SQL Database designer - Page 1
Forum section: electronics / general

author: NW27
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2019, 10:13:06 pm
content: Hi All,I'm looking for a (free) GUI SQL Database designer tool whereby I can layout out my relational database with tables, links between tables, columns with in tables showing Primary Keys, Secondary keys, indexs etc.If it happens to also be able to generate the SQL code for the creation of the database () , all the better.Initially, I will develop this on my desktop but eventually, I would like the database to reside on Azure.Thanks,Neil.

author: ledtester
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 09, 2019, 10:50:02 pm
content: How about an on-line tool?https://dbdiagram.io/homeNo experience using it, but it looks pretty cool. (I just searched for "sql schema design tool")

author: HackedFridgeMagnet
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2019, 12:21:36 am
content: SQLServer Express is free and has a great management tool SqlServer Management Studio that does what you ask.IIRC it is free as long as your DB is smaller than 4GB. If you are logging stuff and it gets larger you could just Create a new DB on the fly with the same structure.ps. I have been using this for years, I dont really want to push propriety applications but because it has always been so easy I never managed to make the shift to MySql or PostGresql.

author: rstofer
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2019, 03:35:23 am
content: Microsoft Access?

author: amspire
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2019, 04:12:40 am
content: The database I would go to first is the most used database in the world by a long way - SQLite3. It runs on everything, is designed for up to 140TBytes. If it is run in RAM, it is the fastest major SQL database in the world up to sizes of a few TBytes (using a platform like Bedrock -https://bedrockdb.com-to handle all the DB synching to hard drives in a robust, professional way). Microsoft Access is a pathetic toy compared to SQLite3.SQLite3 runs fine on Windows, but Azure supports Linux big time. That means you can easily run Bedrock. If you must run Windows, it now has a Linux subsystem you can enable, and so you can have subsystems of Ubuntu, Debian, Centos, etc running on Windows if you insist. It is just another option that is available. Microsoft is actually one of the Platinum members of the Linux Foundation.There are some SQL GUI front ends that work fine with SQLite3 - you could even use the Access one or the Base interface in LibreOffice, but the thing about databases is the GUI tools never take you that far. For a decent database, you usually need to start coding. Without the coding, the database structure is usually weak, and it only works as long as users enter data in an exact specified way. When a database is exposed to a test where anyone is allowed to use it, it is amazing the genius of the average person to discover ways to incorrectly use a database in a way that that breaks it.You can use spreadsheets as DB frontends if you want.I haven't tried it, but there are commercial database agnostic development tools such ashttps://www.sqlmaestro.com.The actual SQLite3 code is tiny which is why it is so popular - under 1MBytes for 64 bit Windows. A tiny size has from the start been a primary design mission.Richard

author: ivaylo
author_rank: Frequent Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2019, 06:54:26 am
content: How many tables are you thinking? If you end up with MySQL, MySQL Workbench may be a good choice. To have full control I would be scripting the schema and then just visualizing it to check things and not the other way around though, don’t trust those toy tools.

author: SiliconWizard
author_rank: Super Contributor
timestamp: September 10, 2019, 03:11:24 pm
content: Just a thought here - especially if you're not going to design extra fancy DB stuff, SQL is not hard to learn and use.So why not design your DBs with just a diagramming tool and then translate them to SQL by hand?Ok, I know it's the old approach. But hey, old is the new new. (c)

author: Pete66
author_rank: Regular Contributor
timestamp: September 26, 2019, 07:27:09 pm
content: Oracle SQL Developer Data Modeler is the best "free" one I have used.https://www.oracle.com/database/technologies/appdev/datamodeler.html