Chapter 9 Working with Data Models
PowerDesigner supports the most popular data modeling notations in the CDM and LDM via the notation model option (see Setting Model Settings).
In the Entity/relationship notation, entities are represented as rectangles and divided in three compartments: name, attributes, and identifiers.
The termination points of relationships indicate the cardinality as follows:
(Note that the Merise notation uses associations instead of relationships):
Inheritance symbols indicate if they are complete and if they have mutually exclusive children:
| Complete | Mutually exclusive | Symbol |
|---|---|---|
| No | No | 
|
| Yes | No | 
|
| No | Yes | 
|
| Yes | Yes | 
|
In the Idef1x notation, entity names are displayed outside the symbol, and dependent entities are drawn with round corners.
Relationship symbols indicate the cardinality as follows:
Inheritance symbols indicate if the inheritance is complete:
| Complete | Symbol |
|---|---|
| Yes | 
|
| No | 
|
In the Barker notation, entities are drawn with round corners, and inheritances are displayed by placing children inside the parent entity.
Only attributes are listed and a symbol specifies whether each attribute is a key, a mandatory or an optional attribute as follows:
Relationship symbols indicate the cardinality as follows:
The line style specifies if a relationship is mandatory:
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