This page is for data modellers or application designers. It explains how to draw an ERD and its properties.

Overview

Use an ERD to represent the information that your application will use and how it is connected.

As you draw the diagram, PhixFlow creates table, attribute and relationship items. You can find:

tables in the repository Data → Tables category
attributes listed in the table properties.

PhixFlow sets the properties for a relationship item automatically. If you want to check them, in the ERD, click the relationship arrow to open its properties.

PhixFlow automatically saves any changes you make to the ERD.

For ERD concepts, see Understanding ERDs.

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Create a New ERD

From the home menu, select Data → ERD.

From the ERD list, select Create New.

PhixFlow opens the properties for the ERD on the right. Enter the name for your ERD and click Insert excerpt_finish_finishnopaneltrue.

PhixFlow opens a new ERD canvas on the left. The ERD has a toolbar at the top. Hover over toolbar icons to display a tooltip for them.

TipWhen you make any changes to the ERD, remember to Insert excerpt_save_savenopaneltrue it.

Open an Existing ERD

To open an existing ERD you can:

From the home menu, select Data → ERD and click on an ERD in the list.

In the repository, open your application and find Data → ERD.

either right-click on an ERD name and select Display.

or click the ERD name to open the properties. In the properties toolbar, click the Insert excerpt_erd_erdnopaneltrue icon.

Create a New Table

From the canvas toolbar, drag the Insert excerpt_streams_add_streams_addnopaneltrue icon

Insert excerpt

	_Banners
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name	ERD
nopanel	true

Overview

For an introduction to ERD concepts and why ERDs are important, see Understanding ERDs.

The process for defining data structures in an ERD depends on whether or not you have already created tables in PhixFlow. The following table summarises the different ways you can add data to an ERD, depending on your starting point:

Creating and Importing Data

Starting Point

Process

Primary Key

See

I have CSV or Excel data

Drag the file onto the ERD canvas. PhixFlow automatically imports the data for you.

In each table:

either set one attribute as the primary key and ensure all values will be unique
or add an attribute called UID with
- Data Type = Integer
- Precision = 10
and set one attribute to be the Display Name.

Creating Tables in an ERD, below.

I have no data

Define the tables, attributes and their relationships in the ERD.

Later you will need to add records to the table:

either manually, for example create a screen in which application users can enter data.
or via an analysis model.

PhixFlow automatically creates each table with:

a primary key called UID
a Name attribute, as the Display Name.

Creating Tables in an ERD, below.
Creating a Screen from an ERD Table
Importing Data

I have data but it's not in PhixFlow

Use an analysis model to connect to your data. PhixFlow can read the data structures to create tables.

In each table:

either set one attribute as the primary key and ensure all values will be unique
or add an attribute called UID with
- Data Type = Integer
- Precision = 10
- Tick Primary Key
and set one attribute to be the Display Name.

I have tables in PhixFlow already

In the ERD toolbar, click

Insert excerpt

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	_tables
nopanel	true

to display a list of all the tables. Drag tables into the ERD and then add the relationships.

Note

Insert excerpt

	_uid
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nopanel	true

Creating Tables in an ERD

Create a New Table using Excel or CSV Data
Anchor
Excel
Excel

Drag a CSV or Excel file directly onto an ERD canvas.
PhixFlow creates a table automatically based on the information in the file.

This topic is also covered in the ERD Fundamentals video course; see Entity Relationship Diagrams.

Create a New Table
Anchor
NewTable
NewTable

Drag
Insert excerpt
_table_new
_table_new
nopanel true
from the toolbar into the diagram.
In the

pop-up

popup, enter

its name, for example "Customer" and click Insert excerpt_dialog_finish_dialog_finishnopaneltrue.

PhixFlow adds a box to represent the table, and opens the properties tab for it. The table is created with one attribute called UID, which is set as the primary key.

Optionally, rename the primary key.

Click on the UID line in the table. PhixFlow opens the attribute properties.

In the Name field, change the name. We recommend that UID or ID is part of the name to indicate this attribute is the unique identifier.

