JDElite Flowchart Builder
Build large and complex ERDs, logical models, and business modeling flowcharts with ease. No coding required.
JDElite Flowchart Builder’s patented, user-friendly editing features bring a new design experience to flowchart designers. Create database ERDs and other business flowcharts expertly, and in a shorter design-to-production time than before.
Try the free JDElite Flowchart Builder version. Select from three diagram types to build custom designs, or start with a built-in template. Learn more in the User Guide.
Flowchart Design
Flowcharts represent the steps of algorithms, various processes or workflows, visualizing the structure of the problems or tasks and the flow of information.
JDElite Flowchart Builder uses specific symbol shapes to represent the types of actions or steps in a process. The links between them show the sequence of these steps, as well as their relationships. The central part of the visual space contains the canvas where diagrams are built. The components palette is where the symbol shapes are grouped in separate tabs depending on their use in a particular diagram type.
The layout structure of the canvas is the same for all the three supported diagram types. The nodes are positioned on a rectangular dynamic grid that consists of layers across the flow direction and lanes along the flow direction. They are allocated in the cells at the intersections. The connection links are traced along the pipes between the layers and between the lanes. All these areas are highlighted when the mouse is moved over. The layers and the lanes take up considerably larger space than the tiny space taken up by the pipes.
When a node icon is dragged from the palette to the canvas, or when a node is dragged to a different position, only the cells accepting the particular node are highlighted.
JDElite Flowchart Builder diagramming exclusivity is based on proprietary techniques for orthogonal edge routing of directed graph diagrams with edge crossings reduction (patent No. US 10,424,096). This excludes link overlaps and guarantees the minimal number of crossings even with very large diagrams.
By implementing the described concepts, together with the various editing features and the color palettes, it is incredibly easy and fast to create and/or modify any kind of flowcharts, from small to very large and complex, with the highest possible readability. No previous training is necessary.
Database ERDs
The Database ERDs (entity-relationship diagrams) represent the physical structure of databases. In essence, an ER diagram contains two object types: entities and relationships. In physical databases the entities correspond to database tables. The diagram nodes here correspond to the database tables and show the detailed table designs. Each row of a diagram node corresponds to a property of the database record field. The relationships between entities are represented as links between specific rows of the diagram nodes.
Your ERD flowchart is saved as a file in JSON format. This file can be exported to a specific database script. Vice versa, a database script can be imported to a JSON file as an internal structure that can be visualized in the editor.
Within database modeling, cardinality is the numerical relationship between rows in one database table and rows in another. It specifies the number of occurrences of a primary entity that is associated with the number of occurrences of a foreign entity. In JDElite Flowchart Builder, cardinality is represented graphically as crow's foot symbols at the ends of the connection.
Generally speaking, there are three types of cardinality relationships: one-to-one, one-to-many (many-to-one) and many-to-many.
Create diagram nodes, add rows, populate each row and assign the cardinalities with the help of the popup dialogs. One of the unique features of this editor is the method of assigning primary-foreign keys relationships - the popup handles will point to the accepting fields in the diagram nodes.
Logical ERDs
Logical ERDs (entity-relationship diagrams) are used to design the conceptual or logical models of business objects that are components of systems. They are a convenient tool for business analysts or business users, and are used at preliminary stages before the physical design of databases, following the whiteboard design.
A conceptual or logical model establishes the global picture of a system and identifies the business objects as building blocks. It defines the entities and their attributes, as well as the relationships between them.
As in the database modeling, the cardinality specifies the number of occurrences of one entity that is associated with the number of occurrences of another entity. The association is assigned by using a relationship node, within which a label could be added to describe the semantics of the connection.
Most functionalities for building logical ERDs resemble those for the building of flowcharts. However, the logical graphical nodes are simpler, compared to the database ERD symbols or even to the flowchart nodes.
A logical ERD consists of three basic nodes such as entity, relationship, attribute, plus a few derived nodes, as well as of the connecting links. Attribute nodes correspond to the entity properties and are represented as rows in the database diagram nodes.
The logical models are closely related to the database models. The logical entities are transformed into physical database entities, with additionally defining the primary keys, the foreign keys and the constraints. Because of that, it is important to go through the process of logical modeling in-depth. JDElite's comprehensive editing features assure flexibility for quick diagram redesign, as well as clarity of presentation. This makes it possible to explore many different scenarios for even very large models in an amazingly short time.