This page is for application designers who want define the data that will back the application. It explains how to draw an ERD and setup its properties.

Overview

Use an ERD to define the structure of the data that backs your application.

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Overview

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

Understanding ERDs

Entity Relationship Diagrams.

The process for

creating

defining data structures in an ERD

is slightly different depending

depends on whether or not you have already created tables in PhixFlow.

The following table

The following table summarises the different ways you can add

tables

data to an ERD, depending on your starting point

. (See the sections below for details of how to add tables and relationships.)

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Starting PointProcessPrimary KeySee

:

Creating and Importing Data

Starting Point

Process

Attributes

Further Topics

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 are 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

tables

table:

either manually, for

example create

example, create a screen in which application users can enter data.
or via an

analysis model

Analysis Model.

PhixFlow automatically creates

each table

each table with:

a primary key

a Primary Key called UID
a Name attribute

Defining Data Structures using ERDs

, as the

Name attribute set as the display name (??link to display name info)

Display Name.

Creating Tables in an ERD, below.
Creating a Screen from

a Table
Load DataI have data in Excel files

Drag the Excel files directly into an ERD. PhixFlow loads the data structure and records. It then adds the table to the ERD.

In the ERD, you then add the relationships between tables.

PhixFlow prompts you to set the primary key and display name attributes.

??Link to doc on XD flow 4.10

an ERD Table 2. Importing Data
I have data but it's not in PhixFlow	Use an

analysis model

Analysis Model to connect to your data. PhixFlow can read the data structures to create tables

. When you run analysis on the model, PhixFlow loads the data records

.	In each table: either set one attribute as the

primary key

Primary Key and ensure all values

will be

are unique
or add an attribute called UID

with the

with
- Data Type = Integer
- Precision = 10

Set

- Tick Primary Key
and set one attribute to be the Display Name.

Load

Importing Data Analysis Models
	I have tables in PhixFlow already	In the ERD toolbar, click

the

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tables
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(??wrong icon) to

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

Defining Data Structures using ERDs

Note

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How to Define In the pop-up, enter a name for your ERD, and a description then click

Creating Tables in an ERD

Open an Existing ERD

From the home menu, select Data 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 double-click the ERD name to open the properties. In the properties toolbar, click the Insert excerpt_erd_erdnopaneltrue icon.

Create a New ERD

From the home menu, select Data.

PhixFlow displays the list of ERDs. Select Create New from the left hand side.

Drag and Drop Import: Create a New Table using Excel or CSV
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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
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Drag
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.

Tip
When you are creating tables, choose a name that reflects the entity your table represents.

PhixFlow opens a new ERD canvas on the left with a toolbar at the top. Hover your mouse pointer over toolbar icons to display a tooltip.

Create a Table From an Excel File

todo?? Flow 4.10

Add an Existing Table

In the toolbar, click Table ListImage RemovedWaiting for qualified icon??
PhixFlow filters the repository to show the list of tables available in this application.
Drag a table from the repository onto the ERD canvas.

Create a New Table

Drag Table Create

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from the toolbar into the diagram.

Waiting for qualified icon??

In the

pop-up

popup, enter a name

, for example "Customer" and click Insert excerpt_dialog_finish_dialog_finishnopaneltrue.PhixFlow

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

and opens its properties tab on the right

.
The table header displays

the

its name

entered in step 2

.PhixFlow automatically adds

2

two attributes:

- UID

- the unique identifier and primary key.Name - Figure out how to explain what the name attribute is for and how it's needed for the display name???

- , 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
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  . PhixFlow opens the attribute properties on the right, with the default settings of:
  - Type = String
  - Length = 50 characters.
2. In the properties, enter the Name

, Type and Length for the data; see Attributes.
PhixFlow creates attributes with a Type or String and Length of 50 characters. Remember to select

1. and select appropriate type properties

for an attributes data

1. , 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
2. Click
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the

1. to save the attribute properties.
PhixFlow adds the attribute to the table in the ERD.

Add an Existing Table

In the

table in the ERD.

toolbar, click
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.
PhixFlow filters the repository to show the list of tables available in this application.
Drag a table from the repository onto the ERD canvas.

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Create Relationships

In an ERD you can create a one-to-many relationship between a primary key in

one table

one table with an attribute in another table. For relationship concepts, see

Understanding ERDs

Entity Relationship Diagrams.

To create a relationship

, click

:

Click-drag from one attribute name to another.

Expand

title	More detail

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.
When the destination attribute is highlighted, release the click.

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Relationships

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

.

