I just discovered that MySQL Workbench actually WILL connect columns. Use the #6 wire type shortcut (bottom one). However, I must be retarded or blind because I can't figure out how to make the diagram have more than the default of 2 pages. I have a database with 50 tables and they just don't fit. In fact I only noticed this after printing out the page that many were missing. Turns out you can't scroll down to see them, you can only zoom way out and see that tables are off the white page. :-\ Oddly though, I imported another database with 88 tables and it automatically made 4 pages for me. Anyone know how to get more pages added? From: Daevid Vincent [mailto:dae...@daevid.com] Sent: Friday, April 01, 2011 4:27 PM To: mysql@lists.mysql.com Subject: Any table visualization tools with wires connecting the actual columns? I am evaluating various tools for diagram generating of existing databases on some smaller databases (9 tables or so) first.
The two I've tried so far are these: http://dev.mysql.com/downloads/workbench/ http://www.sqlmaestro.com/download/#mysql Both _seem_ robust and cosmetically polished, but feel to me lacking the most obvious and key component of the whole purpose to make an EER diagram. I don't understand in workbench, why it creates new keys for me on existing tables. Maestro doesn't do this nonsense. It isn't the tools business where I have keys, it only needs to be concerned with what links to what -- that I tell it to. It's further exacerbated by the fact that the documentation indicates these aren't even REAL keys, they are cosmetic only! WTF? Why add confusion guys? 1. Neither one seem to be smart enough to automatically know that columns of the same name should be linked, and furthermore they should be linked from all tables to the one where that column name is the PK. my tables don't have true InnoDB FKs setup. And some tables are MYISAM (as they're significantly faster). But I do use keys and I do have sane naming conventions, so I don't understand why they can't use the names, and if there are multiple tables (for some unlikely reason) then just prompt me which table to use. Which leads me to the second and third problems... So I manually have started to draw the connections, but: 2. How can I make the wires stick to a column on the left or right edge, so that I can have a direct visual link between the columns. Right now, it seems they float around the edge of the table box. That's sort of useless isn't it? it's like saying, "well, something in this table points to something in that table".?! I would think that two programs with such high version numbers would have this feature. Maybe I'm missing a configuration or some way I'm supposed to do it? 3. Some of my databases point to tables in other databases on the same server. It would be useful if I could make a wire that indicates this. Are there other (better) options out there for this? I really don't want to do this in Visio or make a printout of the table boxes and tape string to my walls to visualize all the databases, tables and columns. -Daevid.
