FAQ / Guides

Frequently asked questions (FAQ)

Review frequently asked questions about CA's ERwin® Data Modeling line of products, Sandhill's services and solutions, and general data modeling and data management topics.

Q. I have 1 model that is quite large (27,626 K) and if I make a bunch of updates, save the model and try to run this report, it cannot create the pictures for the HTML model (table and view sections contain data). However if I save my changes and close down ERwin then reopen it, the report will generate. I believe this maybe a memory issue, since ERwin stores a list of changes.

A. There are some known issues when reporting from large models particularly if graphics need to be generated. It is safer to save the model before running such reports. The ODBC interface due in ERwin r.7.3 will be a big step forward for reporting but it will not generate graphics.

Q. How can we convert 4.1 data model into 7.2 ? (We have some older models in version 4.1 we need to upgrade.)

A. Here are the high level steps—You will need to convert your V4.1 models into V4.1.4 models which can then be read by r7.2. You can work with ERwin data models from version 4.1.4 in r7.2. When you open a 4.1.4 model for the first time in r7.2, there is a one-time performance cost to convert the 4.1.4 model to the new r7 format. (i.e. it will take a longer time than just opening an r7.2 model.)

Q. We want to be able to publish data models on a web. Is there an ‘export' mechanism, or some other way of exporting our models to a web page on our intranet?

A. Yes the reporting functionality will allow you to publish to the web in several formats. Open any model, and via the Tools /Report builder on the menu select Report Builder, then click new to create a new report. by double clicking you will see all the supported types.

Q. What is the recommended method to accomplishing version control and check in and check out functionality? Can we use Microsoft Visual Source Safe?

A. The best way it to leverage version control and Check in / out is via CA's ERwin Model Manager, this is what the product was designed for. Please see the ERwin Model Manager data sheet for more information. A solution like Microsoft Visual Source Save or other versioning solutions will only provide basic functionality, compared to ERwin's Model Manager.

Guides

Download guides to using CA's ERwin® Data Modeling line of products with other popular products and technologies.

This scenario shows how Erwin could be used to create, maintain and synchronize the sample emovies data model in an SQL server 2005 environment.

ERwin is a robust Database modeling solution providing 5 Key areas of support for data modeling professionals.