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Jamey Barton
Jamey Barton

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Selecting the Ideal Tools for Database Documentation

Database documentation is a crucial aspect of maintaining and understanding complex data systems. Proper documentation helps developers, administrators, and stakeholders comprehend the database's structure, relationships, and behavior. To streamline this process, various database documentation tools have been developed. In this article, we will explore different tools that can be used to create database schema documentation.

We can use any of the following tools to document the database structure.

  1. Text editors like Microosft Word.
  2. Spread sheet tools like Microsoft Excel or openoffice.
  3. Database management tools.
  4. Database Documentation tools
  5. Data Modeling and Diagramming tools

For demonstration, we will use the medical store database, which I have restored on the SQL Server instance.

Let us explore them with their pros and cons.

Text Editors

You can use Microsoft Word to create a document to describe the database. In the database document, you can include the information of the database, its purpose, and underlying objects like tables, views, and stored procedures. Moreover, you can include data types of columns, their purpose, constraints, and other details.

Pros of using Word:

  1. Easy to use because most of us are familiar with how to use it.
  2. Formatting and filtering are easy.

Cons of using Word:

  1. It isn't easy to create and maintain the document.
  2. We have to add details of tables manually.

I have created a sample database document using Word and spreadsheet.

Screenshot of Countries table in MS Word

Image description

Spreadsheet Tools

Just like Microsoft Office Word, you can also use Excel or similar spreadsheet tools to create a database document. The Pros and Cons of using Excel or spreadsheet tools are the following:

Pros of using Excel:

  1. Easy to use because most of us are familiar with how to use it.

Cons of using Excel:

  1. It isn't easy to create and maintain the document.
  2. We have to add details of tables manually.
  3. Formatting is complex.

Screenshot of Countries table in MS Excel

Image description

Database development and management tools

To create a database document, you can use specialized database management tools that offer features for documentation and design. These tools provide functionalities specifically designed for database design and documentation, making them more suitable for creating detailed database documents than general word processing software like Microsoft Word.

Following is the list of popular database development and management tools that can be used to document the database:

  1. Microsoft SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS): This is the official tool provided by Microsoft for managing SQL Server databases. SSMS includes a database diagram feature that allows you to create, modify, and visualize the database structure.
  2. MySQL Workbench: MySQL Workbench is a visual tool for designing, modeling, and documenting MySQL databases. We can create and modify database schemas, design tables, define relationships, and generate detailed documentation in various formats.
  3. Oracle SQL Developer: Oracle SQL Developer is a powerful database management tool for Oracle databases. It provides functionalities for database design, schema creation, and documentation generation. You can generate reports, view entity relationship diagrams, and export documentation.

Pros of using database management tools:

  1. These tools are available with the database engine. For example, the SQL Server management studio provides the database diagram tool.
  2. Easy to use. We can drag and drop a list of tables in the database diagram. The tool will automatically generate the diagram.

Cons of using database management tools:

  1. You can not add object descriptions and ER diagrams using the same tool. For example, you can not specify object description in the database diagram of SQL Server management studio.
  2. It does not have any authoring or editing capabilities.

Image 1: Screenshot of wideworldimportors database schema diagram.

Image description

Image 2: Screenshot of sakila database schema diagram.

Image description

Now, let us take a look at documentation tools.

Database documentation tools

Several third-party database documentation tools are available that specialize in generating comprehensive documentation for different database management systems. These third-party tools offer specialized features and capabilities for database documentation, making generating detailed and professional-looking documentation for your databases easier.

Following is the list of popular database document tools:

  1. Redgate SQL Doc: Redgate SQL Doc is a documentation tool specifically designed for SQL Server databases. It automatically generates database documentation in various formats, including HTML, CHM, and Microsoft Word. It includes schema information, relationships, object dependencies, and customizable descriptions.
  2. ApexSQL Doc: ApexSQL Doc is a documentation tool for Microsoft SQL Server databases. It automatically generates comprehensive database documentation in multiple output formats, including HTML, CHM, PDF, and Word. The documentation includes schema information, object descriptions, relationships, and dependencies.
  3. dbForge Documenter: dbForge Documenter is a popular third-party database documentation tool developed by Devart. It can automatically analyze your database schema, extract metadata, and generate detailed documentation. It captures information about tables, views, stored procedures, functions, triggers, indexes, and other database objects. dbForge Documenter allows you to generate comprehensive database documentation in different formats, like HTML, PDF, and Microsoft Word.

Pros of using database documentation tools:

  1. Documentation tools ensure consistency and accuracy in the documentation by extracting information directly from the database.
  2. Many documentation tools offer visual representations of the database schema, such as entity-relationship diagrams or dependency graphs. These visualizations help developers and stakeholders better understand the structure and relationships within the database Cons of using database documentation tools.
  3. Documentation tools usually offer customization options. You can add custom descriptions, annotations, and other information to make the documentation more informative and relevant to your organization.

Cons of using database documentation tools:

  1. Some tools do not include the ER diagram. Therefore you must maintain the ER diagram and data dictionary separately.

Data Modeling and Diagramming tools

We can use the Data Modelling and diagramming tools to create a database documentation. You can use any of the following tools:

  1. Oracle SQL Developer Data Modeler: Oracle SQL Developer Data Modeler is a free tool provided by Oracle itself. It offers a visual interface for designing and documenting database schemas. It supports various Oracle Database versions and provides features like entity-relationship modeling, logical and physical design, data type mapping, and SQL script generation.
  2. Microsoft Visio: Microsoft Visio is a widely used diagramming tool that offers a range of templates, including database diagram templates. It provides a user-friendly interface and supports various database management systems. Visio allows you to create entity-relationship (ER) diagrams, import and export database schemas, and collaborate with others.

Pros of using database documentation tools:

  1. Data modelling and diagramming tools can be used to create ER diagrams, and it has good diagramming and visual capabilities.
  2. Some tools support different database engines, so we can use them for various databases.

Cons of using database documentation tools:

  1. These tools do not support data dictionaries. You have to create them separately.
  2. After changing database objects, you have to manually update the ER diagram created using these tools.
  3. We can not use it to reverse engineer the existing database.

The above cons can be eliminated by using dbForge Studio for SQL Server. The dbForge Studio for SQL Server is a powerful IDE (Integrated Development Environment) specifically designed for SQL Server database development and administration. It provides a comprehensive set of tools and features to streamline SQL Server development, database management, and query optimization. The dbForge Studio has a database diagram tool that can be used to create a database diagram (ER diagram). Also, the dbForge Studio database diagram tools combine database modeling, table designing, and database diagrams in one place, which makes the process of creating and maintaining the database diagram much easier.

Conclusion

Maintaining the database documentation is one of the important tasks of the database administrator and can be done using various third-party and native tools. In this article, I have covered the details of various tools that can be used to create database documents.

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