DFD & ER software

[Guest.Visitor]

Hello all, This may be a little out of the subject of this list, so I apologize in advance. The shop where I work has a documentation (or should I say lack of) problem. The new MIS management decided that we should produce DFD(Data flow diagram) diagram for our new application and document our database with ER (Entity Relationship) diagram. I am in charge of choosing the tools that will become the standard for our company. We are looking for something that will do the job, that is easy to work with and that is not to expensive. We dont need a full featured solution. What are you using? any suggestion? I tried the sylverrun software. It does everyting we want and more (even too much) , but it is too expensive.

[Guest.Visitor]

Try DOCUMINT, or HAWKEYE PATHFINDER. Dave

[Guest.Visitor]

There is a trade-off between the cost of a 400 integrated solution and a package to draw pretty diagrams on. If you're just looking to draw some pretty pictures (nothing wrong with that if the client/employer requests it) then just use VISIO. It's relatively cheap, easy to find and doesn't require training to use. We use it alot. You can use it to create virtually any kind of diagram. However, if you expect the documents to have "career" rather than just a job, you really should invest in something like Silverrun or Erwin. Erwin especially is a pain to use, but the diagrams can be updated automatically by using the tool to make the database changes. Good luck! Karen