Adding Tables to a Database Diagram

See Also

You can add a table to your database diagram to edit its content or relate it to other tables in your diagram. You can either add existing database tables to a diagram or insert a new table that has not yet been defined in the database.

• Inserting a New Table
  
  
• Adding an Existing Table
  
  
• Adding Related Tables

Inserting a New Table

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.

To insert a new table into a diagram

1. Make sure you’re connected to the database in which you want to create the table.

   To create a table in your current diagram, click the New Table button on the toolbar.

   –or–

   Right-click in the diagram, and select New Table.

2. In the Choose Name dialog box, change the system-assigned name of the table if you want, and then choose OK.

   A new table appears in the diagram in Column Properties view.

3. In the first cell of the new table, type a column name. Then press the TAB key to move to the next cell.
   
   
4. Under Datatype, select a data type for the column. Each column must have a name and data type.

   You can set other properties for the column by typing or selecting values, or you can accept the default settings.

5. Repeat steps 3 and 4 for each column you want to add to the table.

When you save your database diagram, the new table will be added to your database.

Note   If you create a new table, then remove it from the diagram before saving it to the database, the table name remains in memory until you close the database diagram. Also, if you delete an existing table from the database, the table name remains in memory. To use the table name again, close and restart the Database Designer.

Adding an Existing Table

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.

To add an existing table to a diagram

1. Make sure you’re connected to the database whose objects you want to edit.
   
   
2. Select a table in the Tables folder.
   
   
3. Drag the table into your database diagram.
   
   
4. Release the mouse button.

If relationships exist between the selected table and other tables in your diagram, relationship lines are automatically drawn.

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 table’s definition, for example by adding new columns or modifying the objects that are attached to it.

Adding Related Tables

For tables with existing foreign key constraints, you can easily add the related tables to the database diagram.

To add related tables to a diagram

1. Select one or more tables with foreign key constraints in the database diagram.
   
   
2. Right-click on any of the selected tables and choose Add Related Tables.

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.