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>I have a question about data dictionaries. Are
>there any tools out there to develop a data
>dictionary? First, let me explain the context of my
>question. Since I know nothing about "data dictionaries,"
>it could possibly be that I am mis-
In my experience, a "data dictionary" is related to databases.
This usually entails defining the database, the tables (entities) in the
database, the columns in the entities and the fields in the columns.
I've done them usually in tables, though ER (entity relationship)
diagrams can show much of this information:
Database: SQL4NYC
Table (Entity): CustOrderNo
ColumnName ColumnDType NullOption PK FK Descr
========== =========== ========== == == =========
Type char(2) NotNull Y N Used by ...
Priority tinyint Null N N Used by ...
CancOrdFg char(1) Null N N When column ...
Etc.
There are several programs that will extract this information from
databases; Visio is one of them, CA Associates makes one, though pricy,
I think there is something called PowerBuilder, so will MSSQL
Enterprise. Visio is the least expensive
HTH
John Posada
Senior Technical Writer
Isogon Corporation http://www.isogon.com
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