Hey, I'm Mason, a product expert at Lucid.
Today, I'll be your guide as we take a closer look at
Entity Relationship Diagrams, also known as ERDs
and learn some best practices for creating them in Lucidchart.
We'll cover a few basics like how to import
and export ERDs and how to manually create them.
We’ll also discuss important diagraming features
and finish up by highlighting a few helpful integrations.
If this isn't your first rodeo when it comes to ERDs,
feel free to skip ahead using the chapters in this video.
If you're new to ERDs, we're going to give you a high level
explanation of what an ERD is made up of.
Let's get into it!
An ERD is a visual representation of a database
that shows how the elements within the data are related.
In other words, how entities such as People, Objects, or Concepts
relate to each other within a system.
Within an ERD, there are a few components to focus on: Entities or Tables,
Relationships, Cardinalities and Attributes or Properties.
An Entity in this context is a component of data
from your database shown as a shape on the canvas.
The relationships between entities are represented
as lines that have special line endings called Cardinalities.
Cardinalities describe how two elements of the database interact with each other.
Lastly, there are Attributes which is a characteristic of an entity
that helps users better understand the database.
An example of an attribute is: Customer ID, First Name,
Last Name, Street, Zipcode and Phone number.
If you want a more in-depth explanation of ERDs,
I highly recommend checking out these two videos.
Now that you've got an understanding of what an ERD is,
it's time to bring it together and begin creating one in Lucidchart.
If you don't have a Lucidchart account yet, now would be a good time to sign up.
Let's say that you don't have time
or don't know how to start when creating your own ERD.
Luckily for you, Lucidchart has template options that you can select from.
Navigate here and click, Template.
Search “entity relationship” and you'll be presented with a library
of options to choose from.
Select the template you want to use and you can begin creating your own ERD.
If you're coming to Lucidchart with databases already created,
you can simply import them by using the SQL Database import options.
You'll be able to import databases from MySQL, Oracle,
PostgreSQL and SQL Server.
The best place to start with ERDs, is adding them to your Shape Toolbar.
The first step is to locate the ERD Shape Library.
Keep in mind the ERDs you create in Lucidchart are
and will be referred to as “Shapes.” Click here, and once the window opens
you can type out “entity relationship” or find it here.
After the ERD Shape Library populates in the Shape Toolbar,
you'll see these three options: Import, Export, and Salesforce Import.
Importing your data
allows you to create a diagram to visually represent your database.
When you're ready to import your SQL Database into Lucidchart.
Navigate here, and click.
Once you click, “Import Database,” you'll be presented with the first step of importing.
Select your database management system and you'll then run a query of the database.
The query will create a structure we need to generate diagram shapes
from your database schema.
After that, you'll upload the results generated by your database query by either
uploading a file from your computer or paste the output as plain text.
When you're ready, click import.
You'll be able to import from Salesforce to create a diagram of your schema.
It's worth noting that the Salesforce Import option is only available
to enterprise users and is not available to users in the Fedramp environment.
Once the data import is complete,
you'll be able to start visualizing the ERDs within Lucidchart.
If you're wondering where your data is located, use the movable sidebar
found here.
It'll be labeled as ERD Import.
Drag the bar up and you'll be able to see all of the imported data.
From here
you'll be able to drag and drop the imported data onto your Lucidchart canvas.
I'd like to highlight that when you drag your data onto the canvas,
Lucidchart will automatically do its best to draw dependencies for you.
Continue to drag the data you need onto the canvas and arrange it
how you see best.
Now that you know how to work with the ERDs by either using a template
or importing data, it's time to focus on building one manually.
As you can see, there are four different ERD shapes.
For this example, I'm going to drag out three specific ERDS shapes.
When creating an ERD manually, I like to start naming the Entities.
Let's name them Customer, Order, and Product.
Remember when we talked about entities and attributes?
Let's see what they look like in an ERD.
Highlighted in Orange, is the Entity and highlighted in Purple are the Attributes.
I'm now going to start adding the Attributes.
