Visualisation of Relational Database Structure by Graph Database
Idziaszek Przemysław, Mueller Wojciech, Rudowicz-Nawrocka Janina *, Gruszczyński Michał, Kujawa Sebastian, Górna Karolina, Balcerzak Kinga
Poznanń University of Life Science
ul. Wojska Polskiego 28, 60-637 Poznań*E-mail: jrudowicznawrocka@gmail.com
Received:
Received: 29 March 2016 ; revised: 27 October 2016 ; accepted: 28 October 2016; published online: 02 December 2016
DOI: 10.12921/cmst.2016.0000014
Abstract:
Most IT systems rely on dedicated databases, and most of these databases are relational. The advantages of such databases are well known and widely reported in literature. Unfortunately, attempts to identify the topology of links in the relational model produced by iterative development or administrative enhancements are often hampered by the large number of tables that make up the database and the lack of comprehensive technical documentation. Analysis of the model by someone other than its designer requires substantial effort. The aim of the presented work is therefore to develop an application for effective presentation of the database structure in the form of a directed graph. The main assumption was that a graph-oriented database environment would be used. This paper presents the RELATIONS-Graph application developed by the authors. This application automatically generates a directed graph which presents links between tables and attributes which constitute a relational database. The RELATIONS-Graph application can also scan the generated graph in order to discover links between selected tables and columns. This solution has been applied to SQL Server 2014 SP1 DBMS using the Microsoft .NET technology and the Neo4j graph database, also by .NET API. The RELATIONS-Graph application was developed in C#, an object-oriented programming language.
Key words:
database relations graph, elational database, graph database, Neo4j, visualisation of relations
References:
[1] A. Oppel,H. McGraw, Data Modeling, 2009.
[2] Sideris Courseware Corp., Data Modeling: Logical Database Design, 2011.
[3] A. Kreigel, Discovering SQL, Wrox, 2011.
[4] I. Robinson, J. Webber, E. Eifrem, Graph Databases Second Edition, O’Reilly Media, 2015.
[5] J. Celko, M. Kaufman, Joe Celko’s Complete Guide to NoSQL, 2013.
[6] P.J. Sadalage, M.Fowler, NoSQL Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Emerging World of Polyglot Persistence, Pearson Education, 3218266262013.
[7] S. Raj, Neo4j High Performance, Packt Publishing, 2015.
[8] A. Fowler, NoSQL For Dummies,Wiley,2015.
[9] S. Gupta, Neo4j Essentials, Packt Publishing, 2015.
[10] E. Redmon,J.R. Wilson, Seven Databases in Seven Weeks, O’Reilly Media,2012.
[11] S. Tiwari, Professional NoSQL, Wrox, 2011.
[12] A. Vucotic, N. Watt, T. Abedrabbo, D. Fox, J. Partner, Neo4j in Action ,Manning,2014.
[13] R .Dewson, Beginning SQLServer for Developers, 4th Edition, Apress, 2014.
[14] J. Powell, ALibrarian’s Guide to Graphs, Dataandthe Semantic Web, Chandos Publishing, 2015.
[15] M. Schmalz, C# Database Basics, O’Reilly Media, 2012.
[16] G.Ellis,GettingStartedwithSQLServer2014Administration,PacktPublishing,2014.
[17] G.Vaish,GettingStartedwithNoSQL,PacktPublishing,2013.
[18] G.Jordan,PracticalNeo4j,Apress,2015.
[19] O. Panazarino, Learning Cypher, Packt Publishing, 2014.
[20] E. Johnson, J. Jones, A Developer’s Guideto Data Modeling for SQL Server,Addison-Wesley, 2008.
[21] B.A. Masood-Al.-Faroog, SQL Server 2014 Development Essentials, Packt Publishing, 2014.
[22] R. Van Bruggen, Learning Neo4j, Packt Publishing, 2014.
[23] M. Lal, Neo4j Graph Data Modeling, Packt Publishing, 2015.
