Re: Visualize database schema

On Tue, Aug 14, 2012 at 5:24 AM, Robert Gravsjö <robert(dot)gravsjo(at)imano(dot)se>wrote:

>
> > Can anyone advice about a tool to visualize a database schema? Ideally,
> I would like something that takes the SQL definition of a schema or database
> > (essentially the output of pg_dump) and produces a graphical
> representation of the tables, constraints and indexes which can be moved
> around for ease of
> > visualization (something like the "Graphical query builder" that comes
> with pgAdmin =>1.14).
>
> A simple method for this, open source cross-platform and work for various
> RDBMS, is the following:
> 1. Download SQL Power Architect at
> https://code.google.com/p/power-architect/downloads/list (it's a java app
> so you need a JVM installed and JDBC drivers for the RDBMS to use)
>

+1 on SQL Power Architect. I use it a lot.

--Scott

> 2. Run it, right click in left pane and choose "Add source connection" ->
> "New connection..." to create a connection for your db
> 3. Expand the connection and the database and then simply drag and drop
> the schema to the right pane.
> 4. Click on "Automatic layout" in the toolbar (it's the icon that looks
> like three connected boxes and a green triangle)
>
> From there you can examine the database. There are some limitations,
> constraints for example, so for more complicated tools
> look into ERD-tools as suggested by John in another reply.
>
> Regards,
> roppert
>
>
> --
> Sent via pgsql-general mailing list (pgsql-general(at)postgresql(dot)org)
> To make changes to your subscription:
> http://www.postgresql.org/mailpref/pgsql-general
>