Quite often I hear a question: can I design my stored PL/SQL with Data Modeler too? I want to design the privileges etc. and I feel I should do it in Data Modeler.

You are right: you should. Any code that is stored in the database is a database object just like a table or a view and should be designed and managed. But because a stored PL/SQL is an Oracle specific feature you can only find them in Physical Model in the Browser.

You can edit a Stored Procedure by right-clicking and selecting Edit.

 

And you can define the Properties and Privileges by double-clicking the name or right-clicking and selecting Properties.

 

Sometimes it is somebody else in the project that manages the content (logic) of the code or you rather use SQL Developer for it. Then the best way is simply reverse engineer the code from either the DDL file or the Data Dictionary. You can do that by selecting File|Import|DDL File or File|Import|Data Dictionary.

You can also compare the version of code you have in Data Modeler to the one in DDL or Data Dictionary. Simply select File|Import|DDL File or File|Import|Data Dictionary as you did while reverse engineering but since you already have the objects in you Physical Model instead of creating them the tool now shows how they are different from each other:

If you want to see the code that would be imported to the design, press DDL Preview. If you want to import the changes made to the version in DDL or Data Dictionary, press Merge.

If I have my stored PL/SQL in Data Modeler, I am able to design and define the privileges for them. What else? For instance if I am changing the table Orders I can first check if I have any code that needs to be changed because of that. I do that using the Search functionality. Right-click on the name of your Physical Model and select Search.

Type the table name you are planning to change and press Enter:

Select Stored Procedure from the Filter:

And using the Report button and a custom report template you can generate a report showing the code that might need change after your change in table structure:

 

 

 

 

I have defined the naming standard for a NOT NULL Constraint in Design Properties (double-click the design name, Settings-> Naming Standards -> Templates) like this:

How do I get my NOT NULL Constraints named as defined in the Template?

Check your Preferences.Generate Short Form of NOT NULL Constraints must be turned off.

 

Then select the relational model from the Browser, right-click and select Apply Naming Standards to Keys and Constraints.

Make sure to choose Not Null Constraints.

Now you can see the  names defined for the not null contraints in the Column Properties.

You can also see them defined in the DDL Preview.

And in the DDL itself.

 

— Heli

 

Using Domains is very wise: you only need to define the datatype and constraints once for a type of information. For instance username, money, or Boolean values. But how can I define a Domain with Oracle SQL Developer Data Modeler and how to use a domain?

Defining a Domain

Select Domain Administration from the Tools menu.

Press Add, define a Name, Logical type etc. for the Domain.

Press Apply and Save.

 

What if I want to define a constraint for columns of type BooleanDomain that can only have values 0 or 1?

Select the Domain you want to modify and press Modify. Press Value List.

Press Add and add the Values wanted and their Descriptions.

Press OK. Press Apply (to confirm the modification to the Domain).

 

To specify an attribute or a column with that Domain select Domain as Data Type and your domain from the list. Apply.

 

Now when you generate the DDLs for the table the column will be of the type defined in the Domain

CREATE TABLE Orders_Test

(

Customer_CustNO NUMBER (10) NOT NULL ,

OrderNo         NUMBER (10) NOT NULL ,

Invoiced        NUMBER (1)

) ;

And there will also be the DDL for defining the constraint:

ALTER TABLE Orders_Test ADD CHECK ( Invoiced IN (0, 1)) ;

 

What if I want to define a constraint ‘between 0-100 000’ for a Domain?

Define the domain Credit as explained earlier but instead of defining a Value List now press Ranges button.

Define the Begin Value (0), the End Value (100000) and the Description (Credit Range). Press Add.

 

Then define an attribute or a column using this Domain as a Data Type.

 

Now the DDLs you get will have all you defined in the Domain: the data type and the constraint:

 

CREATE TABLE Customers_Test

(

CustNO      NUMBER (10) NOT NULL ,

Name        VARCHAR2 (100) NOT NULL ,

CreditLimit NUMBER (6,2)

) ;

ALTER TABLE Customers_Test ADD CHECK ( CreditLimit BETWEEN 0 AND 100000) ;

 

This is all great but what if I want to define a check constraint with other kind of definition but a list or a range?

Defining a Check Constraint

Let’s define a Domain Name.

Whenever this Domain is used we want the column to be NOT NULL. Press Check Constraint.

If you want to define different constraints to different RDBMS types you can do that by clicking the Constraint field next to the technology chosen. If you want to define a generic constraint, select the Constraint field next to Generic Constraint.

 

Define the constraint using %element% notation:

Press OK.

 

Then Apply and OK.

Apply and Save.

 

Define an attribute or a column with a Domain Name.

And the DDLs

 

CREATE TABLE Customers_Test

(

CustNO      NUMBER (16) NOT NULL ,

Name        VARCHAR2 (200) ,

CreditLimit NUMBER (6,2)

) ;

ALTER TABLE Customers_Test ADD CHECK ( Name IS NOT NULL) ;

 

This might be a bit silly example but just to show how you can define more complex constraints using a variable (%column% in our example).

NOTE that the constraint defined in our example is different from defining a column mandatory (ALTER TABLE Customers_Test MODIFY (Name NOT NULL)) but the effect is the same: you cannot insert a row in that table without giving a value for the column Name.

Name             Null                Type

———– ——– ————-

CUSTNO      NOT NULL     NUMBER(16)

NAME                                    VARCHAR2(200)

CREDITLIMIT                      NUMBER(6,2)

 

In User_Constraints view you will find a constraint defining this column NOT NULL:

“HELI”   “SYS_C0014723”               “C”         “CUSTOMERS_TEST”      ” Name IS NOT NULL”    ” Name IS NOT NULL”    “”                “”            “”            “ENABLED”         “NOT DEFERRABLE”         “IMMEDIATE”    “VALIDATED”     “GENERATED NAME”                “”            “”            10.05.2016           “”            “”            “”            “”            3

 

And you cannot add a row without any value to the Name column:

2290. 00000 – “check constraint (%s.%s) violated”

*Cause:    The values being inserted do not satisfy the named check

*Action:   do not insert values that violate the constraint.

 

NOTE: You can also define a Default Value for a Domain. And if you have defined a Value List for that Domain the value can be chosen from that list.

CREATE TABLE Orders_Test
(
Customer_CustNO NUMBER (10) NOT NULL ,
OrderNo         NUMBER (10) NOT NULL ,
Invoiced        NUMBER (1) DEFAULT 0
) ;