Getting Started with Database Modeling

Creating a database diagram of allows you to quickly create offline tables and foreign key relationships directly on the diagram. You can model offline tables on any type of diagram, except an activity diagram, and you can subsequently add other elements like UML classes, Java classes, business components, Enterprise JavaBeans, UML use cases and web services on the same diagram. For more information on creating a database diagram, see Creating a Diagram of Offline Database Definitions.

UML notation is used to represent the elements on your diagram. For more information, see How to Read a Diagram of Modeled Tables.

Tables

Tables are created on a diagram by clicking on (Table) on the Database Component Palette for the diagram, and then clicking on the diagram where you want to create the table. For more information, see Creating Nodes on a Diagram .

Note: You can also drag tables from a database connection defined in JDeveloper and drop them on the diagram.

Columns can be added by either editing the properties of the database object by double-clicking the modeled table and adding the column or constraint using the properties dialog or by creating the new column or constraint 'in-place' on the modeled table itself. For more information, see About In-Place Creation and Editing.

Foreign Keys

Foreign keys can be created quickly between modeled tables using (Optional Foreign Key) and (Mandatory Foreign Key) on the Database Component Palette for the diagram. Select the icon for the foreign key you want to create then click the table you want to originate the foreign key, then the destination table for the foreign key. The Create Foreign Key dialog allows you to select an existing column in the target table, or create a new column. For more information about creating foreign keys on a diagram, see For information in general about drawing this type of object, see Connecting Nodes on a Diagram.

Note: If you change, add to or delete from the definition of anything that's displayed on a diagram, those changes will be reflected on the modeled representations of those offline database objects. Conversely, any changes to the modeled database objects are also made to the underlying offline definitions.

You can annotate a diagram of offline database objects using notes, dependency relationships and URL links. For more information, see Annotating a Diagram.