:

Drag from		Relationship

line

From table1To table2

Table 1	Table 2
primary key	attribute

table1

1:Many

Table1.primarykey →

table2

Table2.attribute

1:many


attribute	primary key

table2.primarykey → table1.attribute

1:

many~~primary keyprimary key~~table1

Many

Table2.primarykey →

table2.primarykey
~~1:1~~primary keytable headertable1.primarykey → table2.new-attribute
1:many

Table1.attribute

attribute

if table1

If Table1 has no primary key

:

, PhixFlow makes the

table1

Table1.attribute the primary key.

if table 1

If Table1 has a primary key

:

, the relationship is from

table1

Table1.primarykey instead of from

table1.You

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.

In these cases, PhixFlow reports an error: Related attributes must have the same type and length. This <type/length is different.

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

the table.
create the relationship with a different attribute.

To change the data type properties,

In Parmanently DeleteDelete everywhereDDelete the selected item(s) from the ERD and from everywhere it is used

in the ERD, click on an attribute to open its properties.

Saving ERDs

Changes to tables, attributes and relationships are automatically saved to the ERD. However, you must click Insert excerpt_save_savenopaneltrue to keep any changes you make to the layout, such as moving tables or adding angle points to relationships. PhixFlow notifies you if there are unsaved changes when you attempt to close an ERD. If ERDs are like models they are partial views of the full set of tables and relationships??

Rearranging ERDs

To move tables around in the ERD, click on the header and drag the table. There are also Align options in the toolbar that you can use to line up or distribute selected tables.

To select multiple tables, draw a square around them. ??add animated gif

If you want to highlight the relationships that affect a table, click the table to select it. The following screenshot shows the Teacher table is selected.

Blue lines indicate relationships to a foreign key in the selected table
Green lines indicate relationships from the primary key in the selected table.

If a table has a lot of attributes that you do not need to see you can collapse the list to show only the table's primary and foreign keys.

either right-click on a table and select Hide attributes or Show attributes
or double-click on the table header.

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By default, relationships are straight lines, but you can change them to have angles (shown in the screenshot on the left).

Click on a relationship line to add an angle point, which appears as a blue dot.
Move the mouse pointer over the blue dot. It changes to a four-way arrow to indicate you can drag.
Drag the point to the position you require.

To remove an unwanted angle, right-click the blue dot and select Remove Point (shown in the screenshot on the right).

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Properties

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Basic Settings

FieldDescriptionName

The name for the ERD.

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ERD Toolbar

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

OptionDescription

Create

CreateDrag this icon onto the canvas to create a table.ScreenCreates a new screen for the selected table.

List

TablesClick to see a list available tables.ScreensClick to see a list available screens.

Canvas

SaveSave changes to the diagram. If there is no save icon, PhixFlow is saving changes automatically.Refresh

Redraw the ERD to display recent changes to the diagram.

PropertiesOpen the properties for the current diagram.

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.

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 the 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 3 or more items, distributes the selected items evenly between the left and right items.

Distribute vertically

For 3 or more items, distributes the selected items evenly between the top and bottom items.

Table Pop-up Menu

You can access more options in a pop-up menu:

in the table header, click Insert excerpt_more_options_erd_more_options_erdnopaneltrue

right-click anywhere in the table.

OptionRename to Description

Configure Table

Table properties

Open the properties for this table.

Remove this item from the Diagram

Remove from ERD

Remove the selected item(s) from the diagram.

Hide AttributesHide attributesCollapse the table so that it only shows the table name, primary key and any foreign keys. Other attributes are hidden.Show AttributesShow attributesExpand the table to show all the attributes

Show Relationships From Other ERDs
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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:

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PhixFlow adds the related tables to your ERD.

To remove the related tables from your ERD, right click on each one and click

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from the diagram.

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
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tables: in the ERD, click on the table header or right-click to open the popup menu and select
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attributes: in the table, click on an attribute

PhixFlow opens the properties pane on the right.

Version	Old Version 51	New Version Current
Changes made by	Fiona Sargeant	Zoe Baldwin
Saved on	Jun 17, 2021	Sept 17, 2024

Page Comparison

Versions Compared

Key

Overview

Overview

Creating and Importing Data

Creating Tables in an ERD

Open an Existing ERD

Create a New ERD

Drag and Drop Import: Create a New Table using Excel or CSV AnchorExcelExcel

Create a New Table AnchorNewTableNewTable

Create a Table From an Excel File

Add an Existing Table

Create a New Table

Add an Existing Table

Create Relationships

Relationships

Relationship Restrictions

Saving ERDs

Rearranging ERDs

Properties

Basic Settings

ERD Toolbar

Create

List

Canvas

Table Pop-up Menu

Show Relationships From Other ERDs Anchorerd-viewerd-view

Saving ERDs

Accessing Properties

Drag and Drop Import: Create a New Table using Excel or CSV
Anchor
Excel
Excel

Create a New Table
Anchor
NewTable
NewTable

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