Insert excerpt_dialog_finish_dialog_finishnopaneltrue the attribute properties.

a name that reflects what the table will represent. For example Customer.
PhixFlow opens the properties for the new table and adds the table to the canvas.
The table header displays its name. PhixFlow automatically adds two attributes:

- UID, a primary key that is a unique identifier for each record.
- Name, a display name that is shown instead of the numeric UID in a view or form.
To add attributes to the table:
1. In the table, click
  Insert excerpt
  _

add

1. new
  _

add

1. new
  nopanel true
  . PhixFlow opens the attribute properties

.Enter

1. on the

Name, Type and Length for the data; see Stream Attributes. Attributes are created

1. right, with the default

of a 50 character string. It's important to change this for other types of data, for example, numerical or date/time data.

1. settings of:
  - Type = String
  - Length = 50 characters.
2. In the properties, enter the Name and select appropriate type properties, such as Date or Integer; see Attribute. The following data types have additional properties:
  - For String add Length
  - For Integer add Precision
  - For Decimal add Significant Figures and Decimal Places
3. Click
  Insert excerpt
  _

dialog_

1. finish

_dialog

1. _finish
  nopanel true

the

1. to save the attribute properties.
PhixFlow adds the attribute to

the table

the table in the ERD.

Add an Existing Table

From

In the

canvas toolbar, Click the Stream List icon

toolbar, click
Insert excerpt
_table_list
_table_list
nopanel true
.
PhixFlow filters the repository to show the list of tables available in this application.
Drag a table from the repository

into

onto the ERD canvas.

Creating

Create Relationships

Between Attributes

The purpose of a relationship is to show that an attribute in one table contains the same data as the same as a primary key in another table. You are aiming to:

relate a primary key with a non-primary attribute

ensure related attributes have the same data properties

In an ERD you can create a one-to-many relationship between a primary key in one table with an attribute in another table. For relationship concepts, see Understanding ERDs.
To create a relationship

between attributes in different tables, click

Click-drag from one attribute name to another.

Click on the source attribute.

Drag to the destination attribute.

One of the attributes must be a primary key.
PhixFlow highlights the attribute when your mouse pointer is over it.

This may be offset from the end of the relationship arrow.

When the destination attribute is highlighted, release the click.

Relationships

Enter

See the

name for the relationship.

PhixFlow

adds the relationship arrow
opens its properties; see Relationships
sets the destination attribute to be a foreign key.

If you try to create a relationship between two non-primary attributes, PhixFlow assumes the source attribute is the primary key.

If the source table does not have a primary key, it sets the source attribute to be primary.
If the source table already has a primary key, it uses it as the source attribute.

Properties

Insert excerpt_standard_settings_standard_settingsnopaneltrue

Basic Settings

FieldDescriptionNameEnter the name for the ERD. When you press Return or Save a new properties tab, PhixFlow opens an empty diagram in the workspace on the left.

ERD Context Menu and Toolbar

In an ERD, you can hover your mouse pointer over the toolbar or context menu options to see what they are for.

You can find the toolbar at the top of the canvas

OptionDescription

ERD Options Create

~~Table~~ CreateDrag this icon onto the canvas to create a table.ScreenCreates a new screen for the selected table.ListTablesClick to list available tables.

Standard Options

SaveSave the diagram. ~~If there is no save icon, PhixFlow is saving changes automatically.~~RefreshRedraw the current diagram. If there have been recent changes to the diagram ~~properties~~, these will be shown. ~~HelpSlide open the help panel on the right~~. there is no help buttonPropertiesOpen the properties for the current diagram.

View

Zoom out

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

Zoom in

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

Arrange

Ungroup

Select a grouped set of items and then click to ungroup them.

Select several items then click to group them together.

Group

Select several items then click to group them together.

Back

For screen layout, move a component back.

ForwardFor screen layout, bring a component forward.

Align options

Click/hover to show all options for aligning items on the canvas.

Align Grid

Organise selected items into a grid pattern.

Align left

Align selected items to the left.

Align right

Align selected items to the right.

Align top

Align selected objects to the top.

Align bottom

Align selected objects to the bottom.

Distribute horizontally

For at least 3 items, adjust so they have equal space between them, left to right.

Distribute vertically

For at least 3 items, adjust so they have equal space between them, from top to bottom.

Context Menu

In the ERD, right-click a table to show the context menu.

OptionDescription

Configure Table

Open the properties for this table.

