Modifying the table display preferences

Chapter 3 Building Physical Diagrams

Modifying the table display preferences

You can modify the following display preferences for a table using the Tools→Display Preferences command:

Table display

Text display preference	When selected, what it displays
Columns	All columns, primary key columns, or a defined number (limit) of columns depending on the selections listed below*
*All columns	All table columns
*PK columns	Primary key columns only
*Key columns	All key columns
*Limit	(x) Number of columns depending on defined value of x
Indexes	All indexes defined for table columns
Keys	All keys defined on table
Triggers	All triggers defined for table
Owner	Name of table owner
Stereotype	Stereotype of the table. You can also display the stereotype of columns, keys, indexes, and triggers
Comment	Comment of the table. When selected, all other check boxes are deselected, except for Stereotype

Table Columns display

You can display information about columns in each table.

Keys and indexes are represented by indicators in the table symbol. Each key and index indicator is assigned a number. You can use these numbers to keep track of the different groups of alternate keys, foreign keys, and indexes in your model.

You can display the following column information in a table symbol:

Text display preference	When selected, it displays	Example
Data types	Data type for each column
Replace by domains	Domain codes for each column attached to a domain
Domains	Domain of an attribute in the table. This display option interacts with the selection for Data types. As a result, there are four display options	See Display domain and data type for options and examples
Key Indicators	<pk>, <fk>, and <ak> indicators next to primary key, foreign key, and alternate key columns respectively. When the Keys preference is also selected, the key names are listed at the bottom of the table symbol
Index indicators	<i(number )> indicator next to indexed columns. When the Indexes preference is also selected, the index names and corresponding numbers are listed at the bottom of the table symbol
NULL/NOT NULL	Column indicator: null, not null, identity, or with default (DBMS-dependent)

Displaying foreign key indicator numbers
You can display foreign key numbers next to their corresponding foreign key names on the references links between the appropriate parent and child tables.

For information on displaying text with a reference symbol, see section Modifying the reference display preferences.

Display domain and data type

You can display the domain of an attribute in the symbol of a table. There are four display options available:

Selected check box	Result	Symbol
Data types	Displays only the data type, if it exists
Domains	Displays only the domain, if it exists
Data types Domains	Displays both data type and domain, if they exist
Data types Replace by domains	If domain exists and data type does not exist, then displays domain. If domain does not exist and data type exists, then displays data type.

Default options
Click the Default button to display default table display preferences. Click the Set As Default button to set current display preferences as default selections.

Table notation

You can select a notation for tables from the Notation dropdown listbox in the Model Options dialog box. The available modes are: relational, CODASYL, conceptual and IDEF1X.

For more information on notations, see the section "Setting PDM Model Options".