database engineering -- views

[ericf]

Is there any way to import database view definitions into EA?  I can get tables with no problem, but we have schemas that are composed entirely of views to insulate users from changes in the underlying tables, and I'd like to visualize those too.

[hd]

Modelling database views is in the pipeline.

We are aiming to have it will available within 6 months.

[jaimeglz]

I'm probably stating something obvious, but what I do to import a view and its attributes is to create a temp table with the view, and then reverse-engineer it into EA. In Oracle 10g, for instance:

DROP TABLE t_tmp;

CREATE TABLE t_tmp
UNRECOVERABLE
AS SELECT *
FROM vi_audit
WHERE rownum < 2
;

For convenience, I reverse-engineer t_tmp into a diagram that exists in a package called tmp (a multi-purpose diagram outside the main model). In the tmp diagram, I rename t_tmp with the real view name, change the stereotype from <<table>> to <<view>> (you can create a new UML stereotype, and name it <<view>> or << table view>>) and then drag the newly created class into its permanet package ("DB views", for instance) in the model.

You can create ordinary class diagrams for your views, so they become visible to developers and other users. For completeness, you can create other specialized diagrams, where you can join the views to their corresponding table or tables by dependency relationships (the dependency stereotype can be <<derive>>). This way you can always keep track of view dependencies.

Hope this helps, although it is somehow time-consuming for a large number of views.

Jaime

[markuskhouri]

The thread "Database Views with Data Modeling and SQL DDL" at http://www.sparxsystems.com.au/cgi-bin/yabb/YaBB.pl?board=suggestions;action=display;num=1103842463

states  "Datamodelling view support for SQL Server, Oracle and Sybase ASE will be available in version 6.5", though there is no mention when version 6.5 will be available.

[Graham_Moir]

Although Henk refers to "within 6 months" on Feb 12th, so may be that gives us a release date for 6.5 of around August 12th !