Remove from Diagram

Remove the selected item(s) from the diagram.

Show all tables using this table

List tables with a relationship into this one.

Show all related tables

This table has one-to-many relationships with other tables.

Delete everywhere

Delete the selected item(s) from the repository and from everywhere it is used

table below for the relationships that can be created between attributes:

Drag from		Relationship
Table 1	Table 2	Relationship
primary key	attribute	1:Many Table1.primarykey → Table2.attribute
attribute	primary key	1:Many Table2.primarykey → Table1.attribute
attribute	attribute	If Table1 has no primary key, PhixFlow makes the Table1.attribute the primary key. If Table1 has a primary key, the relationship is from Table1.primarykey instead of from the attribute being dragged.

Relationship Restrictions

PhixFlow cannot create a relationship between your selected attributes if your selected foreign key attribute:

is already a foreign key to a different primary key.
has a different Data Type and type properties to the primary key.

If this happens, you can:

create a new attribute to be the foreign key.
change the foreign key attributes to match the primary key, provided there is no data in the table.
create the relationship with a different attribute.

To change the data type properties, In the ERD, click on an attribute to open its properties.

Show Relationships From Other ERDs
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erd-view
erd-view

Tip
If you have created several ERDs to define the data structure that your application requires, then each ERD is a view onto a part of the full data structure.

If a table appears on more than one ERD it may have relationships with tables that are not visible in your current ERD. To see other related tables, right-click a table to show the popup menu and select:

Insert excerpt
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_rel_in
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Insert excerpt
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_rel_out
nopanel true

PhixFlow adds the related tables to your ERD.

To keep the related tables in your ERD, in the toolbar, click

Insert excerpt

	_save
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nopanel	true

.

To remove the related table from your ERD, in the toolbar, click

Insert excerpt

	_refresh
	_refresh
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.

Saving ERDs

Any changes you make on the ERD canvas are automatically saved.

Accessing Properties

To access properties for:

the ERD: in the canvas toolbar click
Insert excerpt
_property_settings
_property_settings
nopanel true
tables: in the ERD, click on the table header or right-click to open the popup menu and select
Insert excerpt
_config
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nopanel true
attributes: in the table, click on an attribute.

PhixFlow opens the properties pane on the right.

Versions Compared

Old Version 18

New Version Current

Key

Overview

Create a New ERD

Open an Existing ERD

Create a New Table

Overview

Creating and Importing Data

Creating Tables in an ERD

Create a New Table using Excel or CSV Data
Anchor
Excel
Excel

Create a New Table
Anchor
NewTable
NewTable

Add an Existing Table

Create Relationships

In an ERD you can create a one-to-many relationship between a primary key in one table with an attribute in another table. For relationship concepts, see Understanding ERDs.
To create a relationship

Relationships

Properties

Basic Settings

ERD Context Menu and Toolbar

ERD Options Create

Standard Options

View

Context Menu

Relationship Restrictions

Show Relationships From Other ERDs
Anchor
erd-view
erd-view

Saving ERDs

Accessing Properties

Page Comparison

Versions Compared

Old Version 18

New Version Current

Key

Overview

Create a New ERD

Open an Existing ERD

Create a New Table

Overview

Creating and Importing Data

Creating Tables in an ERD

Create a New Table using Excel or CSV Data AnchorExcelExcel

Create a New Table AnchorNewTableNewTable

Add an Existing Table

Create Relationships

In an ERD you can create a one-to-many relationship between a primary key in one table with an attribute in another table. For relationship concepts, see Understanding ERDs.To create a relationship

Relationships

Properties

Basic Settings

ERD Context Menu and Toolbar

Toolbar

ERD Options Create

Standard Options

View

Context Menu

Relationship Restrictions

Show Relationships From Other ERDs Anchorerd-viewerd-view

Saving ERDs

Accessing Properties

Create a New Table using Excel or CSV Data
Anchor
Excel
Excel

Create a New Table
Anchor
NewTable
NewTable

In an ERD you can create a one-to-many relationship between a primary key in one table with an attribute in another table. For relationship concepts, see Understanding ERDs.
To create a relationship

Show Relationships From Other ERDs
Anchor
erd-view
erd-view