RE: Description of databases

[dthomps -at- foundationsoft -dot- com]

Hi,
Have you investigated Visio's ability to reverse engineer a database? I use
Visio to document our SQL database. I think it's the Professional edition
that includes a wizard which will read the database, find all the tables and
fields, primary keys, foreign keys, indexes, etc. The only caveat is the
massive amount of information. With 1200 tables, you'll still have to pick
and choose which ones you want to include in your drawing and how you want
them laid out -- which can be a daunting task in and of itself.

Good luck!

Dannette Thompson
Technical Writer
Foundation Software, Inc.
The #1 Accounting Software for Labor-Intensive Contractors
The opinions expressed in this message do not necessarily reflect the
opinions or policies of my employer or coworkers.


-----Original Message-----
From: corry -dot- clybouw -at- quadrat -dot- be [mailto:corry -dot- clybouw -at- quadrat -dot- be]


Hello all

I am describing a 1200 table relational database (Oracle).  

I make Visio diagrams to visualise the relation between tables (subdivided 
in sets of ± 8 - 10 tables).  Making these drawings is very time 
consuming:
- I have to look op the information about the relations in the database (I 
doe this with Toad)
- and then I draw boxes (representing the tables) and connectors 
(representing the relations).

I am looking for a tool that would make this task easiers and less 
labour-intensive.  I know of database management tools but these are meant 
for database administrator or developers - they help you create and manage 
relations between tables, but not to visualise them.

Can anyone give me some advice?

Thanks a lot !!

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