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ERD Symbols and Meanings

Crow's foot notation is used in Barker's Notation, Structured Systems Analysis and Design Method (SSADM) and information engineering. Crow's foot diagrams represent entities as boxes, and relationships as lines between the boxes. Different shapes at the ends of these lines represent the cardinality of the relationship.
The Chen's ERD notation is still used and is considered to present a more detailed way of representing entities and relationships.
To create an ERD, software engineers mainly turn to dedicated drawing software, which contain the full notation resources for their specific database design - ERD symbols and meanings. CS Odessa has released an all-inclusive Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) solution for their powerful drawing program, ConceptDraw DIAGRAM.
How to Build an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)
How to Build an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)

Entity Relationship Diagram Symbols

Creating an entity-relationship (ER) model is to visually represent the structure of a business database, where data equates to entities (or objects) that are linked by defined relationships expressing dependencies and requirements. By nature it is an abstract visualization, the first step in the design process towards creating a logical and functional database.
ERD symbols used for professional ERD drawing are collected in libraries from the Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) solution for ConceptDraw DIAGRAM.

What is Entity-Relationship Diagram

Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) is an acknowledged method to visualize the logical structure of databases. Using special symbols described in ERD notations you can depict a database of any complexity.
The vector graphic ER diagrams produced when using ConceptDraw ERD solution can be used in whitepapers, presentations, datasheets, posters, or any technical materials.

ER Diagram Styles

When creating ER diagrams, you can apply different color ER diagram styles and also notation styles. ConceptDraw DIAGRAM enhanced with Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) Solution gives the ability to draw visual and attractive ER Diagrams using the style icons from Crow’s Foot notation and Chen's notation professionally designed and offered by ERD Chen's Notation and ERD Crow’s Foot Notation libraries.

E-R Diagrams

Complexity of databases increases day by day, due to this the Entity relationship models and E-R diagrams become more and more popular, and now are an important part of database design. E-R diagrams created at ConceptDraw DIAGRAM allow visually and graphically represent structure and design of databases.

Notation & Symbols for ERD

The ER diagram is constructed from the specific ERD graphic elements. There are used 2 types of ERD notations: Chen and Crow's Foot.
A complete set of work flow shapes, notation & symbols for ERD, entity relationship stencils, included in Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) solution for ConceptDraw DIAGRAM software, makes drawing diagrams based on ERD notation as smooth as possible.

ER Diagram Tool

Creating of Entity-Relationship Diagrams (ERDs) is a complex process that requires convenient, automated tools. ConceptDraw DIAGRAM diagramming and vector drawing software offers a powerful ER Diagram Tool - the Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) Solution from the Software Development Area.

Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) with ConceptDraw DIAGRAM

Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) serves for detailed description of structures and databases. An ERD represents a diagram made up mainly of rectangular blocks (for entities, or data) linked with relationships. The links between the blocks describe relations between these entities. There are three types of relationships: one-to-one,
one-to-many, many-to-many.
Draw Entity-Relationship Diagrams (ERD) easily with ConceptDraw extended with Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) Solution from the Software Development Area. Use ERD software to create ER diagram.
How to Build an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)
How to Build an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)

Components of ER Diagram

ConceptDraw gives the ability to draw ER diagram (ERD) for visual describing database using the entity relationship symbols, work flow shapes, entity relationship stencils. Entity-Relationship model making possibility to describe a database using the components of ER Diagram in which in the tables data can be the point to data in other tables - for instance, your entry in the database could point to several entries.

Entity Relationship Software

Entity Relationship Diagrams (ERD) illustrate the logical structure of databases.
The vector graphic diagrams produced when using the ConceptDraw ERD solution can be used in whitepapers, presentations, datasheets, posters, or any technical materials.
It is convenient to design ER Diagrams using ConceptDraw DIAGRAM software. ConceptDraw DIAGRAM extended with the Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) solution supports Chen's and Crow’s Foot notations that are often used to describe database structure.

Entity Relationship Diagram - ERD - Software for Design Crows Foot ER Diagrams

Crow's Foot notation was proposed by Gordon Everest. According to this notation, the entity is represented by rectangle, relation is depicted by line which ties two entities involved in a relationship. Entity-relationship diagrams based on both Chen's and Crow's Foot notations, can be easily drawn using the ConceptDraw DIAGRAM ERD diagrams software tools for design element Crow's Foot and Chen from Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) solution.
How to Build an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)
How to Build an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)

How to Draw ER Diagrams

How to Draw ER Diagrams? With Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) solution from the Software Development Area for ConceptDraw Solution Park you are able to draw ER diagram with no problem. It includes 45 predesigned icons advocated by popular Chen's and Crow’s Foot notations that can be used when describing an enterprise database.

