Tools for graphicaly representing database structure

Question

I have been asked to create a graphical representation of our database, I have looked at tools such as, lucidchart. Are there any good tools that I can use to graphically represent the database and it's relationships?

What about [Microsoft SQL Server 2008 Management Studio Express](http://www.microsoft.com/DOWNLOADS/details.aspx?FamilyID=08e52ac2-1d62-45f6-9a4a-4b76a8564a2b&displaylang=en)? Cheers — Aggelos Biboudis, Sep 22 '09 at 08:23

score 5 · Accepted Answer · answered Sep 22 '09 at 08:18

If you're using MySQL then MySQL Workbench will create Entity Relationship Diagrams from a database.

If you're using "Microsoft Office Access, Microsoft SQL Server, and other databases that are compliant with Open Database Connectivity (ODBC)" then Visio Professional will do this. (Note - Visio Standard doesn't do this.)

score 1 · Answer 2 · answered Sep 22 '09 at 08:19

I have used Enterprise Architect and found it to be very helpful. Take a look at http://www.sparxsystems.com I believe they have a free trial. It's powerful, but gets out of the way so you can take your whiteboard drawings and quickly put them into a version controlled system, create .pngs, etc. They do reverse engineering of code and databases to generate models.

score 1 · Answer 3 · answered Sep 22 '09 at 08:21

It depends on the database brand, for example, the SQL Management Studio has a means to generate a graphical representation of SQL Server databases, MySQL workbench will do it for MySQL and so on. Among the paid generic alternatives I've liked EMS tools (which has a version for SQL Server, MySQL, PostgreSQL and Firebird) and Dezign (which supports 12 databases)

score 1 · Answer 4 · answered Sep 22 '09 at 08:23

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Sybase Power Designer is what i use. It is most complete by my opinion but it is expensive.

answered Sep 22 '09 at 08:23

Siblja

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+1 for Power Designer... very full-featured if you can afford it. – Galwegian Sep 22 '09 at 08:53

score 1 · Answer 5 · answered Nov 22 '11 at 04:10

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You can try this web-based tool also.

answered Nov 22 '11 at 04:10

vkantiya

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score 1 · Answer 6 · answered Mar 31 '12 at 13:41

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Computer Associates ERWin. There is a logical and physical view and in the physical, the current database can be reverse engineered.

answered Mar 31 '12 at 13:41

starbuck

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score 0 · Answer 7 · answered Sep 22 '09 at 08:19

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Some commercial tools will do this. Personally, I only know Enterprise Architect from Sparx Systems. For feeware I can recommend SQuirrel SQL client. You might also want to look at the data base support of OpenOffice.

answered Sep 22 '09 at 08:19

Frank Bollack

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Tools for graphicaly representing database structure

7 Answers7