Database Modeling and Diagrams with SQL Server 2008

  • I hear you on the advantage of linking for the physical model - otherwise its out of date before its done. However, that means its not really a modeling tool. That's why the third party products are needed; so that you can work with the logical and conceptual models and not be tied to the physical too early.

    In the end, it has to be implemented as a physical model, of course, and that's where it's good to get back the "truth".

    By the way, the article itself is very nice and useful. I'd had some trouble navigating around it before, so for using the tool itself, the article is a big help.

    Roger L Reid

  • It's a good article only if it states at the very beginning:

    Do NOT try this in the production environment !!!!!

    Once you make a mistake, it will be reflected in the production database. Get your resume ready:-P

  • Anybody knows how to use smaller font in DB Diagram so that I can fit more tables in 1 printed page?

  • Printing Tip for DDs:

    Use Page setup to change the page size to A3. Show the page breaks and clean up the diagram. Then shrink print to A4. Still readable and much more information per page.

  • Thanks!!! It helps.

  • @ChrisHarshman It is possible to 'export' the Database Diagram "data" to survive rebuilds or apply to different instances. I first found a script to do that back on SQL Server 2000, which I updated myself for 2005 and then 2008.

    ScriptDiagram2005

    http://www.codeproject.com/KB/database/ScriptDiagram2005.aspx

    ScriptDiagram2008

    http://conceptdevelopment.net/Database/ScriptDiagram2008/

    We are doing continuous integration with our database (using RedGate) and use the above to save each Diagram to a file and re-create each time the database is "built from scripts".

    Note that the diagram data contains 'pointers' to your schema objects -- if you re-create a Diagram on a database instance that is missing some of the tables then they naturally disappear from the diagram (this has occasionally confused people using these scripts).

  • Another handy way to export diagrams from any version of SQL Server is to "print" to a PDF, using a tool such as PDFCreator (http://sourceforge.net/projects/pdfcreator/).

  • Cdunn, thanks for the info! I'll have to check that out.

  • Now the DD print is nice. But I also want to print Data Dictionary. I have defined the extended property "Description" for each table. I also entered the Description for each table column. How can I export/print these table/column descriptions to a nice Data Dictionary document?

  • Congratulations!!!

    I mean to the Author of the article Wagner Crevelini, which he has the same last name that I Am of the Argentinean republic and my grandfathers have to me counted who are relatives in the United States, distant cousins perhaps.¶Good, greeting kindly and thanks to share your knowledge.¶It salutes kindly, a friend of the south.

    😀

  • Iam connecting to a remote sql server database and when I right click on Database Diagrams I don't get the Create Diagram option. Is it possible that they have disabled the creation of Diagrams from within Management Studio.

    PS Iam using Sql Server 2008 (Enterprise) Management Studio.

  • Can you get the data diagran to use views

  • You have a diagram of the involved tables in View Designer.

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