ER Diagram for Cloud Computing

The entity–relationship (ER) model is a data model that lets graphically represent the information system and depict the relationships between people, objects, concepts, places, and events within a given system. It is also convenient to use the ER Diagram for Cloud computing representation and description the Cloud computing architecture, design them with pleasure using the extensive tools of the Cloud Computing Diagrams solution from the Computers and Network area of ConceptDraw Solution Park.

Flowchart design. Flowchart symbols, shapes, stencils and icons

A flowchart is a type of diagram that represents an algorithm, workflow or process, showing the steps as boxes of various kinds - flowchart symbols, and their order by connecting them with arrows.
Mavericks have always desired to stand apart and gorgeous design is the recipe for that. Any business graphic document will be more understandable if will use an expository color scheme for their parts. Flowchart design makes versatile presenting and explaining of the process and gives a fresh view that distinguishes it from black and white flowcharts on a paper. Workflow diagram or process flow diagrams become more understandable to ordinary people when it use minimum symbols and special signs.
The best design can be accomplished by starting from any of the suitable Conceptdraw examples. Pick one of them and begin to input proper text into each Flowchart symbols and shapes. Apply less colors in the document and don't turn into rainbow your diagram, three or four will be enough, also note that business process flowchart may not contain bright color hues. The next clue is to use identical colors for same flowchart shape types.
Business Process Modeling with ConceptDraw
Business Process Modeling with ConceptDraw "Business Process Diagrams" Solution

Entity Relationship Diagram Examples

Create an Entity-Relationship (ER) model is to visually represent the structure of a business database, where data equates to entities (or objects) that are linked by defined relationships expressing dependencies and requirements. By nature it is an abstract visualization, the first step in the design process towards creating a logical and functional database.

ConceptDraw DIAGRAM diagramming and vector drawing software gives the ability to describe a database using the Entity-Relationship model. Entity-Relationship Diagram(ERD) solution from the Software Development area supplies the ConceptDraw DIAGRAM with icons advocated by Chen's and Crow’s Foot notation that can be used when describing a database.
How to Build an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)
How to Build an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)

Mathematical Diagrams

ConceptDraw DIAGRAM diagramming and vector drawing software extended with Mathematics solution from the Science and Education area is the best for creating: mathematical diagrams, graphics, tape diagrams various mathematical illustrations of any complexity quick and easy.
Mathematics solution provides 3 libraries: Plane Geometry Library, Solid Geometry Library, Trigonometric Functions Library.

Entity Relationship Diagram Software

Entity Relationship Diagram (aka ERD, ER Diagram, E-R Diagram) is a well-tried software engineering tool for illustrating the logical structure of databases. Professional ERD drawing is an essential software engineering method for database modeling. Use powerful tools of ConceptDraw DIAGRAM Entity Relationship Diagram Software extended with Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) Solution.

What's the best ERD tool for the Mac?

What's the best ERD tool for the Mac? ConceptDraw DIAGRAM on Mac OS X supplied with Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) Solution from the Software Development Area for ConceptDraw Solution Park is the best ERD tool! This solution offers for ConceptDraw users so powerful drawing tools, libraries with numerous ERD objects, which will help design ER diagrams of any complexity and any design you want.

UML Component Diagram. Design Elements

UML Component Diagram illustrates show components are wired together to larger components and software systems that shows the structure of arbitrarily complex systems.
Rapid UML Solution for ConceptDraw DIAGRAM contains 13 vector stencils libraries with 393 interactive shapes that you can use to design your UML diagrams.
To design a Component Diagram use the UML Component Diagram library.
UML Component Diagram library contains 36 shapes

Developing Entity Relationship Diagrams

When you need to visually represent the structure of relational database, Entity relationship diagram (ERD) is a type of diagram for that case.
Most entity-relationship diagrams can be built with objects from Flowchart solution or ERD Solution which contains inbuilt templates. Follow these steps to create your own custom ERD diagram.
Don't be frightened if it looks complex, ConceptDraw DIAGRAM makes it easy to create an ERD, and hundreds of other diagrams, in minutes.