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Entity Relationship Diagrams

The Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) Solution from the Software Development Area for ConceptDraw Solution Park extends ConceptDraw DIAGRAM ector graphics and diagramming software with the ability of drawing the Entity Relationship Diagrams for visually describing the databases with Crow’s Foot and Chen's notation icons.
HelpDesk

How to Create an Entity-Relationship Diagram

ERD (entity relationship diagram) is used to show the logical structure of databases. It represents the interrelationships between components of a database (entities). Entity relationship diagrams are widely used in software engineering. Using ERD software engineers can control every aspect of database development. ER diagram can be used as the guide for testing and communicating before the release of a software product. ERD displays data as entities that are connected with connections that show the relationships between entities. There are some ERD notations used by databases developers for representing the relationships between the data objects. ConceptDraw DIAGRAM and its ERD solution allow you to build ERD diagram of any notation.

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.

Entity Relationship Diagram Software Engineering

Entity Relationship Diagram (aka ER Diagram, E-R Diagram, ERD) is a time-tested and widespread software development and software engineering method for data modeling, illustrating the logical structure of databases and system design. For ERDs construction are used three basic elements: entities, attributes, and relationships. Chen's notation for ERD supposes the use of rectangles (boxes) to represent entities and diamonds to depict relationships between first-class objects. This notation is popular when creating conceptual data models of information systems. Another standardized notation for ER diagrams is Crow's foot notation. ConceptDraw DIAGRAM as a powerful Entity Relationship Diagram software engineering provides the tools of Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) solution from Software Development area of ConceptDraw Solution Park for instantly describing databases using ERDs of Crow’s Foot and Chen’s notations. Use the predesigned vector elements for both these notations from 2 libraries included to Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) solution.

Entity Relationship Diagram Software

The world-best Entity Relationship Diagram software suitable for professional ERD drawing is ConceptDraw DIAGRAM software extended with the Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) solution. This solution contains all libraries, templates and samples you may need for professional ERD drawing.
HelpDesk

How To Make Chen ER Diagram

The Chen ERD notation model is a popular standard and is widely used worldwide in database and software design. The entity-relationship model proposed by Dr. Chen is constructed using a natural view of how the real world comprises entities and the relationships that exist with these identified entities. It was designed to leverage the advantages of the three entity-data models (network model, relationship model, entity model). The free Chen Notation solution for ConceptDraw DIAGRAM provides vector stencil libraries with full standardized Chen notation included.

Components of ER Diagram

Entity-Relationship model gives the possibility to visually describe a database using the components of ER Diagram, entity relationship stencils, relationship symbols, work flow shapes. ER-diagram lets represent the data or entities, attributes of these entities and relationships between them, using standardized Crow’s Foot notation icons or Chen’s notation icons. An entity is an object of the real world, it can exist independently and has the instances which differ in attribute values (properties). The attributes give an unambiguous (uniquely) identification for the instance and are called the primary key, this key can be composite and combine several attributes. ConceptDraw DIAGRAM is a professional software available with Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) solution from Software Development area that lets create ERDs for various database systems, using Crow’s Foot and Chen’s notations. It is invaluable tool for software engineers and developers, it supports ODBC-compatible databases (Oracle, MySQL, MS Access, MS SQL, InterBase, Firebird and others).

entity-relationship diagram, ER-diagram, database ERD Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD)

entity-relationship diagram, ER-diagram, database ERD
Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) solution extends ConceptDraw DIAGRAM charting and vector drawing software with the ability to describe a database using the Entity-Relationship model. This solution includes icons advocated by Chen’s and Crow’s Foot notation that can be used when describing a database. The vector graphic diagrams produced when using this solution can be employed in your white papers, presentations, data sheets, posters, or any technical material.

Entity-Relationship Diagram

Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) is the world-known way to show the logical structure of databases in visual manner. The best software tool for drawing Entity-Relationship Diagram is ConceptDraw DIAGRAM ector graphics software with Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) solution from Software Development area which gives the ability to describe a database using the Entity-Relationship model. The vector graphic diagrams produced using this solution can be successfully used in whitepapers, presentations, datasheets, posters, or any technical materials.

Design Element: Crows Foot for Entity Relationship Diagram - ERD

Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) is ideal tool that helps execute the detalization of data warehouse for a given designed system, lets to document the system's entities, attributes (objects' properties), and their interactions each other (relationships). Creation of an ERD requires the choice of specific set of notations, which the best suits for your database design. Two notations - Chen’s and Crow's Foot are applied for ERDs design. Chen's notation was developed first and has linguistic approach, the boxes represent the entities and are considered as nouns, relationships between them are shown as diamonds in a verb form. Over time Chen’s style was adapted into the popular standard - Crow’s Foot notation, where entities are shown as boxes and relationships - as labeled lines. ConceptDraw DIAGRAM software supplied with Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) solution offers samples and templates of ER diagrams, and also ready-to-use vector design elements - ERD Crow′s Foot and Chen's notation icons for easy designing your own ER diagrams for depicting databases.

