Database Diagrams

jfmccabe

Is it possible to have an option to document database diagrams and have them as hyperlinks to text documentation?

paul.price

I echo the idea of having a database diagram option. Currently I need to create my own outside of SQL Doc and then add it to what was generated. This also means that I can not automat my docs in a build job, since manual editing is required.

David Atkinson

Thanks for the request. This is something we're considering. What would you like to include on the diagram?

David Atkinson
Product Manager
Red Gate Software

jfmccabe

Basically, the same as the sql diagram pane i.e. Table Name, field names, symbol for Priamry Key fields with the option to click on a table, relationship or field and be taken to its definition.

David Atkinson

Thanks for the clarification.

However, I'm a little confused about what this provide above and beyond the current SQL Doc documentation? We don't display in a diagram, but we have this information in tabular form.

David

rick.sheeley

Well, the most immediate thing they show is table relationships. You can these visually very quickly with the Diagram tool.

I was actually thinking that a great link would be to be able to merge the dependency tracker data with the documentor.....

joshturley

Currently, I've been pasting images of the diagrams from SSMS into jpg files, then modifying the HTML files to create a tree entry just for database diagrams.

I'd like to have links to the respective db diagrams from inside each table, but any modifications I make inside the HTML to do this would just be overwritten the next time I generate documentation.

A lot of companies like to visualize the relationships between tables, since tools like Crystal Reports and Access have similar diagrams in their software to make joins in queries, etc. Having this laid out helps them visualize it.

I don't think SQL Doc needs it's own diagramming tool, since the one in SSMS is probably a good start. There are things I wish SSMS did, but that's something for the MSDN boards.