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Every time a logical model is updated, the physical model
should be regenerated. Database designers normally perform
two types of maintenance tasks. They update the details of
existing logical and physical data models and reverse-engineering
existing database schema. Reverse-engineering can make maintaining
a database simpler by allowing a designer to turn an undocumented
legacy schema into documented logical and physical models.
It is important in enterprise environments to maintain a
database. A good product can maintain itself. Some can accurately
and completely perform reverse-engineering and have native
or ODBC drivers for connecting the data modeler to the database.
A product may also have the capability to complete all tests
and have a user-friendly environment, generate and give one
control over a physical-level. It is best to choose a product
that can successfully reverse-engineered the database schema,
generate a physical-level diagram of the schema, give one
full control over the view of the diagram, allow one to print
the diagram to a file or hard copy, offers easy-to-use graphical
tools, and support broad array of back-end databases in one.
When in the maintenance stages one should attempt to use
their product to give version control capabilities for tracking
the modified models and subsequent schema, complete all maintenance
tasks quickly and easily; display the logical and physical
models side by side and toggle between them without closing
windows; track maintenance changes through version control,
and pick, via version number, which model is best to use.
It is important to choose a product which can thoroughly maintain
the system, such as one with the ability to preserve changes
made directly to the physical data model update the logical
data model based on changes to the physical data model, and
cluster synchronized versions of the data models and the schema
in a workgroup.
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