Like I said earlier,
Attributes are properties as a characteristic of an entity
that helps users better understand the database.
Wait a second.
What if you need to list more than just three attributes?
Don't worry. Lucidchart has a solution.
Navigate to the contextual panel and increase the number of fields.
Once it's created and you've added the appropriate information,
spread them out evenly so they don't make the diagram too crowded.
At this point,
we'll want to connect the relationships that exist between these three.
By defining the relationships, we'll be able to distinguish
how they interact with each other.
We'll do this by connecting them with lines.
Drag a line to connect the shapes.
By dragging a line and connecting them,
it shows that the shapes are connected to one another in some way.
After connecting the lines, you'll see the cardinalities at the end of each line,
which further defines the relationship in numerical context.
Great job. Your diagram is looking good.
That being said, I think we can take your good diagram
and make it great by adding some customization
through the Contextual Panel and the Formatting Toolbar.
Go back into the Contextual Panel.
If your ERD Shapes don't match each other, you'll want to highlight
the entire diagram and click one of these three options.
Something I really like doing is adding a shaded header.
There's also an option to add alternate rows of color.
If you go with this option,
you'll see the color you selected will only appear every other row.
Let's say that you want to add some customization to your lines.
In the formatting toolbar, you'll be able to adjust the Line Color,
Line Style, Line Width, Line Options,
End Points, and the option to swap the Line Ending.
I highly recommend being intentional when you use color and caution using too much.
Color on your diagram should provide clarity
and help distinguish information for your viewers.
By using too much color, you run the risk of overwhelming your audience.
Think of it like adding the right amount of parmesan cheese
to your favorite pasta dish.
Not too much, not too little, but the amount that's just right.
Now that you've manually created
an ERD you'll want to export it into the system of your choice.
Lucidchart supports MySQL, PostgreSQL,
SQL Server, Oracle Sequel and Quick Base.
There are two options for you when exporting your ERD:
You can export here or select your entire
ERD and navigate to the Contextual Panel.
After clicking, you'll be presented with a window
that gives you your options of exporting.
Select your system
and copy and paste the commands below into your database or application.
Once you've exported, click done.
It's important to remember that when you export from Lucidchart
into your database, the changes you've made or added in
Lucidchart will be reflected in that database.
And we're done...
or at least that's what a lot of people would think.
But at Lucid, we know that creating a diagram is just the beginning.
So let's wrap up by discussing a few features in Lucidchart
that can help you see opportunities within your system, promote effective
communication across your team, and manage diagrams.
For example, Lucidchart’s
Conditional Formatting feature provides deeper insights into your data.
It helps you quickly identify opportunities within your system
so you can make the best decisions moving forward.
This can be a pretty complex topic.
Be sure to check out our other resources to learn more about it.
Next, we've got Lucidchart’s collaboration features.
Share your documents via email, a shareable link
which happens to be my favorite or an invitation through Slack.
Once others have joined, discuss the information in your database
and plan next steps.
Add a comment to the canvas
or @ mention a teammate to share action items and provide feedback.
Take asynchronous collaboration even further
with our Loom and Cloud App integrations.
With the added clarity of an embedded video recording,
your Lucidchart documents can stand on their own.
No more long winded follow up emails or alignment meetings needed.
And finally, we recommend turning on the Get Change Notification
setting to ensure that no adjustments to the diagram are made without you knowing.
And when it comes to keeping the document up to date,
make it easier to remember by setting a reminder notification.
Lucidchart will then remind you to make updates on the day that you've chosen.
We understand that integrations play a crucial role in your workflow.
Because of this, we have a handful of integrations you can start using today.
In relation to databases and ERDs, these integrations are: Snowflake,
Google, BigQuery, Amazon, Redshift and MongoDB.
If you want to learn more about these integrations and see
which integrations are compatible with your Lucidchart account, click here.
And that's it.
You're now ready to start creating your own ERDs in Lucidchart and begin
leveraging all of the features Lucidchart offers to its users.
To learn more, visit training.lucid.co
It's been fun.
It's been real.
It's been real fun.
Thank you for joining us.