Being a Salesforce Consultant or Architect, we often visualize customers’ Salesforce org to understand their data model better and provide an improved solution to their existing problem or design a new data model for the upcoming implementation.
Salesforce offers an excellent tool, i.e., Schema builder, to visualize the data model. I have been an avid user of Schema Builder for the last few years. You may want to explore this Trailhead module to learn more about Schema Builder.
A few months ago, I had a chance to attend one of the LucidChart webinars, and I fell in love with it as soon I saw the demo of it’s ERD capability with Salesforce. You may want to understand why? What does LucidChart offer which Schema Builder doesn’t provide?
Here are the advantages of LucidChart:
- It gives more details in their diagram like the highlight of primary or foreign key.
- You can put an additional table in LucidChart without creating it in Salesforce, which Schema Builder doesn’t support.
- Last but not least, you can use the same diagram in your Solution Design Document to Customer presentation.
- It is a visual model of your database schema; it will help you visualize your database design before building it.
- Much more.
Setup the Base Configuration
- Make sure that you have a LucidChart Account. Use this link to signup for one.
- Create a Blank Diagram – File | New | Blank Diagram.
- Click on Import Data under Shapes.
- Select Entity-Relationship (ERD).
- Click on Import Your Data | Import from Salesforce.
- Connect your Salesforce Org by following the on-screen prompt.
- Select few Objects to understand how contact and opportunity are associated | Click on Import
- Account
- Contact
- Opportunity
- Opportunity Contact Role
- Let’s Add one new table
- Invoice
- Amount
- Payment Date
- Opportunity (FK)
- Id (PK)
- Invoice
You are Done!!!
Now use this Image in all your architect documents. I hope you get a sense of how LucidChart can make your life easier.
How do you use LucidChart? I would love to hear about your experience?
Is there a way to connect these ERDs to the new Salesforce Architect shapes/cards?
Yes! you can refer to this.
I’ll look into this more when I have another moment but last I checked I’m familiar with this library of shapes but it didn’t the same dynamic relationship as the example demonstrated in this article. I’m sure as with all things Salesforce it will only be a matter of time with constant improvements coming.