Entity Relationship diagrams

The Entity Relationship (ER) diagram is a high level data model that shows the major entities and relationships which support a general business area. The objective of the ER diagram is to provide a view of business information requirements sufficient to satisfy the need for broad planning for development of its information system.

Creating and drawing ER diagrams

If you need to learn how to create new diagrams in a project, or the techniques for placing elements and drawing links, consult the User's Guide topics found under " Working with Diagrams: Basic Diagram Techniques" in the Table of Contents. See Related Topics below.

Content

ER diagrams contain:

• Entities
  

• Relationship links:

  • Identifying relationship
    
  • Non-Identifying relationship

• Notes and Note Links

Notation

The ER diagram is not specified in the UML, so UML purists may not wish to include it in their modeling process. However, since many enterprise developers continue to use ER diagrams (and asked for them in Together!) they are supported in Enterprise editions of the product.

Key elements and properties

Entity

Identifying relationship link

Non-identifying relationship link

Related topics

• Creating diagrams in projects
  

• Drawing diagram elements
  

• Opening diagrams

See also:

Import-Export Operations

Reference: Generate Database dialog

Reference: Import Database dialog