Have you ever tried using Microsoft Visio for creating database diagrams? Im using it at the moment for a large web application project and I’ve got to say, I hope there’s a better solution out there. I understand that Visio is design for lots of different uses and not just database diagrams, but it really is difficult to get a useful database diagram out of the software.

One thing that frustrates me is that when i define relationships between particular fields in two different tables, the lines dont match with the fields… they only match with the tables. Maybe there is something I’m missing with that, but there is no obvious way to make the lines match up to the fields.

Also, adding notes to a table is very difficult. If I add a speech-bubble type object with a note and then want to move the table to somewhere else on the page, the speech bubble (even though it is supposedly connected to the table) doesn’t move with it.

I normally use a Mac for web development (and am even now, but am running VMware with Vista for various applications), so would prefer a Mac style diagram application. I’ll be on the lookout.

Tags: development, microsoft, visio, web

This entry was posted on Tuesday, February 12th, 2008 at 8:14 am and is filed under How to, Web Development. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.