October 4, 2011 at 2:40 pm
I am looking for a tool to help me in documenting my SQL Server databases. I have a large and very complex database environment which includes SQL 2000, SQL 2005 & SQL 2008 R2 databases. I use Red Gate's SQL Doc tool to create html database documents that I can post to our team's Sharepoint site. However, I need something that will create ERD's in HTML format.
Here are my requirements:
1. Flexible Graphical Entity-Relationship Diagram generator:
I need to include tables, views, functions, stored procedures. Ideally, I'd like to reverse engineer an existing database and then modify the diagram for clarity. I'd like to be able to model dependencies between stored procedures and other objects like tables, views, table-valued functions, etc. I would also want to be able to add objects from multiple databases and/or linked servers.
2. HTML Output:
As I said, I'd need to generate HTML output so I can share the diagrams with the rest of the team. I can't buy a copy of the tool for every team member. Also, HTML is a nice, flexible format. I use Red Gate's SQL Doc tool (and it is great), but it doesn't generate Entity Relationship Diagrams.
I've looked at a number of tools, but none of them are quite what I need. I'd love to hear your suggestions! 🙂
Thank you, very much.
October 5, 2011 at 4:02 am
I don't know if these tools do exactly what you're after. Give them a look:
1) Er-Win
2) Visio
-- Gianluca Sartori
October 5, 2011 at 4:46 am
I have been using a product call "Enterprise Architect" for a few years - it is more than capable of meeting your needs. You can reverse engineer from most of the popular RDBMS's, add relationships between any object you wish to, create diagrams to suit you needs, generate HTML versions of selected parts of your model. There is also a free version of Enterprise Architect that gives you read-only access to the repository.
The repository can be (and, in my opinion, should be) a SQL Server database. There are relatively few tables used by Enterprise Architect. Depending on my needs, I write Reporting Services reports that directly access this database which can give you a very flexible solution.
If you want more info - have a look at http://www.sparxsystems.com.
And finally, I have no association with the vendor. I just happen to think it is a great produce at a great price.
October 5, 2011 at 5:56 am
Would you mind trying open source solutions?
DBDesigner 4
October 5, 2011 at 10:58 am
Visio would be a possibility using the "Save as Web" feature. I'm not sure about ErWin. Are they still supported? I thought that Rational Rose was bought by IBM, who then shut down that division.
October 5, 2011 at 11:01 am
I'm not intrinsicly opposed to open-source solutions, although they seem to be a bit "fragile". I spent quite a bit of time getting SchemaSpy to work on my system and it had some interesting features, but it didn't allow me to edit the output.
I also looked at the "Fork" variant of DB Designer 4, but it didn't seem to have quite what I needed. If you have any other suggestions, I would certainly try them.
October 5, 2011 at 1:53 pm
happycat59 (10/5/2011)
I have been using a product call "Enterprise Architect" for a few years - it is more than capable of meeting your needs. You can reverse engineer from most of the popular RDBMS's, add relationships between any object you wish to, create diagrams to suit you needs, generate HTML versions of selected parts of your model.If you want more info - have a look at http://www.sparxsystems.com. And finally, I have no association with the vendor. I just happen to think it is a great produce at a great price.
Enterprise Architect looks like a slightly Awesome product! I think it might be a little more than I need, since I am pretty narrowly focused on databases.
To tell the truth, what I'd really like to find is a Virtual Reality total immersion environment for databases - maybe in 20 or 30 years, eh?
Database Documentation seems to be a sorely neglected subject. How do you handle this?
October 6, 2011 at 5:42 am
Before you discount Enterprise Architect (yes it is awesome), check out the price. The "Corporate Edition" - it does everything you need for US$239. That made the deal for me.
October 7, 2011 at 7:24 am
You might want to look at "TOAD for Data Analysts" by Quest Software, http://www.quest.com.
Be advised that the table structure must have Foreign key constraints in them.
If FKs exist, when you drag a table to the Database Diagram layout, the related tables are automatically pulled into the diagram.
If you have an extremely normalized DB and many tables are related, the resulting diagram can be quite large. Exporting the diagram
may call for imaginative methods.
If you do get a very large ERD, you can pick the most important relationships and delete the tables of less interest.
October 7, 2011 at 7:34 am
There's a basic diagram in SSMS, though it doesn't to HTML. However you could take an image and HMTL map link it to docs.
I used to use ER/Studio for something similar: http://www.embarcadero.com/products/er-studio
October 7, 2011 at 8:57 am
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (10/7/2011)
There's a basic diagram in SSMS, though it doesn't to HTML. However you could take an image and HMTL map link it to docs.
I really wanted to use the SSMS database diagram tool, because I like the idea of making the documentation an integral part of the database itself. Unfortunately, the SSMS database diagrams only do tables. Views, table-valued functions, etc. aren't included. 🙁
October 7, 2011 at 11:23 am
That makes sense, sorry. Wasn't aware you were looking beyond tables.
Have you looked at Dependecy Tracker? If you have SQL Doc, you might have a license for that and it makes some good diagrams.
October 7, 2011 at 11:31 am
Steve Jones - SSC Editor (10/7/2011)
That makes sense, sorry. Wasn't aware you were looking beyond tables.Have you looked at Dependecy Tracker? If you have SQL Doc, you might have a license for that and it makes some good diagrams.
I do have a license for Dependency Tracker (and SQL Compare)! 🙂
I am currently digging around to see what I can do with it. One great feature of SQL Doc is that it allows me to save the documentation as HTML. I can take the whole thing and put it on my team's Sharepoint site. It is vastly easier to navigate through a web site (particularly if you include frames) than it is to dig around in SSMS.
I had hoped that I could do something similar with Dependency Tracker, but so far "no joy". That really limits the usefulness of Dependency Tracker for me. I need to create good documentation for my team as much as for myself. (We don't have that many licenses for Dependency Tracker.)
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