Database reverse-engineering

Reverse-engineering can be used to quickly populate a model from table structures stored in a schema.
During this process, entities are created with attributes named after the column names.

This process connects to a database schema using a platform datasource that must be previously configured in Semarchy xDM.

Reverse-engineering results

Reverse-engineering serves as a one-time method to swiftly populate the initial model from a database schema, yielding the following outcomes:

  • Entities generated are initially basic entities.

  • Foreign keys are not reverse-engineered into references within the model.

The reverse-engineering process is not incremental. Subsequent changes made to tables and columns are not taken into account when repeating the reverse-engineering process.

Reverse-engineer a database

To perform a database reverse-engineering:

  1. Select the Entities node in the model.

  2. Right-click and select Database Reverse-Engineering.
    The Reverse-Engineer Tables to Entities appears.

  3. Select the desired datasource from the Datasource to Reverse-Engineer list.

  4. Click Next.
    The list of tables and columns is reverse-engineered.
    An Entity Preview page shows the list of tables and columns and the suggested logical names for these.

    • The Logical Name column corresponds to the internal names of the entities and attributes generated by the reverse-engineering process.

    • The Physical Name column is filled in with the physical name of the table and column in the database.

    • The Entity Type defaults to Basic.

  5. Select only the entities and attributes you want to reverse-engineer.

  6. Modify the logical and physical names for the entities and attributes, and the type of the entities.

  7. Press Finish.
    The entities and attributes are created according to your definition.