DBMS October 1997
For the IS population that's tired of working with the standard model diagramming methods, InfoModelers, a company spun off from Asymetrix's Database Division in October 1996, offers a modeling tool that uses a methodology termed Object Role Modeling (ORM). Using InfoModeler 3.1, data analysts can use plain English to capture and diagram their data models, which are comprised of what the tool terms "facts" (entities) along with examples of what information will reside in the facts. Still, for those that prefer the IDEF1X or ER diagramming methods, the tool provides for these as well.
InfoModeler offers the database designer a lot of options within the tool. It packs all the power that you'd expect in a high-caliber modeling tool that includes both reverse and forward engineering of database schemas, team development with multiuser projects and model merging, reporting, and complete model-to-database synchronization to help track changes in either place. In terms of database support, InfoModeler currently stands alone as the only tool to offer support for Informix's Universal Server and its DataBlade extended relational data types. (Editor's note: At press time, Logic Works began beta testing a new product called Universal Modeling Architecture. DBMS will cover UMA in an upcoming issue.) Other RDBMS support includes IBM's DB2, Oracle, Sybase, Informix OnLine, and many PC databases such as Microsoft Access, FoxPro, Borland's dBase, and others.
Version 3.1 of InfoModeler also offers a number of new enhancements over the previous 3.0 release, including the ability to perform model imports for Visio Database SmartShapes and ERwin ERX formats, new reporting wizards that generate "plain English" reports for data models, OLE automation support, and reported speed increases in build and migrate operations that are up to 10 times faster than earlier versions.
Pricing for InfoModeler varies depending which version you choose. The Enterprise edition, which handles both client/server RDBMSs as well as desktop databases, lists for $3,195. The Select edition gives the user all of the desktop databases and one client/server engine that the buyer selects; it lists for $1,495. The Personal edition, which handles desktop databases only, lists for $695.
For more information, contact InfoModelers Inc., Bellevue, WA; 800-963-0030, 425-637-2499, or fax 425-454-7696; www.infomodelers.com.
Popkin Software's family of System Architect tools has a wide following among both data modelers and database developers who use the company's tools to design both data models and applications. To give modelers a choice of modeling options, System Architect (SA) lets designers choose between purely conceptual and physical modeling and supports the most used graphical methods for representing a data design (IDEF1X, Information Engineering, Booch, and so on).
A great feature of SA is the Shared Repository, which can be used to control access to a single model that is being worked on by a team of designers. The normal management of model revisions and the merging of "pieces" into a whole model can be handled by the SA dictionary. In addition, users can define single data dictionaries for a standalone project or they can build enterprisewide repositories that govern the attributes of multiple modeling efforts. Using a central dictionary allows modelers to define domains that can be inherited by upcoming projects. This eases the definition of attributes that are used repetitively in multiple systems and allows for a single point of change in case the definition needs to be modified. For example, if an attribute that's a numeric suddenly needs to be changed to a character-based attribute, the change can be made to the central repository and the change is reflected in all models that have inherited that attribute.
Naturally, SA offers full forward- and reverse-engineering capabilities. Physical designers can build the DDL for a logical model and connect directly to their database (via a connection through ODBC) to create their database. Something unique to SA is that it can not only build RDBMS DDL syntax, but it can also generate C Typedefs and COBOL copy books. In terms of database support, System Architect can work with 19 different databases, including the perennial favorites like Oracle, Sybase, and Microsoft, as well as Teradata, Rdb, and others.
Version 4.5 of the product brings to the table an improved user interface with easier to understand dialogs and processes. Other enhancements include additional support for data warehousing, automatic generation of logical data models from object-oriented class models, two-way links to Persistence and Magic, as well as the same style interfaces to the MS/Repository and MS/Visual Modeler, and new HTML generation capabilities, which enable full documentation of diagrams and definitions to Web browsers such as Netscape or Microsoft Internet Explorer.
Popkin has two versions for System Architect. The merge version is a standalone product and is priced at $1,395 a seat. The network/team version is priced at $1,545 per user. Other options are priced separately. Examples include the Schema Generator and Reverse Data Engineer options both priced at $795 each.
For more information, contact Popkin Software & Systems Inc., New York; 800-732-5227 or 212-571-3434; www.popkin.com.
In the spring of 1997, Evergreen Software Tools merged with Visible Systems Corp., which is a developer of enterprise software engineering tools that automate the analysis, design, and construction of complex software applications. The entire Evergreen suite of CASE products is now sold through Visible Systems, including Evergreen's flagship EasyCASE Professional product.
EasyCASE provides modeling functionality that can handle process and event modeling in addition to normal data modeling, all at a price that's well under most other tools like it. The tool offers a data dictionary to assist in model management (although currently, only dBASE can be used for the dictionary) and has the ability to fully document any of the designs a user can create. Currently the tool runs under all Windows platforms although it's still only a 16-bit product.
