Comments in MySQL Workbench diagram

Question

I have a schema designed in MySQL Workbench. I put descriptions in for the tables, and comments for columns and views.

I created a diagram, and I'd like to see the comments and descriptions in the diagram. Is there any way to do this? I noticed the tooltip shows the comment for the views, but not for tables or columns.

Propaedeutic

Answer 1

There's no way to show the comments of tables in the diagram. For documentation purposes you could add text notes to the diagram, however. Unfortunately, they won't be updated automatically, so you will have to copy the comments manually.

In addition you can create a feature request so that such comments can optionally be displayed there.

Schmaltz

Answer 2

It is there, but actually very counter-intuitive.

When you right click on a table and select "Edit Table" in the diagram, there is no trace of the comment as you would expect.

Rather than that, you have to "left click" the table in the diagram, which brings up the comment in a tiny textarea to the left. If the comment is empty, that doesn't even look like a textarea at all.

Note that selecting the table in the Catalog tree doesn't update this view. You have to select it inside the diagram:

(We also use this to provide "tags" for designtime metadata of the model)

Stannary