ER Diagram (MS SQL Server) | MSSQL Tutorial (2024)

Entity-Relationship (ER) model is a visual representation of the table’s structure and the relationships between logically related tables.

In ER modeling the database structure is represented as a diagram known as ER diagram (ERD).An ER diagram gives a better understanding of the overall database structure. It becomes easier to map the tables, their keys, and relationships.

The ER diagram displays:

• Table structure along with the column names and their data types
• Primary and foreign key constraints
• Relationship between tables

Pre-requisite

• MS SQL Server
• SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS)

Create entities and relationships

To create an ER diagram; the tables must be logically related to one another with foreign key constraints.

--Use your database
USE HASURA;
GO
--1. Create 'COUNTRY' table
CREATE TABLE COUNTRY(
CountryId INT IDENTITY PRIMARY KEY, --auto-increment primary key
CountryName VARCHAR(30),
Continent VARCHAR(10),
Currency VARCHAR(3)
);
--2. Create 'DEPARTMENT' table
CREATE TABLE DEPARTMENT(
DepartmentId INT PRIMARY KEY,
DeptName VARCHAR(10),
CountryId INT FOREIGN KEY REFERENCES dbo.COUNTRY(CountryId),
);
--3. Create 'EMPLOYEE' table
CREATE TABLE EMPLOYEE(
EmpID INT PRIMARY KEY,
EmpName VARCHAR(20) NOT NULL,
DeptId INT FOREIGN KEY REFERENCES dbo.DEPARTMENT (DepartmentId) NULL
);
--4. Create 'FOLDER' table
CREATE TABLE FOLDER(
FolderId INT NOT NULL,
EmpId INT REFERENCES EMPLOYEE(EmpId),
AccessType VARCHAR(5) NULL
);

Create ER diagram in SSMS

• Open SQL Server Management Studio (SSMS).
• In the Object Explorer on the left, expand your database.
• Right-click on Database Diagrams, and then select New Database Diagram.

• Select the tables that you created above and then click Add.

This generates the ER diagram.

You can save and also copy the diagram to the clipboard.

Insert data

--5. Insert data into tables respecting the foreign key constraints
INSERT INTO COUNTRY VALUES('Germany', 'EUROPE', 'EUR');
INSERT INTO COUNTRY VALUES('London', 'UK', 'GBP');
INSERT INTO COUNTRY VALUES('India', 'ASIA', 'INR');
INSERT INTO COUNTRY VALUES('California', 'USA', 'USD');
INSERT INTO DEPARTMENT VALUES (29, 'R&D', 2);
INSERT INTO DEPARTMENT VALUES (17, 'HR', 1);
INSERT INTO DEPARTMENT VALUES (9, 'Finance', 3);
INSERT INTO DEPARTMENT VALUES (4, 'Product', 4);
INSERT INTO EMPLOYEE VALUES (1, 'Zuckerberg', NULL);
INSERT INTO EMPLOYEE VALUES (3, 'Jobs', 17);
INSERT INTO EMPLOYEE VALUES (2, 'Turing', 9);
INSERT INTO EMPLOYEE VALUES (4, 'Musk', 29);
INSERT INTO EMPLOYEE VALUES (5, 'Tesla', 9);
INSERT INTO FOLDER VALUES(1, 1, 'Read');
INSERT INTO FOLDER VALUES(1, 1, 'Write');
INSERT INTO FOLDER VALUES(1, 4, 'Read');
INSERT INTO FOLDER VALUES(1, 3, 'Read');
INSERT INTO FOLDER VALUES(2, 4, 'Read');
INSERT INTO FOLDER VALUES(2, 5, 'Write');
INSERT INTO FOLDER VALUES(3, null, null);

Retrieve data from E-R modeled tables

--Retrieve only those employees that belong to a department and are assigned permissions on the folders
SELECT f.FolderId, f.AccessType, e.EmpName, d.DeptName, c.CountryName, c.Continent
FROM EMPLOYEE e
INNER JOIN DEPARTMENT d
ON e.DeptId=d.DepartmentId
INNER JOIN COUNTRY c
ON c.CountryId=d.CountryId
INNER JOIN FOLDER f
ON f.EmpId=e.EmpId;