For pure data modelers who aren't interested in anything but logical data design, Visible Systems also offers EasyER. EasyER supports almost all of the popular data modeling methodologies (IDEF1X, Martin Information Engineering, Bachman, and so forth) for model creation and, like most other good modeling products, can build syntax-specific DDL for the user's physical database of choice. Analysts can also reverse engineer their existing databases to capture the logical design for documentation or modification purposes. Supported databases (available through ODBC) include the normal stable of RDBMS vendors: Oracle, Microsoft SQL Server, Sybase, Informix, and DB2, as well as desktop databases such as Microsoft Access, FoxPro, R:BASE, Sybase SQL Anywhere, and a few others.
Visible Systems also offers companion products to its main offerings like EasyCASE. For example, the company's Database Engineer product allows EasyCASE to be used in a more physical manner by allowing for both forward and reverse engineering along with the management of trigger and stored procedure code and the physical implementation of referential integrity.
In terms of recent news concerning Visible's product line, the company has announced support for Visual Basic 5 with the 1.5 release of EasyER, as well as the ability to export and import models to and from the Microsoft Repository.
Pricing varies with the product offered, but all are priced reasonably. EasyCASE Professional lists for $995 per user with EasyER being the same in its professional offering. Companion products are priced less, an example being Database Engineer, listing for $200.
Contact Visible Systems Corp., Waltham, MA; 617-890-2273 or fax 617-890-8909; www.visible.com.
If it's drawing and diagramming that need to be done, a product many systems professionals use is Visio Professional from Visio Corp. This tool can not only handle logical data modeling, but it also can handle workflow planning, computer network designs, and can even help you lay out your office floor space as well as plan your Web site. To accomplish these functions, Visio comes bundled with more than 2,100 symbols that aid designers in building whatever diagram they need. Visio supports a wide range of technologies including COM, ActiveX, and Lotus Notes, and can connect to ODBC-compliant databases such as Oracle and Microsoft SQL Server for physical database development, which is something new for the product.
Visio is wizard-driven and includes helpers for documenting everything from existing databases to a corporate LAN. Wizards can specifically help the data modeler by analyzing and mapping ODBC-compliant data sources to diagrams that are produced within the product. SmartShapes within Visio can also be refreshed with information from existing databases and the user can control whether this is done automatically by the tool or manually. Users of packaged financial applications such as SAP, Computron, and others already know the strong database and process diagramming abilities of the tool. For SAP users, Visio's Business Modeler will come in handy. A user can choose one of more than 800 SAP R/3 process models available in the product to work with. Once this is done, the tool automatically generates an SAP best-practice business model, known as an "event-driven process chain" (or EPC). The model is fully editable, so users can customize it for their own environment. There's also a built-in syntax checker that ensures any changes comply with SAP's methodology
Developers can use Visio and its Visual Basic development environment to build custom client solutions that attach to typical client/server databases and other Windows-based products. The same programming setup found in Microsoft Office 97 is in Visio, so developers already familiar with the Visual Basic for Applications methods will be right at home with the tool.
A positive aspect of the product is its Web ability. The tool can convert any diagram to an HTML file for distribution across a company's Intranet. Because this mode of distribution is widely desirable for many people, this feature of the tool should be quite popular. In addition, Visio offers a Web Diagram Wizard, which can automatically create a hierarchical map of a Web site's pages along with any accompanying hyperlinks. All diagrams can be exported to the typical GIF, JPEG, and PNG formats.
Pricing is $350 per user for the base product with extra shape and drawing images available at a variety of prices.
Contact Visio Corp., Seattle; 206-521-4500 or fax 206-521-4501; www.visio.com.
While the data modeling Goliaths have been slugging it out in a features war, an upstart tool has slipped through their fingers and is aimed directly at a hungry new generation of database designers. San Francisco-based Embarcadero Technologies has just released its ER/Studio 2.0 (the tool was formerly called ER/1), an all new 32-bit, IDEF1X database design application.
Database design was a logical next step for Embarcadero. ER/Studio was created with the same style that has been winning Embarcadero huge success in the database administration area with their DBArtisan run-time administration product. ER/Studio combines a simplification of the design process with major functionality, building on Embarcadero's proven leadership in accurate and efficient DBMS specification. ER/Studio is robust enough for traditional database designers who are knowledgeable in the methods and theory of data modeling but simple enough for newcomers to the database design scene to operate effectively.
ER/Studio was crafted to make users comfortable and productive through an intelligent graphical user interface and its wizard-driven approach to performing tasks. Wizards simplify complex procedures such as validating data model integrity, merging logical and physical models or generating DBMS- specific SQL code. ER/Studio's GUI offers point-and-click access to all entities and their attributes by way of an Microsoft Explorer-style tree called the Model Hierarchy Browser. Complete logical and physical model separation and bidirectional merging is critical for serious design efforts. Reverse engineering from and SQL code and generation to more than 26 SQL and desktop DBMSs are extremely fast, accurate operations.
For those who have tried and passed by Embarcadero's modeling tool, you owe to yourself to take another look. Version 2.0 has been totally reworked by the company to include separate logical and physical design facilities, bidirectional model merging, subviews, an Explorer-like Model Hierarchy Browser, and ActiveX support.
ER/Studio is priced at $1,995. Contact Embarcadero Technologies Inc., San Francisco; 415-834-3131 or fax 415-434-1721; www.embarcadero.com.