Schemas

Read a schema as an ER diagram

The Diagram tab turns a schema into a picture. Tables, views, procedures and functions become boxes, and lines show how they connect. The diagram is read-only: you can pan, zoom, search, focus and rearrange it, but nothing you do here changes the schema.

In the app: Data Model › Schemas › your schema › Diagram tab

[screenshot]
The Diagram tab: the control strip across the top, the diagram, and an object detail panel on the right.

Choose what appears

The Show checkboxes control which kinds of object are drawn. All four start on: Tables, Views, Procedures and Functions. Clear Views, Procedures and Functions for a pure table diagram.

Trace the connections

Three kinds of line each have a checkbox and a colour in the legend:

  • Foreign keys: declared relationships between tables, drawn solid. On by default.
  • Dependencies: which views, procedures and functions read from or write to which objects, drawn dashed. On by default.
  • Implied relationships: off by default. A column whose name matches another table’s primary key, with no declared foreign key. Treat these as hints for relationships you may want to declare.

Dependency lines come from analysis of each object’s SQL. If none have been analyzed, the tab says “No dependency data yet — dependencies appear after object scripts are analyzed”. See AI in SQL object analysis.

Compact boxes or full detail

Details switches how boxes are drawn.

  • Off (default): each box shows its name and a count of what’s inside.
  • On: tables and views list their columns with types; procedures and functions list their parameters.

In the detailed view, markers at the end of a row show what a column is. Hover a marker to see its meaning: PK primary key, FK foreign key, IX part of an index, C check constraint.

Find your way around

  • Search objects… highlights matching boxes, centres the first match, and shows the number of matches.
  • Click a box to open its detail panel. Open goes to the object’s own page. Focus on this narrows the diagram to that object and its neighbours.
  • Hops (0 to 5) sets how far a focus reaches. 1 shows the object and its direct neighbours.
  • Clear focus returns to the whole schema.
  • The zoom buttons, Fit (fit the diagram to the window) and Reset (re-run the automatic layout) sit at the right of the strip.

Tip: When a big schema looks like a tangle, focus on one important table and set Hops to 1 or 2.

Your layout is saved

Drag boxes where you want them. Kenseme saves your box positions, zoom and pan for you and restores them when you come back. The compact and detailed views keep separate arrangements. A table added since you last arranged the diagram is placed next to a table it relates to. Reset discards your arrangement for the current view and lays the diagram out again.

Large schemas

A schema with about 150 tables or more opens in an overview instead of drawing everything at once. The overview says Large schema — N tables and offers three ways in: search for a table, click one of the Most connected tables, or click Show entire diagram, which can be slow. Focusing a table still narrows the diagram to its neighbourhood.

Export the diagram

Click Export to save a PDF, or open its drop-down for other formats:

Format Use it for
PDF Sharing or printing. Opens your browser’s print dialog; allow pop-ups for the site if nothing happens.
Visio (.vsdx) Editing in Visio. Not every installation includes Visio export; if it’s missing, Kenseme tells you.
draw.io (.drawio) Editing in draw.io (diagrams.net).
Mermaid (.mmd) Pasting into documentation that renders Mermaid diagrams.

Export is disabled while your organization is in read-only mode.

When there’s nothing to show

  • A schema with no tables or SQL objects shows Nothing to diagram yet.
  • If your Show checkboxes hide everything, the canvas says No objects match the current filters. Turn a checkbox back on.