Document generation just makes it easier to access and share, while providing descriptions of data structures gets the knowledge out of the peoples heads and saves it for later reference. This is where value added is being created. This category is different from the previous in editing capabilities which is a huge difference as providing the descriptions is a key documentation activity. generate convenient documents for sharing.describe tables and columns (data dictionary), or other database objects and.There is a number of tools that enable you to do both functions of documenting: Annotating capabilities are limited by database platform (you can't provide rich text descriptions or describe elements if DBMS doesn't support that)ĭocumentation generated with dbForge Documenter for SQL Server.No editing capabilities, separate tool is required for this (e.g.Better formatting than standard database tools.This category of tools doesn't have any editing capabilities and can only generate a documentation from metadata extracted from the database. There is a number of dedicated tools whose sole purpose is to generate documentation from your database schema. SQL Server: SQL Server Management Studioĭatabase documentation generated with Oracle SQL Developerĭiagram generated with SQL Server Management Studio.No ability to generate integrated documentation consisting of diagrams and detailed data dictionary.Little or no editing and authoring capabilities (only basic annotation features).No global documentation for both - objects descriptions and diagrams.DBAs, developers and architects already use database management tools.Most of them are free or shipped with the database engine.Reverse engineering database schema to ER Diagrams.Commenting data elements (tables, columns, views etc.).Standard database consoles like SQL Server Management Studio (SQL Server), Oracle SQL Developer (Oracle) or MySQL Workbench (MySQL) support some basic database schema and model documentation and generation. Database development and management tools It also feels more natural since documentation usually has tabular structure.ģ. It makes navigating, searching and filtering data more convenient. It's an even worse nightmare to maintainĪ slightly better choice for a tool would be a spreadsheet (like MS Excel or LibreOffice Calc).Good formatting, branding and printing capabilities.When you want to create a printable document, word processors (like MS Word or LibreOffice Writer) sound like an obvious choice. This article presents 8 different types of tools you can use to create a documentation of your existing databases.

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