Oracle today introduced the Oracle SQL Developer Data Modeler. The standalone tool supports logical, relational, multi-dimensional and data type modeling while featuring multi-layered design and generation capabilities to produce conceptual entity relationship diagrams (ERDs) and transform them to relational models.
Oracle SQL Developer Data Modeler integrates with Oracle SQL Developer, Oracle's graphical tool for database development, to let developers open and view previously developed designs as well as query, run and write reports against the reporting repository
"The new tool covers a broad spectrum of database modeling from entity relationship modeling at the logical level with forward engineering to relational models, where people can focus on their tables and views-and then we have multiple implementations of physical models from the relational model-and that's very important for people who wanted to design a relational model with their tables and columns but implement it on various databases," Sue Harper, senior principal product manager, Oracle, tells 5 Minute Briefing. Developers can develop a single relational model for different database versions or different databases such as Oracle Database, IBM DB2 V7 and V8 for Linux, Unix and Windows and OS/390 mainframe, and Microsoft SQL Server 2000 and 2005. "The multi-platform support is very important to some of our audience who have disparate databases or a variety of databases," notes Harper.
Additionally, for people who are extending or updating applications or simply reviewing what they already have, Harper adds, "being able to reverse engineer a full schema from the database and review the model and then make updates, and then update the database, is also very powerful. Having the image of the data schema forms a good communication tool."
Oracle SQL Developer Data Modeler supports both Barker and Bachman notations so developers can switch between models to suit the audience's needs or create and save different visual displays; and supports the full spectrum of physical database definitions such as partitions, roles, and tablespaces for specific database versions for multi-database, multi-vendor support leading to improved developer consistency and productivity.
"Different people work at different levels. You have data architects who might work at the conceptual, logical level, while others work at the implementation, or the physical level, and we are hoping to address a variety of audiences with the tool," Harper notes. Oracle SQL Developer Data Modeler is available for all editions of Oracle Database 11g and runs on Windows, Linux and Mac OS X. The tool is also available for Oracle Database 10g. For more information, go here.