Drawing ERDs

Create a New ERD

1. From the home menu, select Data → ERD.
2. From the ERD list select Create New.
3. PhixFlow opens the properties for the ERD on the right. Enter the name for your ERD and click  Apply and Close.
4. 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

Open an Existing ERD

To open an existing ERD

• either, in the repository, right-click on its name and select Display.
• or, in the properties toolbar, click the  ERD icon.

Create a New Table

1. From the canvas toolbar, drag the 
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    icon from the toolbar into the diagram.
2. In the pop-up, enter its name, for example "Customer" and click .
3. PhixFlow adds a box to represent the table, and opens the properties tab for it.
4. To add attributes to the table:
   • either, in the properties tab on the right, In the Attributes section, click  Add New.
   • or right-click the table and select Add New Stream Attribute.
5. PhixFlow opens a Stream Attributes properties tab where you can specify details for the attribute, such as its name, data type and length. 
6. PhixFlow creates a newIf this is the unique identifier, tick Primary Key. Remember to include ID or UID in the name.

Attributes properties

Name

Location: Where the attribute's data is sourced

Current Table: from the records in this table

Relation: from the records in the unique attribute in another table.

Fixed list: from a defined list (??)

Related table

Where the attribute and its relationships have been defined in an ERD, this is set automatically. 

To create a relationship, select the table.

Order, Description

Add an Existing Stream

1. In the repository, open the list of tables/streams.
2. Drag a table/stream from the repository into the diagram. PhixFlow adds the stream with a list of all of its attributes.
3. If the stream has many attributes, click  to collapse the stream so that it only shows the primary and foreign keys.

Connect Attributes

To connect attributes in different tables/streams, click-drag from one attribute to another. PhixFlow shows the currently selected destination in bold. Release the click to connect to the selected destination.

PhixFlow can only connect primary and foreign keys. This creates a one to many relationship. If you connect standard attributes, PhixFlow automatically sets them to be foreign keys.

Properties

For information about the properties toolbar, and about the sections Parent Details, Analysis Models, Description and Audit Summary, see Common Properties.  We recommend you always add a Description that explains the purpose of the item you are creating. 

For a full list of all the PhixFlow property tabs and windows, see Properties, Windows, Menus and Toolbars.

Basic Settings