Database reverse-engineering
Overview
Reverse-engineering can be used to quickly populate a model from table structures stored in a schema.
During this process, entities are created with attributes named after the column names.
This process connects to a database schema using a platform datasource that must be previously configured in Semarchy xDM. |
Reverse-engineering results
Reverse-engineering is provided as a one-shot method to quickly populate the initial model from a database schema, and has the following results:
-
The entities created are by default basic entities.
-
The foreign keys are not reverse-engineered as references in the model.
The reverse-engineering process is not incremental. Changes made to the table and columns are not taken into account if you repeat the reverse-engineering process. |
Reverse-engineer a database
To perform a database reverse-engineering:
-
Select the Entities node in the model.
-
Right-click and select Database Reverse-Engineering. The Reverse-Engineer Tables to Entities appears.
-
Select the Datasource to Reverse-Engineer from the list.
-
Click Next. The list of tables and columns is reverse-engineered. An Entity Preview page shows the list of tables and columns and the suggested logical names for these.
-
The Logical Name column corresponds to the internal names of the entities and attributes generated by the reverse-engineering process.
-
The Physical Name column is filled in with the physical name of the table and column in the database.
-
The Entity Type defaults to Basic.
-
-
Select only the entities and attributes you want to reverse-engineer.
-
Modify the logical and physical names for the entities and attributes, and the type of the entities.
-
Press Finish. The entities and attributes are created according to your definition.