Over the last few blog posts, I’ve been talking about keys – both primary and foreign. Now, we can use these to get a great ERD for all of our users. First, let’s open up our ERD tool. In this case, we’re going to use the SQL Database Modeler – a tool I talked about…… Continue reading Reverse Engineer an ERD – How to
Category: ERD
Foreign Keys – Are they worth it?
Last time, we learned about Primary Keys and some of the goodness that they give you. If you missed that, remember to go back and read that here. This time, though, we want to focus on the close kin of primary keys – the foreign key. Foreign Keys are truly columns that point to the…… Continue reading Foreign Keys – Are they worth it?
Primary Keys – Good and Bad
When it comes down to primary keys, most of us that have been working with databases for a while have come across a few million different ones. Some work fairly well. Some just don’t work at all and should be banned from ever being used as a primary key again. First, let’s delve into what…… Continue reading Primary Keys – Good and Bad
Reverse Engineering an ERD
One of the items you may have seen on the tools that you were using on Set up for an ERD is that you were asked if you wanted to reverse engineer it. Do not let the term “Reverse Engineer” confuse or scare you. Reverse Engineer – in this case – just means that the…… Continue reading Reverse Engineering an ERD
Set up for an ERD
So, last time, we discussed briefly what an ERD is and how it makes life easier for you. This time, let’s go thru setting one up. The first step – and possibly the hardest – is picking out the right tool for you. Over the past several years, I have tended more towards the ones…… Continue reading Set up for an ERD
The Real Value of ERDs
Several years ago, when I first started working with databases, I was lucky enough to work under a manager that believed in the value of Entity-Relationship Diagrams – better known as ERDs. For those of you not familiar with ERDs, they show the relationships of entity sets stored in a database. In other words, they show how each table…… Continue reading The Real Value of ERDs