Visual Case - Database Engineering Tutorial
Implementing Your
Design
Introduction - What is database
engineering?
Visual Case's engineering
wizard allows you to easily create a physical database
from your data model and vice versa.
During every stage of the design, development and maintainance of
your system, Visual Case will keep your database and your
Visual Case project synchronized.
You can rapidly architect your database leaving decisions for
physical implementation for a later date since Visual Case can
seamlessly generate the same data model to multiple
DBMS's.
Visual Case allows you to build and
maintain databases for the following
DBMS's.
- Microsoft SQL Server 6.5, 7 & 2000
- Microsoft Access 97, 2000 & XP
- MySQL
- Oracle 8i and 9i
- Sybase 12.5 and 7
- Interbase
- Pervasive SQL
- PostgreSQL
Getting Started
-
This tutorial will walk you through the concepts involved in
creating and maintaining your database using Visual
Case. Begin by downloading the trial version
of Visual Case, which can be used
free of charge for 30 days. The trial version is fully functional.
-
Begin by setting up a
new empty database and establishing an ODBC or JDBC
connection. If you are working with a
Microsoft Access database, you don't need to set up an ODBC
connection.
You will also need a
logon and password with permissions to create and modify objects
in the database. If you are uncertain how to do this, ask
your database administrator.
- Finally, you will
need to design at least a simple data model that you will
forward-engineer to create a physical database. If you are
not familiar with relational database design go to that tutorial now and return to this tutorial at a
later time.
Building your Physical Database
Start
the database engineer wizard (from the Tools menu) and choose
forward engineer. The wizard
will take you through the steps to creating your
database and is easy to learn and use.
1. Select
the Data Model.
Visual Case allows you to design
more than one data model from within the same project. If
you have more than one data dictionary in your project, select the one
that you want to generate.
2. Specify the
location of the Physical Database.
Select the ODBC
or JDBC connection that connects to your database. Make sure that you
enter a logon and password with permission to create and modify
objects.
If you are working with
Microsoft Access, you can specify the path of the mdb file instead of
selecting an ODBC connection.
3. Review the
differences between your data model and the physical
database.
When you forward-engineer,
Visual Case compares your data model with the database and
shows you exactly what changes will be made in order to keep the
two synchronized. You can make as many or as few changes as
you would like.
Of
course, if you are creating a new database, none of the
objects will exist yet and they will all need to be
created.
If, however,
you are working with an existing database, this step is
invaluable.
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