Greetings list:
I'm going to reply to my own message here.
I've received 2 comments on my use of the word cartoonish when describing
the interface to DeZign. While their approach was different, both basically
wanted to know what I found cartoonish about the interface.
First let me say that I will apologize for the use of the word cartoonish.
It wasn't the best word to use, it was just the closest one that comes to
mind. But it was not very accurate. Second, let me say that I won't
apologize for my opinion, it's mine, if you don't like it, then get your
own.
Ok, I re-downloaded and re-installed DeZign.(http://www.heraut.demon.nl) For
those who are not totally pissed at me now for my first faux-pas, I'll offer
my opinion on the product.
DeZign is a good product. I've worked with several ER diagramming programs
in my 16 years of building databases and it's no where near the worst I've
worked with. As a matter of fact, for the price (139.00US$) when compared to
it's more "mature" brethren (ERWin, ER/Studio) it's a very good deal.
However, there are several things that I personally did not like about.
First, Most ER programs support a common paradigm for designing entities and
attributes. Mainly that when you add an entity to the workspace, the entity
is placed where you clicked. DeZign chooses to do it otherwise. It
currently places all entities in the upper left corner. Also, it does not
allow you to drag relationships between entities. It's a small thing but
it's important when you are designing large models. (Also, I found it
difficult to figure out how to do a 0:N relationship, which I consider the
most common. It seems the default relationship is N:N A bit odd but nothing
that a little poking around won't cure.)
Finally, the interface breaks with the commonly used symbols for data
modeling. Other tools use common symbols for entities and relationships.
DeZign chose to use similar but non-standard symbols.
All that said and done, what DeZign does have is a developer that actually
cares how his product is perceived. (He reads this list!) There is nothing
really wrong with DeZign. If you don't have a lot of experience with other
E/R diagramming programs then you won't ever notice the things I'm talking
about. But the thing you will notice about DeZign is that when you have a
question, you actually get an email response from a person. That's
refreshing these days.
I hope I've not bored too many of you to tears. I'll go back to lurking now
until another newbie questions comes along where I can help.
Cal
http://www.calevans.com
p.s. my gripe about size limited demos still stands.
-----Original Message-----
From: Cal Evans [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Sunday, February 11, 2001 9:36 AM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]; [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: RE: Data modeling tool
Mark,
I like CASE but I wish they would add MySQL Reverse Engineering capabilities
to it. The interface is clean and similar to what one expects from it's more
mature brothers. (ERWin, ER/Studio)
A couple of people emailed me and told me to look at
http://www.heraut.demon.nl but I'm not thrilled with the interface. It looks
too cartoonish and as I remember it (it's been a month or more since I
looked at it) it was not the friendliest program to work with.
One gripe I have about both tools. I've done ER Diagramming "Bake Off's"
before. I did one for tools that supported FoxPro a few years ago. With
those tools, all the demo's were timed instead of size restrictive. I wish
these two vendors would provide a 30-60 day demo that is unlimited. I can't
get a feel for the tool with 6 tables. (Gees, my CHECKBOOK has more tables
than that!) :)
I'd love to publish a full comparison of the tools but these size limited
demo's bite.
Cal
http://www.calevans.com
-----Original Message-----
From: Mark Chalkley [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]
Sent: Saturday, February 10, 2001 6:12 PM
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Subject: Re: Data modeling tool
I haven't tried ERWin, but CASE Studio (www.casestudio.com) is extremely
good, offers a trial download, and does support MySQL.
Mark Chalkleyi
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Before posting, please check:
http://www.mysql.com/manual.php (the manual)
http://lists.mysql.com/ (the list archive)
To request this thread, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To unsubscribe, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Trouble unsubscribing? Try: http://lists.mysql.com/php/unsubscribe.php
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Before posting, please check:
http://www.mysql.com/manual.php (the manual)
http://lists.mysql.com/ (the list archive)
To request this thread, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To unsubscribe, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Trouble unsubscribing? Try: http://lists.mysql.com/php/unsubscribe.php
---------------------------------------------------------------------
Before posting, please check:
http://www.mysql.com/manual.php (the manual)
http://lists.mysql.com/ (the list archive)
To request this thread, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To unsubscribe, e-mail <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Trouble unsubscribing? Try: http://lists.mysql.com/php/unsubscribe.php
