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.

Insert excerpt

	_Banners
	_Banners
name	ERD
nopanel	true

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.)

Panel

borderColor	#00374F
titleColor	white
titleBGColor	#00374F
borderStyle	solid
title	Sections on this page

Table of Contents

maxLevel	4
indent	12px
style	none

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

the Name attribute set as the display name; see

, as the Display Name.

Defining Data Structures using ERDs

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

a

an ERD Table

Load

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
- Data Type = Integer
- Precision = 10

Set

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

Load

I have tables in PhixFlow already

In the ERD toolbar, click

Insert excerpt

	_

table_list

tables
	_

table_list

tables
nopanel	true

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

Defining Data Structures using ERDs

Note

Insert excerpt

	_uid
	_uid
nopanel	true

How to Define In the toolbar, click Insert excerpt_table_list_table_listnopaneltrue.

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

Creating Tables in an ERD

Open an Existing ERD

In the repository, find 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_display_erd_displaynopaneltrue icon.

Create a New ERD

In the repository, find ERD. Right-click to display the context menu, and select Insert excerpt_add_addnopaneltrueEnter a name for your ERD, and a description then click Insert excerpt_finish_finishnopaneltrue.

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.

Add an Existing Table

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

tables
_

table_new

tables
nopanel true

from

from the toolbar into the diagram.
In the

pop-up

popup, enter a name

, for example "Customer", and click Insert excerpt_dialog_finish_dialog_finishnopaneltrue

that reflects what the table will represent. For example, Customer.
PhixFlow opens the properties

tab

for the new table

on the right

and adds the table to the canvas.
The table header displays

the

its name

entered in step 2

.PhixFlow automatically adds

2

two attributes:

- UID

- PhixFlow requires

- , a primary key that is a unique identifier

and primary key

- for each

table

- record.
- Name

- PhixFlow sets the Name attribute to be the display name. In data grids and forms etc. PhixFlow uses this attribute to provide a user-friendly name, rather than a numeric identifier. Optionally, change the attribute 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
  _new
  _new
  nopanel true
  . 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 and select appropriate type properties, such as Date or Integer; see

Attributes

1. 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
  Insert excerpt
  _finish
  _finish
  nopanel true
  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
Insert excerpt
_tables
_tables
nopanel true
.
PhixFlow filters the repository to show the list of tables available in this application.
Drag a table from the repository onto the ERD canvas.

Image Added

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.

Image Added

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	1:Many

table1

Table1.primarykey →

table2

Table2.attribute

1:many


attribute	primary key	1:Many

table2

Table2.primarykey →

table1

Table1.attribute

1:many

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.

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

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

Show Relationships From Other ERDs
Anchor
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.

Saving ERDs

Changes to tables, attributes and relationships are automatically saved. However, to keep any changes you make to the layout, such as moving tables or adding angle points to relationships, remember to click Insert excerpt_save_savenopaneltrue in the toolbar. PhixFlow notifies you if there are unsaved changes when you attempt to close an ERD.

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.

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.

Image Removed

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, 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.

To select multiple tables, draw a square around them.

Image Removed

Hover your mouse pointer over
an angle to see the blue angle point.

Image Removed

By default, relationships are straight lines, but you can change them to have angles.

Click on a relationship line to add an angle point, which appears as a blue dot; see the screenshot on the left.
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; see the screenshot on the right.

Right-click the blue angle point to see the Remove option

Image Removed

Properties

Insert excerpt_parent_parentnopaneltrue

Basic Settings

FieldDescriptionName

The name for the ERD.

Insert excerpt_description_descriptionnopaneltrue Insert excerpt_audit_auditnopaneltrue

ERD Toolbar

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

OptionDescription

Create options

Insert excerpt_tables_tablesnopaneltrueDrag this icon onto the canvas to create a table.

List options

Insert excerpt_tables_tablesnopaneltrueClick to open the repository filtered to list the tables available in your application.

Canvas options

Insert excerpt_help_helpnopaneltrueOpen the help topic with details about working with ERDs. Insert excerpt_align_alignnopaneltrue

Options to arrange the selected tables in the ERD:

Insert excerpt_align_grid_align_grid

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
_rel_in
_rel_in
nopanel true
Insert excerpt
_

align_left_align_leftnopaneltrue Insert excerpt_align_right_align_rightnopaneltrue Insert excerpt_align_top_align_topnopaneltrue Insert excerpt_align_bottom_align_bottomnopaneltrue Insert excerpt_distribute_horizontal_distribute_horizontalnopaneltrue Insert excerpt_distribute_vertical_distribute_verticalnopaneltrue Insert excerpt_property_settings_property_settingsnopaneltrueOpen the properties tab for the ERD. Insert excerpt_zoom

rel_out
_

zoom

Ungroup

Not available??

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

Select several items then click to group them together.

tmp

Menu optionDescription

rel_out
nopanel true

Zoom out to see more of the diagram, with smaller text. Insert excerpt_zoom_in_zoom_innopaneltrueZoom in to see a smaller area of the diagram, with larger text. Insert excerpt_save_savenopaneltruePhixFlow automatically saves changes to tables and relationships.
Use this icon to save layout changes to the ERD. Insert excerpt_refresh_refreshnopaneltrue

Update the ERD to the last saved 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.

