Tables are the basic building blocks of database diagrams. Every diagram is made up of one or more tables and the various objects related to those tables.
Each table consists of a set of columns that contain information about the type of data stored in the table. You must define at least one column to save a table in the database. Each column must be assigned a name, data type, and length. These and other properties can be defined and modified directly in your database diagram.
A table can also have a set of constraints and indexes. Because constraints and indexes are defined for a specific table, they are treated as properties of that table in a database diagram. You use the property pages to create, modify, or delete constraints and indexes for a table.
You can add a table to your database diagram to edit its content or relate it to other tables in your diagram. You can:
Adding a new table to the database diagram means that you are defining a new table that doesn’t already exist in the database. To create a new table, you must define the individual columns that make up the table. The table is created in the database when you save the table or the diagram.
Adding an existing table means that the table you want to appear in your diagram already exists in your database. If you add a group of tables to a diagram, any relationships that exist between the tables are also added to the diagram.
When you add a table to a diagram, the definition of the table (not the data that is stored in the table) is loaded from your database into memory. At that point you can edit the definition, for example, by adding new columns or modifying the objects that are attached to it.
For tables with existing FOREIGN KEY constraints, you can easily add the related tables to the database diagram.
Both those tables referenced by a FOREIGN KEY constraint from the selected table(s) and those referencing the selected table(s) with a FOREIGN KEY constraint are added to the diagram.
To insert a new table into a database diagram
To add an existing table to a database diagram
To add related tables to a database diagram
Tables | Mapping Many-to-Many Key Relationships Using Database Diagrams |