ER/Studio - Embarcadero Technologies Product Documentation

USING ER/STUDIO > DEVELOPING THE LOGICAL MODEL
• You can name entities as you add them by using on-screen editing. Either type a name for an entity immediately
after adding it to the diagram, or press the SHIFT key, click the default entity name to enable the entity name
field, and then type a name. Click the diagram background to save the name and deactivate on-screen editing.
For information on entity naming rules and conventions, see Best Practices.
• The status bar at the bottom right of the application window displays the number of entities in the selected model.
• You can specify naming rules, such as maximum length, case, and synchronization level between entities and
tables on the Logical and Name Handling tabs of the Options Editor, which you can access by clicking Tools >
Options > Logical.
• You can specify the display order of the attributes and primary keys of any entity on the Display tab of the Options
Editor, which you can access by clicking Tools > Options > Logical.
• You can customize the information that pops up when you hover the mouse over an entity by selecting an option
from the list that appears when you select View > Cursor Popup Help Options > Entity Help.
• By default, ER/Studio automatically fits entities and views to display all content selected. However, you can resize
any entity to any size by selecting the entity and then dragging the size handles. You can make global changes to
how entities display by right-clicking the model, and selecting Diagram and Object Display Options. Then you can
choose the display options desired in the Entity and View tabs of the Diagram and Object Display Options editor.
• For information on arranging entities in the Data Model Window, see Changing Data Model Layout.
• For information on changing the colors of entities, see Overriding Color and Font Settings for a Specific Object.
Creating and Editing Tables
The table is the basic unit of a physical data model. ER/Studio facilitates the smooth conversion of databases into
physical models for deployment on an SQL database platform. You can populate your data model with tables by
importing or reverse-engineering an existing database, generating a new physical model from a logical model, or by
adding individual tables as needed. You can make changes to a table at any time using the Table Editor. You can also
edit table Columns and Indexes using the Column Editor and Index Editor. respectively.
ER/Studio lets you add as many tables to your physical model as you need. When you add a table to the diagram, it
creates as an independent table with square corners in the Data Model Explorer. You can create relationships
between tables and create views as needed. As you draw relationships and foreign Keys, associating the table with
others, ER/Studio automatically maintains the table status as an independent or dependent (child).
Create a Table
1 In the Data Model Explorer, expand a Physical model or submodel.
2 From the Data Modeling toolbar, click the Table tool, position the cursor over the desired location in the Data
Model Window, and then left-click.
TIP: Right-click to revert to the Selection tool.
3 To define table details, double-click the table to launch the Table Editor.
4 Define the table as required and then click OK.
The following describe options that require additional explanation:
Columns tab
Add, edit, or delete columns. You can also change the order of the columns in the list which changes their
corresponding column placement in the entity's table. You can also add an column to the primary key for the
table. The tabs at the bottom of the Columns tab apply only to the column selected and are the same as those
available for the Attributes tab in the Entity Editor. For more information, see Creating and Editing Columns.
EMBARCADERO TECHNOLOGIES > ER/STUDIO® 8.0.3 USER GUIDE 117