Database Design: Is there a great program to prototype in and then 'export'?

Question

I have been playing around with Visual Studio 2010 over the past few days working with their SQL Template. I have to say...BOOOOOOOO...not working.

Now I have had more fun with xsd's in Visual Studio's C#. I expected database design to be that easy or better but no such luck. Are there any applications out there that you would recommend for the novice headed towards medium skill sets on DB design?

Or, is it just better to bite the bullet? Should I sketch it out or is there a better app to help with this?

Answer 1

Have you looked at Enterprise Architect?:

• Latest UML 2.3 specification
• XMI 2.1 import and export
• Reporting in HTML and RTF
• MDA transformations
• Profiles and Technology support
• Testing, resource tracking, maintenance
• Reverse engineer source code in 10+ languages
• Import database schema
• Visualize XSD and WSDL source
• Import .NET and Java binaries
• From single users to large teams
• Repository support for major DBMSs
• Fast to load, fast to use even with large models
• Shareable files or Repository based models
• Version control with any SCC compliant tool
• Role-based security built-in

Answer 2

Have you tried NORMA?

This can capture the design and generate DDL/XSD without overdoing it like, er, Enterprise Architect

Answer 3

I used to (2003-2005) use Visio for Enterprise Architects - which included reverse engineering and schema publishing, but it doesn't support the more recent editions of SQL Server.

You can however design using Database Diagrams in SQL Management Studio as another alternative, or you could try the Entity Framework (v4)'s Code First or Model-First approaches.

• There's also some info on design tools here.
• More on EF's Code First
• A tutorial on EF's Model-First

Answer 4

I personally start my design using diagrams in SQL Management Studio. If you are concentrated on DB design it really does a good job. If you are more worried about class diagrams then Enterprise Architect is really good tool if you can afford it.