Overview

PhixFlow Entity Relationship Diagrams (ERDs) define the logical structure of the data in your application. "Entities" represent the things in the world that you want to represent as data.

The ERD Window Layout

Here is a simplified view of the ERD window:

1. The toolbar provides ERD specific options, such as displaying the available data tables that you can add to your ERD and creating a new screen for your data. 
2. On the toolbar, click  Table to list all available tables in the repository pane on the right. 
3. The main part of the window is the canvas, where you create the ERD.
   • To add a new table, from the toolbar, drag the  Table icon onto the canvas.
   • To add an existing table, on the toolbar, click  Table. PhixFlow lists the available tables in the repository. Drag a table from the repository onto the canvas. 
   • To add an Excel or CSV spreadsheet, drag it directly onto the canvas. PhixFlow imports the data and uses it to create a new table.

Table Relationships

1. A table is represented as a box, containing a list of all of the attributes it contains and their associated data type.
2. A line connecting tables represents the relationship between them. The line connects the primary key of one table to a foreign key in a different table; see Relationship.

ERD Example

The following example shows an ERD for a school. Here the school has entities: departments, teachers, students, classrooms and so on. All these entities are represented as tables and the lines connecting them show their relationships to one another. We can see from this diagram that a School Department has many Classrooms and Teachers. This example is covered in detail in Understanding ERDs.

Creating an ERD and Opening an Existing ERD

1. On your application's home page, click  ERD to list the existing ERDs.
   1. Alternatively, click  ERD from the header bar. 
2. On the Entity Relationship Diagrams page:
   1. Click the  Add New button to create a new ERD.
   2. Alternatively, double-click any existing ERD to open it.

Already Have Data?

If you have data to import into PhixFlow, such as a database or API, use an Analysis Model to import it. This allows you to configure connectors to access your existing data and store the data as tables in PhixFlow's own database. See Importing Data and Importing Data Through an API.

You can also use an Analysis Model to set up bulk processes to manipulate large volumes of data before it is presented to your users. See Analysis Models for Batch Processing Data.

What's Next?

Understanding ERDs covers ERDs in more depth to help you design your own ERDs and views to display your data.