ER Modeler.
3. Model Browser - Contains a node view of all entities and objects within a diagram. Objects hidden in the current sheet are gray.
4. Sheet View - Contains all of the sheets of a diagram, each indicated with a tab. This is where the diagram displays. Objects can display on multiple sheets and can be layed out differently on each one without altering the layout of the other sheets.
5. Entity Palette - Contains all of the entities and relationships which may be created within a sheet. Regions can also be created from the Entity Palette.
6. Model Overview - Contains a thumbnail of the entire active sheet. A red rectangle indicates what portion of the thumbnail is being viewed. Moving this rectangle changes the area visible in the sheet.
7. Object Properties - Displays, in a non-editable form, the properties of the object currently selected in the Model Node Browser or Sheet.
8. Sheet "SQL Server 2000 - 54" - The current view of selected tables, relationships, notes and regions given the name "SQL Server 2000 - 54".
9. Table Entity Node - Contains a tree of the Relationships, Indexes and Constraints of a table.
10. View Entity Node - Contains a tree of the contents of a view not displayed on the current sheet.
11. Table Entity Object - A table, its attributes, keys, physical schema and comments in a relationship with two tables.
12. Region - A grouping of entity objects and notes. Regions do not exist as schema objects and are strictly for diagram organization.
13. Relationship Entity Object - Represents a relationship between tables.