ER Modeler (Revision #97)

Then Entity Relationship (ER) Modeler has been completely redesigned, including enough new features and enhancements that it is as powerful as a stand-alone database diagramming tool. Any database you access through Aqua Data Studio, regardless of vendor or version, can be accessed and diagrammed manually or automatically within the ER Modeler. The ER Modeler’s resulting Entity Relationship (ER) Diagrams are editable drawings of database relationships and objects within which database schemas can be created, explored, detailed, and edited.

ER Modeler	Generate ER Diagram	Alter Table Properties	Right Click Menus	Dockable Framework

Changes made to an ER Diagram can be automatically scripted to make the associated changes in database schema. Database content can also automatcially diagrammed with only a few clicks.  Manipulation of the resulting diagrams alters the relationships and objects of the corresponding database.  Using the ER Modeler in this fashion greatly reduces development time and vastly increases developers’ understanding of database schemas and relationships.  Sharing a diagram with a team, through Aqua Data Studio’s integrated Subversion (SVN) and CVS source control clients, makes collaboration on schema changes easy and instantly creates an archive of team progress.

Operations Overview

• 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.
• 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: Once a diagram is complete, it can be printed, enlarged and laminated for use as a poster for quick reference.
• 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

• 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 noneditable 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 is displaying in the current sheet.

Use Case

• Liferay lportal: Aqua Data Studio provides no-cost licenses to qualified Open Source Software Developers. The open source project Liferay Lportal has a database schema available on their website. To participate as a contributor to this project a developer needs a full understanding of the database objects and relationships involved. A model displaying the number of tables, their constraints and keys could quickly provide an understanding of the work done to this point. Using the ER Modeler, an ER Diagram of the Liferay Lportal database schema can be created and saved. This diagram can then be added as a file to the repository as a whole to be shared among all of the contributors to Liferay Lportal.

liferay lportal use case

Entity Relationship (ER) Modeler Detailed Actions List

Menu Bar - Contains all of the menus available in the ER Modeler.

• File
  • New - Creates a new, blank ER Diagram.
  • Open - Opens an exisitng ER Diagram.
  • Save - Saves the current diagram.
  • Save As - Saves the current diagram with a different filename.
  • Save As Image - Saves the current sheet view as PNG or JPG.
  • Generate Script - Generates the SQL required to script the diagram.
  • Print - Prints the current sheet.
  • Close - Closes the current diagram.
• Edit
  • Copy - Copies the selected entity object or content.
  • Paste - Pastes the entity object or content in the clipboard.
  • New Table - Creates a new table entity object.
  • New View - Creates a new view.
  • New Note - Creates a new note.
  • New Relationship - Creates a new relationship.
  • New Subcategory - Creates a new subcategory.
  • New Region - Creates a new region.
• View
  • Zoom: 1:1 Scale - Zooms current view to actual size.
  • Zoom: In - Magnifies the current view.
  • Zoom: Out - Shrinks the current view.
  • Zoom: Panorama - Forces the the entire sheet to fit in the Sheet.
• Sheet
  • Add Sheet - Adds a sheet to the current diagram.
  • Rename Sheet - Renames the selected sheet.
  • Layout - Allows selection of different automatic layout of entities.
  • Delete Sheet - Deletes the current sheet.
• Display
  • Attribute Level - Displays only the entity object attributes.
  • Primary Key Level - Displays only the Primary Keys.
  • Entity Level - Displays only the entities.
  • Physical Schema Level - Displays the Data Types.
  • Comments - Displays the comments associated with an entity.
  • Relationship Names - Displays the names or relationships.
• Window
  • Hide Model - Hides the Model Node Browser.
  • Hide Object Properties - Hides the Objects Properties pane.
  • Hide Overview - Hides the Overview.
  • Hide Palette - Hides the Entity Palette.

 Tool Bar - Contains button icons of the tools of the ER Modeler.

• Save - Saves the current ER Diagram.
• Print - launches print dialog.
• Zoom: 1:1 Scale - Zooms current view to actual size.
• Zoom: In - Magnifies the current view.
• Zoom: Out - Shrinks the current view.
• Zoom: Panorama - Zooms out until the entire diagram fits in the sheet.
• Display Attribute Level - Displays entities and their attributes.
• Display Primary Key Level - Displays entities and their primary keys.
• Display Entity Level - Displays on entities by name.
• Display Physical Schema Level - Displays or hides the physical schema level.
• Display Comments - Displays or hides the comments.
• Display Relationship Names - Displays or hides the names of relationships.

Documentation: ER Modeler