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	_Banners
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This page is for application designers who need to configure the relationships between data. It explains the properties for entity relationship diagram (ERD).

Overview

PhixFlow ERDs define the logical structure of the data in your application; see Entity Relationship Diagrams.

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Tables

For complete details on tables and ERDs see Entity Relationship Diagrams. The following diagram illustrates how an ERD represents a table:

Name

Description

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	_key_primary
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PhixFlow expects every table to have a special attribute called a primary key, which uniquely identifies each record.

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(available in PhixFlow version 11.3+)

Secondary keys are optional keys that index records and do not have to be unique.

When you create a relationship, one attribute in the relation must be either a Primary Key or a Secondary Key.

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_key_foreign
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A foreign key attribute is an attribute in the table that refers to the primary key in another table. When you create a relationship from a primary key to an attribute, PhixFlow automatically sets the attribute to be a foreign key.

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The display name is the attribute that will be displayed in place of the Primary Key. Typically a primary key is not user-friendly and you do not want to display it. Instead, you want to display something that makes more sense to a person. for example a Company Name rather than their ID.

Basic Settings

Field	Description
Name	The name for the ERD.

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Toolbars and Popup Menus

ERD Toolbar

The toolbar is at the top of the canvas. Hover your mouse pointer over the toolbar to see a tooltip.

Option

Description

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To create a new table, drag the icon from the toolbar onto the canvas.

To add an existing table, click to list the tables available in the repository. Drag a table from the list into the ERD canvas.

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Create a new application screen using data from the selected table.

In the Create Screen window:

Name: Enter a name for the screen
Open Maximised: Tick for a maximised screen. Untick for a popup screen.
Description: Optionally enter a description for the screen.
Select a Template: PhixFlow shows the screen designs available to your application. These depend on the template packages/palettes you have.
See Understanding Template Packages and Changing or Creating a Palette.

Canvas options

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Open the help topic with details about working with ERDs.

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Options to arrange the selected components:

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	_align_left
	_align_left
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: Align the left edges of all the selected components to the component that is furthest to the left.

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	_align_right
	_align_right
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: Align the right edges of all the selected components to the component that is furthest to the right.

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	_align_top
	_align_top
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: Align the top edges of the selected components to the component that is positioned highest.

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	_align_bottom
	_align_bottom
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: Align the bottom edges of the selected components to the component that is positioned lowest.

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	_align_horizontal
	_align_horizontal
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: Equally distribute the selected components horizontally in the available space.

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	_align_vertical
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: Equally distribute the selected components vertically in the available space.

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	_property_settings
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Open the properties tab for the ERD.

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	_zoom_out
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Zoom out to see more of the diagram, with smaller text.

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	_zoom_in
	_zoom_in
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Zoom in to see a smaller area of the diagram, with larger text.

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	_refresh
	_refresh
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Update the ERD to the last saved diagram layout. This clears any unsaved layout changes.
Your ERD should automatically show an changes elsewhere in PhixFlow. For example, if someone adds a new attribute to a table in your ERD, the attribute will appear on the list. If changes are not appearing, click this icon.

Table Popup Menu

To access more options in a popup menu, in the table header, click

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Option

Description

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Open the properties for this table to make changes.

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	_remove
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Remove the selected item(s) from the diagram.

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Tables may have relationships to other tables not represented on the current ERD. Use these options to add all related tables to your ERD so that you can see the full relationship set; see Adding Content to an ERD, above.

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	_rel_out
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	_delete
	_delete
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Delete the selected item(s) from the ERD and from everywhere it is used.

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	_attributes_show_hide
	_attributes_show_hide
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Toggle the tables between expanded to show all attributes or collapsed to show only the table name, primary key and any foreign keys. This is useful if your table contains many attributes.

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	_screen
	_screen
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Create a new application screen using data from the selected table.

Attribute Popup Menu

This is accessed by right-clicking on an attribute.

Option

Description

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	_key_primary_set
	_key_primary_set
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Make: set the current attribute to be a primary key. A table can have only one primary key.

Unset: unset this attribute so it is no longer the primary key for the table.

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	_key_secondary_set
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(available in PhixFlow version 11.3+)

Make: set the current attribute to be a secondary key.

Unset: unset this attribute so it is no longer the secondary for the table.

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	_key_foriegn_set
	_key_foriegn_set
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Make: set an attribute to be a foreign key.

Unset: unset this attribute so it is no longer a foreign key.

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	_view_gray
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Make: set an attribute to be the display name for the primary key

Unset: unset this attribute so it is no longer the display name for the primary key.

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	_attributes_add
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Create a new attribute for the table. PhixFlow opens the properties where you can add a name and set the data type.

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Attribute

Delete the attribute from the table. PhixFlow prompts you to confirm.

Live Search
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Learn More

For links to all pages in this topic, see Entity Relationship Diagrams.

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Versions Compared

Old Version 26

New Version 27

Key

Overview

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name basic-h
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Tables

Basic Settings

Toolbars and Popup Menus

ERD Toolbar

Table Popup Menu

Attribute Popup Menu

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Page Comparison

Versions Compared

Old Version 26

New Version 27

Key

Overview

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Tables

Basic Settings

Toolbars and Popup Menus

ERD Toolbar

Table Popup Menu

Attribute Popup Menu

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name basic-h
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Live Search
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additional none
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