Generating ERD diagrams within Visual Studio

Question

In order to create an ERD diagram for new projects I have been using Visual Studio's entity framework designer. Essentially I'm creating a "dummy project", adding entity framework via Nuget and diagramming away (I don't use Microsoft's Entity Framework thus the dummy project).

Is there another way to create such diagrams natively within Visual Studio 2010 Ultimate?

Can

Hi, Any luck with your search? – Carn

Hi Jakub, lately I have been using balsamiq mockups for my diagramming needs. Unfortunately nothing that directly plugs into visual studio however. – Can

I'm using yEd and trying to switch over to EntityFramework diagrams but it gets tricky to use diagramming functionality there without implementing it (and I can't as currently using home made ORM) – Carn

I haven't done it myself but the following post suggests the "Entity Data Model Designer", available with either "SQL Server Data Tools" or the "Web Developer Tools", is the answer. Your mileage may vary :) https://mcmap.net/q/668416/-generating-entity-relationship-diagram-in-visual-studio-2015 – Acclimate

Answer 1

Assuming you already have a database, you can easily generate an ERD following the steps below.

Ensure you installed either Microsoft SQL Server Data Tools or Microsoft Web Developer Tools in order to get the Entity Data Model Designer.

These are the steps to generate an entity relationship diagram. It was tested in VS2012

1. Open Visual Studio
2. Create a project or open an existing project (must be Visual Basic, Visual C# project, or Console Application)
3. Right-click the project and choose Add -> New Item…
4. Under Visual C# Items select “Data”
5. Select the template “ADO.NET Entity Data Model”
6. Give it a name and click “Add”
7. Select “Generate from database” or “Empty model”
8. If “Generate from database” selected enter connection info, choose the database objects and done!

The model is stored as a “.edmx” file.

Ament

yeah, make sure you use the .net framework versions of said options. On net core projects the "ADO.NET Entity Data Model" is not an option – Thyroxine

What is the option for .Net core? – Cryogenics

Entity Framework Core itself doesn't provide a direct way to generate ERDs. You can use third-party tools or libraries to generate ERDs based on your DbContext and entity classes. Some popular tools for generating ERDs are Entity Framework Power Tools, DbSchema, and Visual Studio Database Projects. These tools can connect to your database and generate visual representations of your schema. – Ament

@Ament How do you do this using Visual Stuido Database Projects? I cannot seem to find that function in there. – Mettlesome