designER

designER supports the entire relational database design process, from the initial Entity-Relationship diagram to the final SQL code. Each step follows conceptual modeling principles, actively preventing the most common mistakes along the way.

Generic drawing tools can produce an ER diagram, but they lack correctness checks and do not offer a restructuring and translation phase. designER fully covers both conceptual and logical design, generating a DBMS-independent schema.

The restructuring phase is automatically skipped when the schema is free of generalizations, composite attributes, and multivalued attributes.

Who it is for

Designed with learners in mind, designER helps students master relational databases and provides teachers with clear, practical examples. It requires zero prior experience. Because clarity and completeness come before automation, every design decision remains visible and entirely in the designer’s hands. At the same time, experienced designers can use it as a fast drafting and documentation tool.

Design principles

• Clear, constructive errors. Errors are explained, not just blocked. Invalid actions are disabled, with a short message next to the button explaining why. Schema issues are marked directly on the diagram and described in the status bar.
• Contextual toolbar. Only what is relevant is shown. Out of about forty functions, the toolbar displays only those that apply to the current step and the selected element.
• Instant updates. The diagram, the code panel and the error messages update in real time, even while a name is being typed.
• Zero data loss. Every change is saved automatically in the browser, and undo and redo enable navigation back and forth through the design actions.