August 8, 2019 at 12:50 pm
I am using Visual studio to design databases for applications / data warehousing rather than just using the SSMS designer like I did in the past, but now I really miss the ability to quickly see relationships etc from a diagram. We are using visual studio Sqlproj so that we can get the benefits of using git, as well as use out automated deployment tools. Are there any visual studio extensions that let me view a diagram from the .sqlproj rather than from a database that has been deployed out? I have tried a couple different tools, but pretty much everything seems to be based on a database that is deployed, not a sqlproj.
August 8, 2019 at 1:37 pm
I'm guessing you're talking about a database modeling or entity relationship diagram (ERD) tool. I don't know of an extension for SSMS or Visual Studio, but there is a tool called Apex SQLModel. The free version is at least more featured than the one baked into SSMS, and the licensed version is impressive. It can build a model from an existing database, but I don't think it will build a model from a VS project.
https://www.apexsql.com/sql-tools-model.aspx
"Do not seek to follow in the footsteps of the wise. Instead, seek what they sought." - Matsuo Basho
August 8, 2019 at 1:40 pm
This is what I am using
I'm guessing you're talking about a database modeling or entity relationship diagram (ERD) tool. I don't know of an extension for SSMS or Visual Studio, but there is a tool called Apex SQLModel. The free version is at least more featured than the one baked into SSMS, and the licensed version is impressive. It can build a model from an existing database, but I don't think it will build a model from a VS project.
This is what I am using now, I am just annoyed that refreshing it from the database gets rid of all my gorupings / color codings, annotations, etc.
August 8, 2019 at 2:31 pm
I am using Visual studio to design databases for applications / data warehousing rather than just using the SSMS designer like I did in the past, but now I really miss the ability to quickly see relationships etc from a diagram. We are using visual studio Sqlproj so that we can get the benefits of using git, as well as use out automated deployment tools. Are there any visual studio extensions that let me view a diagram from the .sqlproj rather than from a database that has been deployed out? I have tried a couple different tools, but pretty much everything seems to be based on a database that is deployed, not a sqlproj.
I don't know about VS but... MS removed the tool from the RTM of SSMS 18 and then, at the request of hundreds of people on the MS Feedback site and a whole lot of bad-press blog articles, MS brought it back. It's not a sophisticated tool, but it works great for the kind of stuff I do. It's also available in all revs of SSMS 17.
IIRC, Quest has a free tool you can download, as well. I don't care for it as much because it IS a separate tool but it works well enough for some folks at least for pictorially seeing what's related to what for troubleshooting and some design reasons.
--Jeff Moden
Change is inevitable... Change for the better is not.
August 16, 2019 at 12:28 pm
Um, it isn't a VS extension, it's standalone but have you considered ModelRight? Not sure exactly why you're developing the DB in VS but ModelRight has a large number of advantages including the ability to both document, design, and round-trip the DB that I find invaluable.
Just a suggestion.
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