How to create a Chen ER Diagram
- Open Microsoft Visio
(Start -> Programs -> Microsoft Office -> Microsoft Office Visio 2003)
- Minimize Visio Window
- Link to http://www.cs.ecu.edu/~baa0612/ChenERD.vss
- Click the Save button
- Select My Documents
- Select the My Shapes folder
- Click the Save button
- Maximize the Visio Window
- Press CTRL + N to open a new Drawing
- Click the File menu, select Shapes, and then Open Stencil...
- Select ChenERD.vss and click Open
- Drag and drop Shapes onto Drawing to create Diagram
How to create a Crow's Foot ER Diagram
- Open Microsoft Visio
- Click the File menu, select New, then Database, and then Database Model Diagram
- On the menu bar, click Database, then Options, and finally Document
- In the new window, select the Relationship tab
- Check the Crow's Feet box under Show and click Ok
- Drag and drop Shapes onto Drawing to create Diagram
- Double click Entitys to adjust properties such as Name, Column, and Primary Key
- Double click Relationships to adjust properties such as Name
How to reverse engineer an existing Database
Sample DB
- Open Microsoft Visio
- Click the File menu, select New, then Database, and then Database Model Diagram
- On the menu bar, click Database, then Reverse Engineer...
- Select the correct Database type from the Installed Visio Drivers drop down list
- Select the correct Source from the Data sources list
- If source is not present, click the New... button and locate the ODBC Driver
- Click the Next button
- Enter your User and Password and click Ok
- If your database is not password protected, just click Ok
- Locate the File that contains your Database and click Ok
- Verify that appropriate check boxes are checked and click Next
- Click the Select All button and click the Finish button
- The diagram will be displayed, rearrange and modify as necessary