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Welcome to the dbViz, Database Visualizer project!!dbViZ is an open source database
visualization tool that presents Database Tables in a form very similar to ER
Diagrams, or even UML Diagrams. It will analyze the meta-data of an existing
database schema, allow the user to choose a set of tables they want to view,
and it will automatically retrieve the meta-data for those tables, determine
how they link together (assuming they have foreign key relationships), layout
the tables in the diagram and plot lines between the linked items. This allows
developers to spend time learning how the tables connect rather than wasting
time manually drawing up the links between the tables they're interested in.
This project started out as a class project for a graduate Software
Engineering class at the University of
Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. This has now moved on as fully functioning
Open Source project that can help you visualize your database schemas as
Entity-Relationship diagrams without the unnecessary cost of purchasing an
expensive tool such as ERWin, Quest, or Oracle Enterprise Manager.
We
encourage you to try it out. Just click on the downloads link and follow the
instructions. If you would like to join an Open Source Java project, would like
to see more features added, or just want to improve your Java skills; we
encourage you to join the dbViz project team. Please visit our forums to get
started.
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Build
Entity-Relationship Diagrams |
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Import
from a SQL file or from a database |
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Save
your diagrams for later viewing |
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About dbViZ DiagramsdbViZ creates diagrams that are
similar to ER-diagrams, except they portray the schema at a more detailed
level. Because ER-Diagrams use abstraction to simplify diagrams, they hide
details that developers often need to implement software. Sure, they're great
for figuring out what kind of data the schema contains, but once the SQL
statements need to be written, developers need to know which columns and tables
they need to stick into their join statements.
dbViZ
diagrams show the database as it is, without abstraction. Developers know
exactly how the tables are linked. Of course, a diagram that shows too much
information is just as worthless as a diagram that doesn't show enough, so
dbViZ has been designed so users can choose exactly what portion of the
database they want to see. Instead of being presented with a huge schema all at
once on a complicated diagram, users can start at a few tables they know
they're interested in and grow their diagram.
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