Tools → Schema Diagram Viewer

About the Schema Diagram Viewer

The Schema Diagram Viewer allows a tenant user with the necessary access rights and permissions to view an entity-relationship diagram for the selected physical schema and any related and viewable physical schemas. This includes all objects and join relationships among these objects.

Starting the 2022.7.0 release, you can use the Schema Diagram Viewer to create joins via drag-and-drop techniques. You can also edit and delete joins in the details drawer. In addition, the details drawer has an improved user interface.

Note

The changes you make using the Schema Diagram Viewer are saved to the schema draft till you either promote these changes to a published version or discard or overwrite them.

Schema Diagram Viewer Access Permissions

The Super User (tenant administrator) or a user that belongs to a group with the Schema Manager or the SuperRole roles can access the Schema Diagram Viewer from the Schema Designer. The user must have at least View access rights to the physical schema.

If the Enable Super User Mode option is enabled in the Cluster Management Console (CMC) → Tenant Configurations → Security, the Super User that is a Tenant Administrator and any user with the SuperRole can access the Schema Diagram Viewer for any physical schema regardless of the access rights.

To open the Schema Diagram Viewer, in the Navigation bar, select Schema. In the Schema Manager, on the Schemas tab, in the List View, select a physical schema item row. In the Schema Designer, in the summary section, select Diagram.

Anatomy of the Schema Diagram Viewer

The Schema Diagram Viewer consists of the following:

  • Action bar
  • Search bar
  • Overview window
  • Diagram canvas
  • Details drawer
Note

In the 2022.8.0 release, the Schema Diagram Viewer introduces more enhancements for better usability and visibility when viewing and managing cross-schema join relationships. These enhancements include grouping common external objects under a schema node and collapsing these nodes by default.

Action bar

The action bar shows:

  • The name of the physical schema
  • An X icon that you can select to close the Schema Diagram Viewer

The search bar contains a search text box. Search for objects that exist on the diagram by the object name or part of it. By default, the search results contain a list of all objects on the diagram. This list is filtered to show objects whose name matches the search term entered. Select an entity to zoom in to its location on the diagram and view its details. Searching for an object in a collapsed schema node expands the node and sets the focus on the related object.

The search results are organized by entity type:

The Search bar contains also the following:

  • Information icon: To access the details drawer to view information about the selected schema object and the related join relationships if any. You can also use it to hide the details drawer.
  • Plus icon: To zoom in.
  • Minus icon: To zoom out.
  • Four-corner icon: To fit the schema diagram to the page.
  • Layout list: To change the layout of the schema diagram. The options are Default Layout and Compact Layout.
Note

The Circular Layout option is not available starting the 2022.8.0 release.

Overview window

The Overview window provides a high-level view of the entire physical schema diagram. Use the Overview window to focus on a specific part of the schema diagram. Drag the light-blue rectangle or change its width and height to set or change the focus.

You can change the size of the Overview window or you can hide it.

  • To increase the size of the Overview window, select maximize (diverging arrows icon).
  • To decrease the size of the Overview window, select minimize (converging arrows icon).
  • To collapse the Overview window, select v.
  • To expand the Overview window, select >.

Diagram canvas

The diagram canvas shows the physical schema diagram. In the physical schema diagram, you can view the objects in the current physical schema and other related physical schemas (if any) and the relationships, or joins, among the objects as arrows. The arrow source represents the child object and the target represents the parent object. A legend key at the bottom of the physical schema diagram indicates the entity type by color.

In the 2022.8.0 release, external schemas are collapsed by default and each displayed as a node. They can be expanded to show the linked objects. Collapsed schema nodes show the physical schema name, the number of collapsed items (linked objects), and an expand button. For collapsed schema nodes, all join arrows that relate to the same object in the current schema are combined in only one arrow.

Here are the entity types in the diagram legend and corresponding colors.

  • Schema - gray (available starting the 2022.8.0 release to denote the number of external schemas that have cross-join relationships with the current schema)
  • Table - blue
  • Materialized View - green
  • Alias table - red
  • Incorta Analyzer table - orange
  • Incorta SQL table - purple

Starting the 2022.7.0 release, you can use drag-and-drop techniques to create new join relationships among the objects that appear on the diagram canvas, whether these objects belong to the same physical schema or different physical schemas. However, the child object must belong to the current physical schema and you must have at least Edit access rights to the child schema and View access rights to the parent schema. You can also edit existing join relationships if you have the same access rights and the child object exists in the current physical schema.

Using the diagram canvas, you can do the following:

  • Select and hold an object then drag to the same or another object to create a new join relationship. A visual indication appears when you hover over an object in the current schema denoting that you can draw an arrow from this object to create a new join relationship.
  • Select an object to view its details in the details drawer. You cannot select the node of a collapsed schema.
  • Select a join arrow to view its details in the details drawer.
  • Select an arrow from or to a collapsed schema node to open the details drawer with all related join relationships listed. You can manage the join relationships if the child object exists in the current schema.
  • Double-click an object to open it in the Table Editor if you have access rights to the related physical schema.
  • Double-click a join arrow to open the Joins tab in the Schema Designer.
Note

You cannot drag and draw an arrow from an object to a collapsed schema node. You have to expand the external schema node and then drag to draw the arrow to start creating the join between an object in the current schema and an object in the external schema.

Available options in the Table Editor, Schema Designer, or details drawer depend on your access rights to the related physical schemas.

Details drawer

When you select one of the objects or the arrow that represents a join relationship, a details window appears. When you select an arrow from or to a collapsed schema node, the details drawer shows all related join relationships and their details.

The details drawer of an object includes the following information.

PropertyDescription
Object NameThe color of the object icon indicates the object type.
Select the square arrow icon to the right of the object name to open the object in the Table Editor. You can edit the object if you have Edit access rights to the related physical schema.
Performance OptimizedIndicates whether the object is performance-optimized or not. The Analytics Service loads performance-optimized objects into its memory.
ColumnsThe number of columns in the object
JoinsThe number of joins between the object and other objects
RowsThe number of rows in the object
Data on DiskThe amount of disk space consumed by the object
Key ColumnsThe object columns that function as a key
Child JoinsThe join relationships where the selected object is the child.
Select the pen icon next to the schema names to open the join relationship in the Join Details dialog. You can edit the join if you have Edit access rights to the related physical schema.
Parent JoinsThe join relationships where the selected object is the parent

The details drawer shows the following information when you select a specific join relationship. In addition, the Child Joins and Parent Joins sections in the object details drawer show the same information for each join relationship.

PropertyDescription
TitleIndicates that the selected item is a join.
If the current schema has the child object, you can select the square arrow icon to the right of the title to open the Joins tab in the Schema Designer.
Schema NamesThe names of the schemas where the child and parent objects exist.

If the child and parent objects exist in the same physical schema, the current schema name appears once. If the child object exists in the current schema, select the pen icon next to the schema name(s) to open the join relationship in the Join Details dialog. You can edit the join if you have Edit access rights to the related physical schema.

If the child object exists in the current physical schema and you own or have Edit access rights to the physical schema, select the trash can icon next to the schema name(s) to remove the join.
Object NamesThe names of the joined objects: the Child object and the Parent object.
The color of the object icon indicates the object type.
Join ColumnsThe columns in the join relationship.
The icon in front of the column name indicates the column data type. A key icon marks key columns regardless of the data type.

To close the details drawer, select the X on the far right, the information icon in the search bar, or any other place in the diagram canvas.

The Schema Diagram Viewer actions

Using the Schema Diagram Viewer, you can perform the following actions:

  • View the physical schema diagram
  • View the details of an object
  • View the details of a join relationship
  • Create a join relationship
  • Edit a join relationship
  • Delete a join relationship

To create new join relationships or edit existing ones, you must have at least Edit access rights to the current physical schema and at least View access rights to the physical schema of the parent object. In addition, the child object must exist in the current physical schema. To delete a join relationship, you must have at least Edit access rights to the current physical schema that has the child object.

The changes you make using the Schema Diagram Viewer are saved to the schema draft till you either promote these changes to a published version or discard or overwrite them.

View the physical schema diagram

  • In the navigation bar, select Schema.
  • In the Schema Manager, on the Schemas tabs, in the List View, select a physical schema item row.
  • In the Schema Designer, in the summary bar, select Diagram.
  • Review the join relationships related to the current schema.

View the details of an object

  • In the Schema Diagram Viewer, on the diagram canvas, select the object you want.
  • In the details drawer, review the object details and the related join relationships.
  • Select the square arrow next to the object name to open the object in the Table Editor.

View the details of a join relationship

  • In the Schema Diagram Viewer, on the diagram canvas, select the arrow that represents the join relationship you want.
  • In the details drawer, review the join details.

Create a join relationship

  • In the Schema Diagram Viewer, on the diagram canvas, select and hold an object in the current schema, and then drag it to the same or another object.
  • In the Join Details dialog, the Child and Parent sections show the object(s) you selected by default. Select the join columns.
  • Select Done. The new join relationship appears highlighted on the diagram canvas.

You can add multiple join conditions and join filters to the same join relationship. For more information, refer to Tools → Join Editor.

Edit a join relationship

  • In the Schema Diagram Viewer, on the diagram canvas, select the child or parent object in the join you want to edit or select the join itself.
  • In the details drawer, for the join relationship you want to edit, select the pen icon next to the physical schema name(s).
  • In the Join Details dialog, edit the join details as required.
  • Select Done.

Delete a join relationship

  • In the Schema Diagram Viewer, on the diagram canvas, select the child or parent object in the join you want to delete or select the join arrow.
  • In the details drawer, for the join relationship you want to delete, select the trash can icon next to schema name(s).
  • In the dialog, select Delete.