DBMS
DBMS, October 1997

Comparison of ERwin 3.0 and PowerDesigner 6.0
Compiled by Robin Schumacher


ERwin 3.0 PowerDesigner 6.0
Pure Logical Design Yes Yes
Physical Design Yes Yes
Sub-Model Support Yes Yes
Reverse Engineering Yes -- mostly through native drivers, although ODBC is supported Yes -- through ODBC
Forward Engineering/ Database Creation Yes -- many databases supported, mostly through native drivers, although ODBC is supported Yes -- many databases supported through ODBC
Model-to-Database Synchronization Yes -- sophisticated comparison and synchronization functions that compare existing models to physical databases Yes -- although the only method available is to archive existing models and compare the archived models to current designs
Server Code Generation Yes -- templates and editors for creating stored procedures and triggers Yes -- templates and editors for creating stored procedures and triggers
Dimensional/Warehouse Modeling Yes -- although no special features currently exist to assist designers, the tool does generate datbases for Red Brick and Teradata Yes -- WarehouseArchitect component supports specialized modeling along with wizards for dimensional and partitioning support as well as specialized databases like Sybase IQ
Team Development Yes -- handled through ModelMart with support for secure check in/out functions, versioning, model comparison, and reporting Yes -- handled through MetaWorks with support for secure check in/out, model comparison, and versioning
Third-Party Client/Server Code Generation Yes -- has links to popular tools with support existing for PowerBuilder, Visual Basic, Oracle Power Objects, and DelphiYes -- in addition to normal links to tools, the AppModeler component features advanced code generation abilities. Supported tools include PowerBuilder, Visual Basic, Delphi, Progress, Uniface, Axiant, and PowerHouse
Database Size Estimation No Yes

Comparison Summary

The market share wrestling match between Logic Works and Powersoft has resulted in two very similar products in terms of functionality. Logic Works seems to have the edge in the areas of keeping a model in sync with its physical database counterpart as well as getting a physical database reverse engineered a tad more correctly than PowerDesigner. Its ModelMart repository is also somewhat more sophisticated than Powersoft's MetaWorks. Powersoft has the edge in the ease-of-use department and still has a more powerful reporting facility in its tools than Erwin. The unique data warehouse features found in the WarehouseArchitect product are quite helpful to analysts building VLDB structures. the PowerDesigner suite as a whole is a hard act to follow in terms of a complete modeling/development package.
--complied by Robin Schumacher
Robin Schumacher is a senior DBA and developer for Louisville Gas & Electric in Louisville, Kentucky. He is the coauthor of The PowerBuilder 5.0 Developer's Resource (Prentice Hall, 1996) and a principal in Advanced Computer Designs LLC. You can email Robin at robins@ka.net or visit his homepage at www.ka.net/robins
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Updated September 17, 1997