PostgreSQL designing tool

Question

I am about to design my first database which is going to run with PostgreSQL. I am used to the magnificant tool called MySQL Workbench. It is useful and it looks good which I kind of expect from a database designing software.

If I am about to learn a new database designing tool, I want it to be the most popular one. Therefore, my question is: what are the most popular tools for designing the database in PostgreSQL?

Answer 1

There are several options in the PostgreSQL world, most of them are listed in the PostgreSQL wiki:

http://wiki.postgresql.org/wiki/GUI_Database_Design_Tools

The next version of pgAdmin will include a ER designer as well as far as I know.

PowerArchitect works with PostgreSQL, though in the free version it is somewhat limited. In general it does not support DBMS specific features (or only a very limited set).

In the commercial world, nearly all of the "big names" support PostgreSQL as far as I know (including Sybase PowerDesigner and ERwin).

dbWrench is a not too expensive and seems to be quite nice.

TOAD data modeler is a bit more expensive but has an impressive feature list.

You might also want to check the options listed on this page: http://www.databaseanswers.org/modelling_tools.htm

Answer 2

I suspect you will have a hard time transitioning to something given the limited options in Postgres land, but probably the most popular ERD is the AquaData Studio tool. There was actually a write up on this topic recently, check out http://www.postgresonline.com/journal/index.php?/archives/133-Database-Administration,-Reporting,-and-Light-application-development.html

(note, I'm not affiliated with either aqua data studios or the blog)

Answer 3

A similar question was asked on SO and my answer is still the same:

I use the Community Edition of MySQL Workbench for creating pretty pictures of my schema - but I'd rather create the DDL that actually runs on my database by hand.