Visio-based Software and Database Modeling Solutions
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Published: 03//1/2002
Applies to:
Microsoft Visio Professional 2002
Microsoft Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architect
Summary: This article provides a feature-by-feature comparison of the database and software modeling solutions in Visio Professional 2002 and Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architects.
On This Page
Introduction
Compare Database Modeling Features
Compare Software Modeling Features
Additional Resources
Introduction
Microsoft offers you two database and software modeling solutions based on Microsoft® Visio® technology. These solutions enable you to document existing systems, prototype new systems, and provide sound architectural guidance to development teams. The following descriptions and feature-by-feature comparison of the two products should help you decide which product best suits your needs.
Visio Professional
Visio Professional 2002 is a stand-alone diagramming product that includes a full range of technical diagramming capabilities for IT specialists, developers, and engineers. These include solutions for diagramming software and database systems, along with the ability to reverse engineer database schema and Visual Studio .NET projects.
Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architect
Microsoft® Visual Studio® .NET Enterprise Architect includes advanced Visio-based modeling solutions for developers. Based on tools previously found in Microsoft Visio 2000 Enterprise Edition, Visio for Enterprise Architects includes all of the solutions in Visio Professional 2002 plus full-featured database and software modeling solutions.
Visio for Enterprise Architects is available only as part of Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architect. Visio 2000 Enterprise Edition customers are eligible for upgrade pricing for Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architect.
Compare Database Modeling Features
The following table shows a comparison of the database modeling features in Visio Professional 2002 and Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architect.
Table 1 Compare database modeling features
Feature |
Visio Professional 2002 |
Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architect |
|---|---|---|
Create logical (ER, IDEF1X) and physical database models |
v |
v |
Reverse engineer database schema to logical and physical models |
v |
v |
Import ERwin ERX files |
v |
v |
Publish diagrams to the Web |
v |
v |
Reverse engineer database schema to conceptual (Object Role Modeling) models |
|
v |
Export ERwin ERX files |
|
v |
Database schema and DDL script generation from conceptual and physical models |
|
v |
Model error checking |
|
v |
Model-database synchronization |
|
v |
Customizable database report generation |
|
v |
Create conceptual (Object Role Modeling) database models |
Create diagrams only |
v |
Compare Software Modeling Features
The following table shows a comparison of the software modeling features in Visio Professional 2002 and Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architect.
Table 2 Compare software modeling features
Feature |
Visio Professional 2002 |
Visual Studio .NET Enterprise Architect |
|---|---|---|
Create UML modeling diagrams (supports the nine diagram types defined in UML 1.2) |
v |
v |
Reverse engineer Visual Studio projects into UML class diagrams |
v * |
v |
Web publishing of UML diagrams |
v |
v |
Generate code skeletons for Visual Basic .NET, C++, and C# |
|
v |
Model error checking |
|
v |
Customizable UML report generation |
|
v |
*Requires Visio 2002 SR1 in order to reverse engineer Visual Studio .NET projects.
Additional Resources
For more information: