We at Dataedo believe that diagrams are not suitable as reference documentation of a database. So hitting that sync button will never destroy your work.ĭiagrams as stories, rather than reference documentation
#Navicat data modeler export manual
The assumption is that you want to have a reflection of a database schema in Dataedo repository.īut that’s not all, Dataedo separates physical data model imported from the database form user-generated metadata, such as descriptions, table relationships, primary/unique keys or manual data elements (tables or columns), that are not impacted on subsequent import. It holds all tables, columns, relationships imported from the database and adds all new elements without unnecessary questions. This physical data dictionary is at the core of metadata in Dataedo. Sync window in Oracle SQL Developer Data Modelerĭataedo, on the other hand, allows easy, stress-free import of changes from the database to its data dictionary. Here is a sample window from Oracle SQL Developer Data Modeler where user has a lot of options and decisions to make.
They can and also sync changes from the database, but that is a serious step where users should be cautious because they can either change database structure by mistake or lose their metadata (like manual relationships)! Users can import the data structure from existing databases to the model and that is easy and safe (it’s called reverse engineering). Here are some examples of exports from popular tools:Įxport from Oracle SQL Developer Data ModelerĮxport from Toad Data Modeler Easy to keep in sync with database and separation of user metadataĭataedo also has a very different philosophy in its approach to the handling of metadata and the connection to source databases.Īt the core of data modeling tools are models or diagrams. So there is no browsable, convenient documentation you can share. It provides HTML export that includes interactive diagrams integrated with complete data dictionary documentation (and soon will have interactive web portal with powerful search, discovery and collaboration features).ĭata Modeling tools, on the other hand, allow you only to export diagrams as an image.Some allow you also to export data model/dictionary to a clunky HTML page, but… without diagrams. That’s why their metadata is trapped in the tool and it’s not easy to share models and documentation with nonusers, non-IT people who would just like to use data rather than waste time installing and learning another tool.ĭataedo puts sharing of documentation at its core. An era when data and databases were for those IT geeks and modeling is one of the magic tricks they do that no one else cares about.
Most of data modeling tools out there come from another era. I think the key difference in our philosophy is the emphasis on sharing of the designs. You can call it a data catalog (if you want to document an ecosystem of databases) or database documentation tool (if you want to focus on one database) with the ability to visualize data models with diagrams. Data modeling tools were designed for other purposes - modeling and design of data from scratch, and reverse engineering functionality was mostly an addon to this (in my opinion).ĭataedo, on the other hand, is a tool for discovery, cataloging, and documentation of your existing database ecosystem. Let me start by stating the key differentiator - we are not a data modeling tool. For documentation and discovery, not for modeling
I wrote this article to explain what benefits Dataedo provides and what do we do differently. Some of you who find Dataedo and want to visualize your databases with ER diagrams ask how are we different from data modeling tools, such as Erwin Data Modeler, Visual Paradigm or Enterprise Architect.