Database model diagrams - how to display additional columns

[rupertsland]

Hello.

I am using Visio 2003 Professional on Win XP 64-bit.

Our company is migrating Microsoft Access databases to the SQL Server 2005
platform. Our GIS team has spent some time learning SQL Server, and we pretty
much have an intermediate level of understanding. I know how to reverse
engineer databases in Visio, and I have already tried connecting to SQL
Server. Works great.

My question is, in Visio is it possible to display additional columns in the
entity shapes other than the basic columns (i.e., field names, keys,
annotations, etc.)? I'm referring to database documentation options.

In SQL Server I can customize how the tables appear in a database diagram.
For example, I can show attributes such as Condensed Type, Nullable, Length,
Default Value, etc. For some reason, I can't find this functionality in
Visio. I want to show these attributes in a system map that I'm preparing in
Visio. Is there a way to show these attributes in Visio? Or am I pretty much
stuck with building diagrams in SQL Server in order to display this
information? Or do we need to purchase a different version of Visio?

We do have a copy of Visio 2007 Professional running on another machine, but
there too I am not able to display the attributes I want for each entity.


Best wishes,
Dirk
Winnipeg, Canada

 

[Aaron Rykhus [MSFT]]

There are Column Properties in Visio's Database Modeling if you right-click
a table (entity shape), choose Database Properties, then under Categories
choose Columns, select a column and click the Edit... button no the left.
There is 'Allow NULL Values'. I don't think that everything you're looking
for is there but I believe most of it is.


Best Regards,

Aaron Rykhus, MCP, MCDST
Online Support Engineer
Microsoft Corporation

 

[rupertsland]

Hi Aaron.

Thank you for your help. Your solution did not answer my question, but was
helpful in that I found out how to use database properties to design new
tables.

In retrospect, I should have written the question differently. I was not
clear enough.

In SQL Server 2005's Management Studio, the diagraming tool there allows one
to display more attributes for each field in a table/entity. In other words,
the appearance or "view" of the table/entity on screen can be customized to
reveal more information about each entity column/field. For example, if one
right-clicks on any table, a shortcut menu appears. Clicking on Table View
reveals a submenu with options to display the table/entity in Standard View,
or you can Modify Custom. The "Modify Custom" feature is what I'm trying to
find in Visio -- the equivalent, if it exists. This allows me to choose what
to display -- Data Type, Precision, Scale, Null Values, etc. If the
equivalent of a "Modify Custom" feature doesn't exist in Visio, then it
should be put in (or maybe Microsoft had a reason not to do so?). We'd give
Microsoft a big fat hug if it did!


rupertsland
Winnipeg, Canada

 

[Aaron Rykhus [MSFT]]

I didn't intent my last post as a resolution. More of a "in case you didn't
know" piece of information. I'm not sure what you mean when you talk about
the Table View command in SQL Server Managment Studio, when I right-click
on a table, I don't get a Table View option.


Best Regards,

Aaron Rykhus, MCP, MCDST
Online Support Engineer
Microsoft Corporation