Re: Database Modeller (Mac)

dagny
Sun, 22 Apr 2007 15:33:14 -0000

Multiple-column primary keys does not seem compatible with
ActiveRecord as you say.

However, I disagree about not using foreign key constraints. These are
wonderful, useful aids to maintain the referential integrity of the
DB. When your code violates one, you get a SQL error immediately. It''s
much easier to fix one of these than it is to try to debug an
application that fails intermitently due to data error.

Personally, I have been doing relational database work since the 80''s,
so I perfer to use dbms tools over rails migrations. Take what works
and leave the rest when it comes to frameworks and development tools.


On Apr 22, 8:23 am, eden li
<eden...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org>
wrote:
> Using ActiveRecord with extra database level stuff like foreign key
> constraints, multiple-column primary keys, etc. is the Wrong Thing to
> do.  I got burned by this and had to re-write my database schema in
> Rails 1.1.6.  ActiveRecord will enforce most of that stuff for you if
> you tell it to.
>
> Most of these tools will probably generate schemas that have that
> extra cruft.  They''ll also probably not be compatible with
migrations.
>
> Just a word of warning...
>
> On Apr 21, 11:33 pm, Barry Frost
<barry.fr...-Re5JQEeQqe8AvxtiuMwx3w@public.gmane.org> wrote:
>
> > Can anyone recommend a database modelling tool for the Mac?
I''m
> > building a new Rails app and want an interface to draw out the
> > database''s entity relationship diagram, setup foreign keys
and then
> > output DDL at the end to MySQL.
>
> > I''ve previously used DBDesigner, CASE Studio and some pricier
> > enterprise software on Windows, but can''t find anything
suitable for
> > my Mac. The MySQL Workbench project seems to have stalled and I
can''t
> > find anything suitable.
>
> > Any recommendations?
>
> > Thanks
>
> > Barry Frost