Easy 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 template you need—not just a blank screen. Add your information and SmartDraw 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 Drawing
Click simple commands and SmartDraw builds your entity relationship diagram for you, automatically. - Automatic Formatting
Add or remove a shape, and SmartDraw realigns and arranges all the elements so that everything looks great. - Quick-Start Templates
Dozens of professionally-designed ERD examples make you instantly productive. Simply choose the template that is most similar to your project, and customize it to suit your needs. - Free Support
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What Entity Relationship Diagrams are and how they help you:
An Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) is the graphical 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.