This page is for application designers who need to configure the relationships between data. It explains the properties for entity relationship diagram (ERD).
Overview
PhixFlowERDs define the logical structure of the data in your application; see Understanding ERDs.
Property Pane Toolbar
For information about the toolbar options, see the Common Properties page, Toolbars and Controls section.
Properties Tab
Parent Details
If this item is within or belongs to another, its parent name is shown here. See the Parent Details section on the Common Properties page for more details.
Basic Settings
Field
Description
Name
The name for the ERD.
Description
We recommend that you always enter a description to explain the purpose of this item.
Audit Tab
Audit Summary
See the Common Properties page, Audit Summary section.
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
Table
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.
Screen
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.
Open the help topic with details about working with ERDs.
Arrange Selected Items
Options to arrange the selected components:
Align Objects to Left: Align the left edges of all the selected components to the component that is furthest to the left.
Align Objects to Right: Align the right edges of all the selected components to the component that is furthest to the right.
Align Objects to Top: Align the top edges of the selected components to the component that is positioned highest.
Align to base: Align the bottom edges of the selected components to the component that is positioned lowest.
Distribute Objects Horizontally: Equally distribute the selected components horizontally in the available space.
Distribute Objects Vertically: Equally distribute the selected components vertically in the available space.
Properties
Open the properties tab for the ERD.
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.
Refresh
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 More Options
Option
Description
Edit
Open the properties for this table to make changes.
Remove
Remove the selected item(s) from the diagram.
Show many-to-one relations
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 Show Relationships From Other ERDs , above.
Show one-to-many relations
Delete
Delete the selected item(s) from the ERD and from everywhere it is used.
Show or Hide Attributes
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.
Screen
Create a new application screen using data from the selected table.
Attribute Popup Menu
Option
Description
Make/Unset Primary Key
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.
Make/Unset Foreign Key
Make: set an attribute to be a foreign key.
Unset: unset this attribute so it is no longer a foreign key.
Unset/Make Display Name
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.
Add Attribute
Create a new attribute for the table. PhixFlow opens the properties where you can add a name and set the data type.
Delete Attribute
Delete the attribute from the table. PhixFlow prompts you to confirm.