Can someone provide a sample spreadsheet showing the import creation of an ERD

Question

I can't figure out how to structure my excel spreadsheet so that I can import multiple tables with their attributes and relationships into an "Entity with Attributes" template(s).  I can get just the tables and relationships, but not the attributes.  An example would be helpful.

The data I have is similar to what is shown below:

Table	Field	Datatype	Relationship
Person	Id	Number
Person	Name	Text
Person	SSN	Text
Address	Id	Number
Address	Street	Text
Address	PersonId	Number	Person

The data above should result in 2 "Entity with Attribute" nodes with an edge linking the Address table to the Person table.  Each node should contain the table name as the header and each attribute should be listed in the template.

Answer 1

This requires three steps:

1. Select the "Entity with Attributes" symbol as default for new elements by double-clicking it.
2. Modify the Excel table such that the data fits yEd's requirements and import it. This creates the graph structure and stores the attribute data as 'custom properties' with each node.
3. Use yEd's properties mapper tool to assign the custom properties values to the label texts.

The attribute list of the "Entity with Attributes" symbol is a single label, therefore, all attributes of a node should be contained in a single Excel cell. Furthermore, it's preferable to have the node attribute data (the 'Node List') and the relationship information (the 'Edge List') in separate tables. For example, this Excel file will work.

 

Here is a screen shot of the matching Excel import settings.

 

After importing, the nodes have the correct symbol but the default text. To change this, use the Properties Mapper (in Edit menu) to map the texts from the Name and the Attribute List custom properties to the labels number 1 and 2, respectively. This screen shot shows the required configuration.

 

Please have a look at the yEd manual page on Excel import, too, and let me know if it doesn't work.