Viewing diagrams in Portal

You can view your ERD diagram directly in Portal to aid quick understanding of your data source's and asset's structure. Viewable diagrams can be accessed in the object's Relationships tab, which combines the diagram with the list of the object's relationships.

Navigating diagrams

Relationships between objects are represented using crow's foot notation. This means that relationships between objects within your data source are represented as links. They are drawn either with a solid line (for automatically extracted connections) or a dashed line (for those added manually).

Connections on a diagram

Clicking a link highlights it, along with the columns involved in the relationship it represents. A frame appears at the bottom of the page, showing the foreign and primary columns of that relationship. If you have edit permissions, you can use the three dots menu to edit the relationship, or to delete it if it was added manually.

Alternatively, clicking the object itself highlights all links to and from it.

Diagrams for larger databases can be quite extensive, so the diagram window can show only a snippet of a larger diagram. You can navigate through larger diagrams by clicking and dragging on the screen — this lets you glide through the diagram and see its other sections. Additionally, you can consult a smaller viewbox located in the bottom-left corner to see which section of the diagram you are currently viewing. You can hide the viewbox with the x button and bring it back with the map icon that replaces it.

You can zoom in and out from the current view using your mouse's scroll wheel or the dedicated navigation bar in the bottom-right part of the screen. The viewport button [A] lets you adjust the diagram to the viewport's size, while the plus [B] and minus [C] buttons let you zoom in and out respectively. You can also fit the diagram to the viewport with the Alt + 1 keyboard shortcut — remember that for large diagrams it will zoom out so that all nodes are visible, making individual nodes quite small.

Fullscreen mode

If you need more room to work with a diagram, click the Fullscreen button in the diagram's toolbar. The diagram then takes up the whole content area of the page, and you can use all of its options just like in the regular view. To go back, click the same button again.

Searching

The search button in the diagram's toolbar opens a search bar that allows you to search for objects by their names or column names.

Unrelated objects

Some objects in a database might not have any relationships with other objects. Those objects are not drawn on the diagram, but you can still find them with the search bar, where they are marked as Unrelated.

Relationships panel

ERD diagrams map dependencies between tables that result from key relationships.

The Relationships tab, therefore, lets you look up the relationships between tables in your database as a list. To start viewing them, click the Relationships panel button.

The panel opens on the bottom part of the diagram by default. For each relationship, it shows its name, foreign and primary columns, the type of relationship, as well as its title and description. You can resize the panel by dragging its top edge. You can also control which columns are displayed using the eye icon.

By default, all relationships are displayed; however, if you highlight a specific object, you will narrow the list down only to its own relationships.

If you have edit permissions, you can also manage relationships directly from the panel:

• edit a relationship's title and description
• use the ⋮ menu to edit a relationship, or to delete one that was added manually
• select multiple relationships and test them using the Test selected relationships button

Diagram settings

You can also modify what information is displayed, and in what manner, using the options icon in the top-right part of the diagram.

In the settings you can:

• switch between View and Edit mode in domain, area, Data Product, and data source diagrams
• decide whether all columns or only the columns relevant for the diagram are displayed for each object
• decide whether key columns are displayed first, or in their natural order
• decide which (if any) of the object badges are shown
• group the objects of your diagram
• in asset diagrams, decide whether to show all relationships or only the referencing or referenced ones

Grouping

The Grouping section in settings allows you to visually cluster objects in the diagram based on:

• their shared database schema information
• their shared data source
• their shared categorization (same Business Domain, Data Domain, or Data Product)

Different groupings are marked as different colored boxes, each containing their respective objects.

Only one grouping filter can be applied at a time — so you can group objects by either their database schema or the Data Products they are linked to, but not both at the same time.

Indicators on diagrams

Different nodes of an ERD diagram represent different objects. Those objects can have different significance in your organization — some might contain essential data, while others might require frequent checks to ensure that their data is correct. This information should be easily accessible, which is why object nodes in ERD diagrams can display it as badges.

Data Quality

If your object has any Data Quality Rule Instances assigned, an indicator in the top-right corner of its node lets you quickly preview the status of the Data Quality checks. A green indicator signals that all checks have passed, while a red one indicates that at least one has failed.

Data Quality Indicators

Hovering over an indicator triggers a tooltip that lets you navigate directly to the Data Quality tab to investigate the results.

Data Classification

Results of your Data Classification assignments are represented as pill-badges underneath an object's name. Each badge displays the name of an applied Data Classification Protocol.

Hovering over a badge shows the object's classified columns along with the category they received and its sensitivity level.

If more than two classification protocols apply to an object, some of them are hidden by default under a + sign. Hovering over it reveals the rest of the classifications.

Badges

User-assigned badges are also displayed on diagram nodes.

Hovering over a badge shows the badge's name and the user who assigned it.

If one user added multiple badges, only their name is displayed and the badge names are omitted.

Asset diagrams

ERD diagrams are also available for single assets. In general, they follow the same conventions as database diagrams, with a few differences.