[24] A. Goel, Neo4j Cookbook, Packt Publishing, 2015.
[25] I. Robinson, J. Webber, E. Eifrem, Graph Databases, O’Reilly Media, 2013.
[26] Z. Naboulsi, S. Ford, Coding Faster: Getting More Productive with Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft Press, 2011.
Most IT systems rely on dedicated databases, and most of these databases are relational. The advantages of such databases are well known and widely reported in literature. Unfortunately, attempts to identify the topology of links in the relational model produced by iterative development or administrative enhancements are often hampered by the large number of tables that make up the database and the lack of comprehensive technical documentation. Analysis of the model by someone other than its designer requires substantial effort. The aim of the presented work is therefore to develop an application for effective presentation of the database structure in the form of a directed graph. The main assumption was that a graph-oriented database environment would be used. This paper presents the RELATIONS-Graph application developed by the authors. This application automatically generates a directed graph which presents links between tables and attributes which constitute a relational database. The RELATIONS-Graph application can also scan the generated graph in order to discover links between selected tables and columns. This solution has been applied to SQL Server 2014 SP1 DBMS using the Microsoft .NET technology and the Neo4j graph database, also by .NET API. The RELATIONS-Graph application was developed in C#, an object-oriented programming language.
Key words:
database relations graph, elational database, graph database, Neo4j, visualisation of relations
References:
[1] A. Oppel,H. McGraw, Data Modeling, 2009.
[2] Sideris Courseware Corp., Data Modeling: Logical Database Design, 2011.
[3] A. Kreigel, Discovering SQL, Wrox, 2011.
[4] I. Robinson, J. Webber, E. Eifrem, Graph Databases Second Edition, O’Reilly Media, 2015.
[5] J. Celko, M. Kaufman, Joe Celko’s Complete Guide to NoSQL, 2013.
[6] P.J. Sadalage, M.Fowler, NoSQL Distilled: A Brief Guide to the Emerging World of Polyglot Persistence, Pearson Education, 3218266262013.
[7] S. Raj, Neo4j High Performance, Packt Publishing, 2015.
[8] A. Fowler, NoSQL For Dummies,Wiley,2015.
[9] S. Gupta, Neo4j Essentials, Packt Publishing, 2015.
[10] E. Redmon,J.R. Wilson, Seven Databases in Seven Weeks, O’Reilly Media,2012.
[11] S. Tiwari, Professional NoSQL, Wrox, 2011.
[12] A. Vucotic, N. Watt, T. Abedrabbo, D. Fox, J. Partner, Neo4j in Action ,Manning,2014.
[13] R .Dewson, Beginning SQLServer for Developers, 4th Edition, Apress, 2014.
[14] J. Powell, ALibrarian’s Guide to Graphs, Dataandthe Semantic Web, Chandos Publishing, 2015.
[15] M. Schmalz, C# Database Basics, O’Reilly Media, 2012.
[16] G.Ellis,GettingStartedwithSQLServer2014Administration,PacktPublishing,2014.
[17] G.Vaish,GettingStartedwithNoSQL,PacktPublishing,2013.
[18] G.Jordan,PracticalNeo4j,Apress,2015.
[19] O. Panazarino, Learning Cypher, Packt Publishing, 2014.
[20] E. Johnson, J. Jones, A Developer’s Guideto Data Modeling for SQL Server,Addison-Wesley, 2008.
[21] B.A. Masood-Al.-Faroog, SQL Server 2014 Development Essentials, Packt Publishing, 2014.
[22] R. Van Bruggen, Learning Neo4j, Packt Publishing, 2014.
[23] M. Lal, Neo4j Graph Data Modeling, Packt Publishing, 2015.
[24] A. Goel, Neo4j Cookbook, Packt Publishing, 2015.
[25] I. Robinson, J. Webber, E. Eifrem, Graph Databases, O’Reilly Media, 2013.
[26] Z. Naboulsi, S. Ford, Coding Faster: Getting More Productive with Microsoft Visual Studio, Microsoft Press, 2011.