PhixFlow adds the related tables to your ERD.

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

Insert excerpt

	_

delete_deletenopaneltrue

When a specific component is selected, delete the component.

Other delete options that may be available relate to specific types of component in the selected pane.

Insert excerpt_element_delete_element_delete

remove
	_remove
nopanel	true

Delete a pane or dashboard element

from the

layoutArrange the selected items

Options to arrange the selected components within a pane:

Insert excerpt_align_left_align_leftnopaneltrue Insert excerpt_align_right_align_rightnopaneltrue Insert excerpt_align_top_align_topnopaneltrue Insert excerpt_align_bottom_align_bottomnopaneltrue Insert excerpt_distribute_horizontal_distribute_horizontalnopaneltrue Insert excerpt_distribute_vertical_distribute_verticalnopaneltrue Insert excerpt_repository_find_repository_findnopaneltrue

change to Show in layers??

Open the repository with to see the selected component in the list. This can be useful if you want to move a component. Insert excerpt_screen_properties_screen_propertiesnopaneltrueOpen the properties tab for the screen. Insert excerpt_record_show_record_shownopaneltrueDisplay information about the table and its records. Check this option's name has changed??Select all childrenFor the selected parent container, select all the child components too.Show Attributes for <table name>Open the list of attributes for the table. This option is available when a screen is backed by a table.Show Attributes for <view name>Open the list of attributes for the view. This option is available when a screen is backed by a view.

Table Pop-up Menu

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

in the table header, click

diagram.

Check whether Remove Element from Dashboard is also going?? Insert excerpt_delete_item_delete_itemnopaneltrueDelete a form component from the layout. Insert excerpt_form_new_form_newnopaneltrueCreate a new form in the current area. Insert excerpt_pin_unpin_pin_unpinnopaneltrueFix the position of selected objects. ??Going away?? Insert excerpt_palette_palettenopaneltrueOpen the palette to drag in components. Insert excerpt_autosize_autosizenopaneltrue

Toggle whether or not the currently selected component is automatically autosized when an application window is resized by the user.

Note
Using this option, or manually resizing a component may change the state of the Layout → Style Settings → Auto Size property.

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
_

more

property_

options_erd

settings
_

more

property_

options_erd

settings
nopanel true

right-click anywhere in the table.

OptionDescription

Configure

Open the properties for this table.

Remove this item from the Diagram

Remove the selected item(s) from the diagram.

Show many to one relationsShow one to many relationsHide AttributesCollapse the table so that it only shows the table name, primary key and any foreign keys. Other attributes are hidden.Show AttributesExpand the table to show all the attributesParmanently DeleteDelete the selected item(s) from the ERD and from everywhere it is used.

Attribute Pop-up Menu

OptionDescriptionMake Primary KeyMake Foreign KeyAdd New Stream AttributeDelete Attribute HTML Comment

hidden	true

Things not yet implemented

For the Starting Point table:

I 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

For 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...

For Create a New ERD

From the home menu, select Data.

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

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

tables: in the ERD, click on the table header or right-click to open the popup menu and select
Insert excerpt
_

dialog_finish

edit
_

dialog_finish

edit
nopanel true

.

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.

For Create a Table From an Excel File Document Flow 4.10

For Create Relationships table

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

For Show Relationships From Other ERDs (before Saving ERDs)

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 context menu and select:

Insert excerpt_rel_in_rel_innopaneltrue Insert excerpt_rel_out_rel_outnopaneltrue

attributes: in the table, click on an attribute

PhixFlow opens the properties pane on the right.

Versions Compared

Old Version 58

New Version Current

Key

Overview

Overview

Creating and Importing Data

Creating Tables in an ERD

Open an Existing ERD

Create a New ERD

Add an Existing Table

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

Create a New Table
Anchor
NewTable
NewTable

Add an Existing Table

Create Relationships

Relationships

Relationship Restrictions

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

Saving ERDs

Rearranging ERDs

Properties

Basic Settings

ERD Toolbar

tmp

Table Pop-up Menu

Saving ERDs

Accessing Properties

Things not yet implemented

For the Starting Point table:

For Open an Existing ERD

For Create a New ERD

For Create a Table From an Excel File Document Flow 4.10

For Create Relationships table

For Show Relationships From Other ERDs (before Saving ERDs)

Page Comparison

Versions Compared

Old Version 58

New Version Current

Key

Overview

Overview

Creating and Importing Data

Creating Tables in an ERD

Open an Existing ERD

Create a New ERD

Add an Existing Table

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

Create a New Table AnchorNewTableNewTable

Add an Existing Table

Create Relationships

Relationships

Relationship Restrictions

Show Relationships From Other ERDs Anchorerd-viewerd-view

Saving ERDs

Rearranging ERDs

Properties

Basic Settings

ERD Toolbar

tmp

Table Pop-up Menu

Saving ERDs

Accessing Properties

Things not yet implemented

For the Starting Point table:

For Open an Existing ERD

For Create a New ERD

For Create a Table From an Excel File Document Flow 4.10

For Create Relationships table

For Show Relationships From Other ERDs (before Saving ERDs)

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