Each entity becomes a relation, and each relationship becomes either a set of external references in an existing relation or a new relation. designER enforces the order of the operations.
- Entities. First, click Fix Entities. Each entity with an internal identifier becomes a relation with the same name and attributes, using the identifier as its primary key.
- Weak entities. Next, click Fix Weak Entities. A weak entity can only be translated after all the entities it depends on have been processed; its primary key combines their identifiers with its own identifying attributes. For further details, see Weak entities.
- Relationships. Finally, click Fix Relationships. Relationships that support only a single translation are translated automatically. For the others, select each one and click Fix to see the available options. How relationships become tables covers every possible case.
Elements can also be translated one at a time: select one and click Fix.
When nothing is left, Done opens the logical schema. Reset undoes all translation choices.