References

Asset diagrams mark referenced and referencing sources differently. A referenced source is one the current asset draws a column from, while a referencing source is one that draws from the current asset. Dataedo marks referenced sources in purple and referencing sources in light blue. The legend in the bottom-right corner of the diagram shows both colors.

Some objects can serve as a referenced or referencing source for other assets too. These relationships are marked by colored arrows. Hovering over them reveals the list of other related sources.

The Open ERD diagram of datasource button in the diagram's toolbar takes you to the diagram of the data source the asset belongs to.

Extending asset diagrams

Just like Lineage Diagrams, ERD diagrams for assets also start out in the most local scope of an asset (its most immediate referenced and referencing sources). If you want to expand the ERD context, you can do so using the buttons at the edge of a diagram node.

Managing relationships

If you have edit permissions, you can add relationships to an asset directly from its diagram. To do so, click the Add relationship (+) button in the diagram's toolbar and select:

• Add foreign key — to add a relationship in which the current asset references another object
• Add referencing foreign key — to add a relationship in which another object references the current asset

The colored dots next to the options match the colors of referenced and referencing sources on the diagram.

Both options open the Add relationship window with the current asset already filled in on one side of the relationship. Fill in the remaining details and click Add relationship. Before saving, you can also test the relationship using the Test relationship button. Once added, the new relationship is highlighted on the diagram.

To edit or delete an existing relationship, click its link and use the menu on the relationship card, or use the Relationships panel.

Domain, area, Data Product, and data source diagrams

Domains and their areas, Data Products, and data sources also contain ERD diagrams that represent relationships between their objects and other entities in the repository. You can view them by navigating to the Relationships tab.

The default diagram is created automatically based on the existing links between your assets. Initially, the diagram displays only:

• in an area — the assets linked to that area
• in a domain — the assets linked to the domain and to its areas
• in a Data Product — the assets linked to that Data Product
• in a data source — the objects of that data source, along with the relationships between them. Relationships with objects from other sources are not displayed at first; if you add such objects to the diagram, they are marked as Not in this source.

Navigating the diagram works the same way as with other ERD diagrams.

If none of the objects have any relationships, the diagram is empty. If you have edit permissions, you can still use the Add item button to add objects and notes to it manually.

You might not always be happy with the diagram's default layout — you might not like how certain assets are ordered, or want some assets that are not linked to the domain to be shown nonetheless. You can make those changes using the diagram's Edit mode, which you can turn on in the diagram settings.

If you rearrange the diagram while in view mode, your changes are only temporary. To keep them, click Edit to save, or use the reset button to go back to the original layout.

Editing diagrams

The diagram editor supports a wide range of changes and customizations you can use to make the diagram as detailed or informative as you would like.

Basic actions

The first type of change you can make is rearranging the diagram's layout. When you move a diagram node to a new position, it stays in place after saving.

While you drag a node, guide lines help you place it in relation to other nodes. The node snaps into place when its edges or center line up with those of other nodes, or when it is spaced evenly between its neighbors.

You can also enrich the diagram by adding links to existing nodes using the add related objects button. This displays a list of objects related to that node via its own ERD diagram, letting you extend the current diagram with any of them.

Adding items

You can also add new items to the diagram. To do so, click Add item and select what you want to add.

Selecting Add asset opens a popup where you can select an asset to add to the diagram. Clicking an asset adds it to the diagram editor automatically.

You can also add an asset by typing its name in the diagram's search bar and selecting the Add "[name]" asset to diagram option below the results.

The added asset remains in a draft state until you save your changes.

Another item you can add is a sticky note. A sticky note does not represent any asset — it is instead a memo or informative visual element that you can place anywhere on the diagram.

Clicking the edit button next to a sticky note gives you the option to change its color and the layer it is placed on, since a note can be positioned behind or in front of diagram nodes.

Node actions

Each node in an ERD diagram can be additionally customized.

Link/unlink from a domain, area, or Data Product

Assets in your domain's, area's, or Data Product's ERD diagram do not necessarily have to be linked to it. For example, you might want to include tables that provide data to a crucial view in your area on a diagram, without having those tables directly linked to the area. When editing a diagram, you can add or remove an asset from the domain, area, or Data Product using the link/unlink buttons.

Link/unlink buttons

Edit node

You can use the edit button next to a node to:

• change the node's color
• decide which columns should be shown on that node by default
• decide the column order

Delete node

warning

Deleting a node removes that node and every node reachable from it through outgoing links from the diagram. It does not remove the object from your repository.

You can use the trash can icon to delete a node. Hovering over that icon highlights in red the nodes that will be removed.

Saving changes

All changes have to be saved using the save button. To discard them, click Cancel.

If you try to leave the diagram page without saving your changes, Dataedo warns you and gives you the option to save before leaving.

To remove a saved diagram and go back to the auto-generated one, switch to Edit mode and select Delete diagram in the diagram settings.

Two views

If you make any changes to a diagram, you can switch between the initial, auto-generated diagram and the one you tailored to your needs, while in view mode.