Tool for DATA MODELLING

  • Dear All,

    Can anyone suggest me a good tool for DATA MODELLING pls...?

    I have never used one. Thanks in advance.

    Santhu.

  • My absolute favorite is Embarcadero ERSTudio. Fantastic set of functionality.

    CA offers another that's extremely popular ERWin. There are a couple of others available, but those are the two big ones.

    "The credit belongs to the man who is actually in the arena, whose face is marred by dust and sweat and blood"
    - Theodore Roosevelt

    Author of:
    SQL Server Execution Plans
    SQL Server Query Performance Tuning

  • [font="Verdana"]Embarcadero's ERStudio was a favourite of mine in the past.

    I never really liked ERWin (even before CA bought it, and it's only gotten worse since then.) But some people swear by it.

    I've been using Sybase PowerDesigner recently, and that seems to be okay.

    For basic data modelling I use a white board and something like Visio. I already have Visio anyway, and I don't particularly need to do a lot of in-depth modelling. So you may want to consider just how much you need from your tool. If all you need to do is throw together some diagrams, then Visio may be enough.[/font]

  • I use NotepadWithPencil Version A4 and Brain Version 1.0 (I believe) to start. Sometimes MS Visio is quite handy, specially if you have an existing database and you want to get an overview about existing tables and relations (not always works). If it really needs to be professional I prefer PowerDesigner. Check this link: http://www.sybase.com/products/modelingdevelopment/powerdesigner

  • I have used both ERWin and Embarcadero ERStudio. I currently use ERStudio and I feel it offers a lot as compared to ERWin. One feature that i liked is it has a database capacity planning. I guess you can download a free trial of ERStudio and try for yourself a few days before you decide to buy.

    Amol

    Amol Naik

  • I too have used ERStudio for years now. Good tool. It can get expensive, especially if you get cross-platform licenses. If you are sql server only they do (or used to) offer a much cheaper sql server only license.

    Never having used a modelling tool, you may want to stick with visio though. ERStudio has a LOT of 'flexibility'. 🙂

    Best,
    Kevin G. Boles
    SQL Server Consultant
    SQL MVP 2007-2012
    TheSQLGuru on googles mail service

  • TOAD 3.0 tool is the best data designing tool .and another one is ER win data modeler.But my choice is TOAD 3.0.

  • [font="Verdana"]Heh. Nice to see someone who likes TOAD (I assume for SQL Server?) Personally I hate the product, but I know other people disagree. My issue with TOAD is that it tries to be a "jack of all trades" (and hence...) I have to admit I didn't even realise TOAD had a database design part, although it's been several years now since I had to use it, so it may have been a more recent addition.

    I know a bunch of Oracle DBAs who are moving to SQL Server, and keep insisting that they need the SQL Server version of TOAD. I've been telling them to learn Management Studio instead. Perhaps I need to revisit that?[/font]

  • If I'm doing something small, paper or Visio work well. If I need to manage and handle changes to a larger database, I prefer ERStudio over Erwin. Haven't used TOAD.

  • I used Erwin never had issues with however currently I am addicted to SPARX(Enterprise Architect). It is a cool to use.

  • Hi

    ERWin is best.

    Thanks -- Vijaya Kadiyala

    http://dotnetvj.blogspot.com

  • The place I work is using EA and having used ERWin and ERStudio extensively in the past, I absolutely HATE EA.

    This could very well be a "You dont know how to use the tool" thing, but so far, I cant do the following things:

    1) Name my constraints indexes

    2) define referential integrity and migrate PKs to Linked tables with an FK

    3) define Schemas

    4) Resolve Many To Many relationships

    5) Create Database Scripts that utilize specifi db attributes (File Groups, etc)

    6) Define relationship and cardinality rules

    7) etc etc etc

    I'm hoping I find that it's just a learning curve thing. So far....I'm not impressed at all.

    so far this tool seems very much like a UML Modeling tool (which it is).

    Gregory A Jackson MBA, CSM

  • My money is with ERWin; be sure you get the yourBrain plugin working with it 😀

    _____________________________________
    Pablo (Paul) Berzukov

    Author of Understanding Database Administration available at Amazon and other bookstores.

    Disclaimer: Advice is provided to the best of my knowledge but no implicit or explicit warranties are provided. Since the advisor explicitly encourages testing any and all suggestions on a test non-production environment advisor should not held liable or responsible for any actions taken based on the given advice.
  • After using ERwin for many years, I shifted to ERStudio at beginning of this year. And I am happy with the shifting. (SQL only, it is cheap)

  • I'm making a decision now at my current workplace.

    Folks at ERStudio wont return my calls, etc.

    Probably gonna go with ERWin just by default.

    Gregory A Jackson MBA, CSM

Viewing 15 posts - 1 through 15 (of 17 total)

You must be logged in to reply to this topic. Login to reply