Entity Relationship Diagram Examples

ConceptDraw DIAGRAM diagramming and vector drawing software offers the Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) Solution from the Software Development Area for ConceptDraw Solution Park. How many examples contains the Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) Solution! All Entity Relationship Diagram examples were designed and saved for ConceptDraw DIAGRAM users. Now they are available from ConceptDraw STORE.
"In software engineering, an entity–relationship model (ER model) is a data model for describing a database in an abstract way. ...
Crow's Foot notation is used in Barker's Notation, 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." [Entity–relationship model. Wikipedia]
This ERD example was redesigned using the ConceptDraw PRO diagramming and vector drawing software from the educational data base model. [www2.cs.uregina.ca/ ~bernatja/ crowsfoot.html]
The example "Entity-relationship diagram (Crow's foot notation)" is included in the Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) solution from the Software Development area of ConceptDraw Solution Park.
Crow's foot ERD
Crow's foot ERD, entity,
"An ER model is an abstract way of describing a database. In the case of a relational database, which stores data in tables, some of the data in these tables point to data in other tables - for instance, your entry in the database could point to several entries for each of the phone numbers that are yours. The ER model would say that you are an entity, and each phone number is an entity, and the relationship between you and the phone numbers is 'has a phone number'. Diagrams created to design these entities and relationships are called entity–relationship diagrams or ER diagrams.
Using the three schema approach to software engineering, there are three levels of ER models that may be developed. ...
Conceptual data model ... is the highest level ER model in that it contains the least granular detail but establishes the overall scope of what is to be included within the model set.
Logical ER model ... contains more detail than the conceptual ER model. In addition to master data entities, operational and transactional data entities are now defined.
The physical ER model is normally developed to be instantiated as a database. Therefore, each physical ER model must contain enough detail to produce a database and each physical ER model is technology dependent since each database management system is somewhat different.
Physical model ... is normally forward engineered to instantiate the structural metadata into a database management system as relational database objects such as database tables, database indexes such as unique key indexes, and database constraints such as a foreign key constraint or a commonality constraint." [Entity–relationship model. Wikipedia]
This crow's foot entity-relationship diagram (ERD) example "Educational data base" was created using the ConceptDraw PRO diagramming and vector drawing software extended with the Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) solution from the Software Development area of ConceptDraw Solution Park.
ERD
ERD, entity,

Entity Relationship Diagram - ERD - Software for Design Chen ER Diagrams

The Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) solution from ConceptDraw Solution Park extends ConceptDraw DIAGRAM ector graphics and diagramming software with the ability to describe a database using the Entity-Relationship (Chen) model. Use it for design your ERDs and verify that ConceptDraw DIAGRAM offers the best ERD diagrams software tools for design element Chen notation.
"In software engineering, an entity–relationship model (ER model) is a data model for describing a database in an abstract way.Chen's notation for entity–relationship modeling uses rectangles to represent entity sets, and diamonds to represent relationships appropriate for first-class objects: they can have attributes and relationships of their own. If an entity set participates in a relationship set, they are connected with a line.
Attributes are drawn as ovals and are connected with a line to exactly one entity or relationship set." [Entity–relationship model. Wikipedia]
This sample Chen's ER-diagram illustrates the structure of a typical MMORP game.
"Massively multiplayer online role-playing game (MMORPG) mixes the genres of role-playing video games and Massively multiplayer online games, possibly in the form of web browser-based games, in which a very large number of players interact with one another within a virtual world.
As in all RPGs, players assume the role of a character (often in a fantasy world or science-fiction world) and take control over many of that character's actions. MMORPGs are distinguished from single-player or small multi-player online RPGs by the number of players, and by the game's persistent world (usually hosted by the game's publisher), which continues to exist and evolve while the player is offline and away from the game." [Massively multiplayer online role-playing game. Wikipedia]
This ERD example was redrawn using the ConceptDraw PRO diagramming and vector drawing software from the Wikipedia file: ER Diagram MMORPG.png. [en.wikipedia.org/ wiki/ File:ER_ Diagram_ MMORPG.png]
This file is licensed under the Creative Commons Attribution-Share Alike 3.0 Unported license. [creativecommons.org/ licenses/ by-sa/ 3.0/ deed.en]
This Chen's ERD example is included in the Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) solution from the Software Development area of ConceptDraw Solution Park.
Chen's ERD
Chen's ERD, weak key attribute, weak entity, relationship, multivalue attribute, key attribute, identifying relationship, entity, derived attribute, attribute,

UML for Software Engineers

Unified Modeling Language (UML) is a visual modeling language in the field of software engineering. It is an open standard that provides the graphic notations for creating the visual models of object-oriented software systems. UML took in the notations of the Object-modeling technique, Object-oriented software engineering and the Booch method.

ERD Symbols and Meanings

Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) is a popular software engineering tool for database modeling and illustration the logical structure of databases, which uses one of two notations - Chen's or Crow’s Foot. Crow's foot notation is effective when used in software engineering, information engineering, structured systems analysis and design. Each of these notations applies its own set of ERD symbols. Crow's foot diagrams use boxes to represent entities and lines between these boxes to show relationships. Varied shapes at the ends of lines depict the cardinality of a given relationship. Chen's ERD notation is more detailed way to represent entities and relationships. ConceptDraw DIAGRAM application enhanced with all-inclusive Entity-Relationship Diagram (ERD) solution allows design professional ER diagrams with Chen's or Crow’s Foot notation on your choice. It contains the full set of ready-to-use standardized ERD symbols and meanings helpful for quickly drawing, collection of predesigned ERD samples, examples and templates. ConceptDraw Pro is a great alternative to Visio for Mac users as it offers more features and can easily handle the most demanding professional needs.
How to Build an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)
How to Build an Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD)