Entity Relationship Diagram Software
Create ERD diagrams, data flow models, SSADM, JSD, UML, and other software diagrams in minutes.
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Start with the exact software design or ERD template you need—not just a blank screen. Customize the template with your information and our ERD software does the rest, aligning everything and applying professional design themes for great results every time.
Top reasons SmartDraw is perfect for making entity relationship diagrams:
- Automatic Formatting
Click simple commands and SmartDraw builds your entity relationship diagram for you, automatically. Add or remove a shape, and SmartDraw realigns and arranges all the ERD elements so that everything looks great. - Quick-Start Templates
Dozens of professionally-designed ERD examples and other software design diagrams make you instantly productive. Simply choose the entity relationship diagram that is most similar to your project, and customize it to suit your needs. - Free Support
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What are Entity Relationship Diagrams
An Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) is the visual representation of all data stored in a system and their relationships. It is a means of visualizing how the information a system produces is related. There are three main components an ERD:
- Entities, which are represented by rectangles
- Relationships, which are represented by diamond shapes
- Connecting lines, solid lines that connect an entity to a relationship
At first glance an ERD looks very much like a flowchart. It is the specialized symbols, and the meanings of those symbols, that make it unique.
When documenting a system or process, looking at the system in multiple ways increases the understanding of that system. ERD diagrams are commonly used in conjunction with a data flow diagram to display the contents of a datastore. They are very helpful when needing to visualize how data is connected in a general way, and when constructing a relational database.