CNOC Informatiesystemen
CNOC Informatiesystemen (CNOC Information systems) is a Dutch
company that supports the business processes of their clients by
delivering tailor made solutions based on various platforms and
techniques. Birger Jansen, a software designer for CNOC, has
started to use DeZign for Databases Expert in March 2008. Although
the recent purchase, DeZign is becoming increasingly important
in their company. Birger Jansen keeps discovering new useful
features: “It is nice to discover that the makers of DeZign apparently
have a lot of experience with designing databases and therefore
have included clever, useful features. All those 'little' clever features
combined, makes DeZign a very pleasant tool to work with”.
Selecting DeZign for Databases Expert
CNOC needed a database modeling tool. They chose to
purchase DeZign for Databases Expert after trying the trial version,
Birger Jansen explains why: “The Expert version of DeZign
implements a version control system and can generate a script to
update one version of a database to a newer version. These scripts
will be used in the update mechanism of our product. This version
system is a huge pro. Also, the ease of use and the clarity of the
interface made DeZign beat some other tools that we evaluated”.
The use of DeZign
At CNOC they use DeZign for Databases Expert to design a
database scheme and create or update a database from that
scheme. DeZign for Databases Expert is currently used by CNOC
for a new project in which they are in the design phase of the
database model. “However”, says Birger Jansen, “due to the good
experiences we have with DeZign we are thinking about using it
for other projects, where we already have a fully created
database scheme”.
Multiple databases
Birger Jansen explains the use of DeZign at CNOC: “We are
working on a new product that will be supported on various
platforms. At this point, we focus development on Firebird and
MS SQL server. DeZign gives us a great tool to create the database
diagram and the corresponding databases on both platforms.
Also, because of the clear visual presentation of the design we
can use it to communicate and discuss the design between
several developers. In the future we will also use DeZign to create
update scripts that will be included in our product so that it can
update its own database”.
Attribute packages
One of the best features of DeZign for Databases Expert,
according to Birger Jansen, is the attribute package system.
Attribute packages are pre-defined, reusable sets of attributes that
promote consistent attribute definitions. You can reuse these
attribute packages in your data model by applying them to
entities, and you can also share attribute packages between
data models. “After the purchase of DeZign we were very surprised
to discover the attribute package system, which helps us to make
sure that some common fields, like creating or updating date and
time, are consistently implemented in each table. Doing this by
hand would be a lot of work with a risk of typo’s.
Many-to-many relationships
Another discovery they made at CNOC after purchasing DeZign
for Databases was the feature that automatically creates tables
for many-to-many relations (N:M-relationships). Birger Jansen
explains: “The project that we use DeZign for, is an object
orientated framework. The object model is made in Delphi.
The data model is designed with DeZign for Databases. One
of the functionalities in this project is a log in which objects of
different types can be connected. For this we had to create
a fair amount of many-to-many relationships. By accidence,
we found that DeZign creates these automatically. It is nice
to discover that the makers of DeZign apparently have a lot
of experience with designing databases and therefore have
included clever, useful features. All those 'little' clever features
combined, makes DeZign a very pleasant tool to work with.”
Benefits of using DeZign
About the benefits of using DeZign for Databases Expert, Birger
Jansen says: “First of all, DeZign surely saves us time. It also solved
a major issue for us: how can we maintain one design and deploy
this to various platforms? Also DeZign improves our databases
because it checks if all rules in the database are fulfilled and gives
good warnings and suggestions on violations. DeZign for Databases
is just a great tool for the development and maintenance of
database diagrams and the corresponding databases”.
Datanamic support
The support that the Datanamic team offers, is evaluated positively
at CNOC. Birger Jansen says: “Datanamic provides us with a tool
that is very valuable for us. During the evaluation period we had
some questions that were answered very quickly. This personal
contact is very valuable. I think that is one of the advantages of
doing business with a relative small company, just like ourselves”.
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CUSTOMER CASE STUDY
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Company:
CNOC Informatiesystemen
Product:
DeZign for Databases Expert
Key benefits:
- