Comments on: High-Level Overview via “Straw-man Diagram”

By: alnoor

alnoor — Mon, 21 Jun 2004 10:17:06 +0000

Hi Eric,
Your explanation was quite helpful in understanding your objectives. I’m not quite a user of Visio but I’ve been mostly in contact with people using it extensively. I’m using a modeling software called Casewise Corporate Modeler that helps me modeling processes, databases, etc. There is a lot of others software but this is only to share my experience. I’ve been using for their native interface with Visio, which mean, importing rapidly diagrammes drawn with Visio to Corporate Modeler. You may, for each processes, evaluate the cost of maintaining it (direct and indirect costs), evaluate the frequency of the call for each database, etc. which will allow you then to do a simulation.
It can be a good start then to know the cost and the path for optimization.
Best regards and sorry for my english,
Alnoor

By: mistermac

mistermac — Thu, 03 Jun 2004 19:24:39 +0000

I’ve used ErWin, ER/Studio, and other tools. My favorite is still Sybase’s PowerDesigner. It has a complimentary data/process modeling tool that might fit the bill.

By: 17051966

17051966 — Wed, 02 Jun 2004 10:57:21 +0000

Your most recent description was quite helpful in understanding your objectives and the current status of your project. I have used Visio extensively and find it to be an appropriate tool for your work geared towards the “executive” level of audience. Visio offers a wide variety of diagramming techniques from which you can choose the proper tool for your use. Once you go to the next level which is more technical and geared towards the database and program designs, you will need a good CASE tool. Given your multiplicity of platforms a tool like ERWIN will be useful. If you want to work with Oracle alone, Oracle Designer is better.

By: tmjimob

tmjimob — Wed, 02 Jun 2004 10:32:22 +0000

DBVisualizer creates diagrams of database schemas that can be orthoganol, hierarchic, etc. Probably not what you need, but thought I’d mention it’s come in handy for designing small schemas.

By: amorganjones

amorganjones — Wed, 02 Jun 2004 03:45:44 +0000

Dear Eric,

I have used a variety of tools over the years to perform the task you have listed. There are certainly many CASE tools around which will take you from a high level overview down to intra-system processes. (Even a simple set of SSADM diagrams will do this and be very useful in communicating the how system work within themselves and with one another.) However, I have to counsel against going down to the detailed code level. I have found this to require specific tools for specific systems or programming languages. Even the most successful tools require some manual intervention at this level! Also, having produced the diagrams, it will be a full time job simply keeping them up-to-date. My most successful use of such diagrams was showing how a myriad of small systems linked together – something no-one had ever managed to put together in one place before!

By: mcp111

mcp111 — Tue, 01 Jun 2004 12:49:44 +0000

Another good tool is Embarcadero ER Studio

By: cecrane

cecrane — Tue, 01 Jun 2004 12:22:54 +0000

While I have used Visio to do database configuration, I prefer ERWIN and BPWIN.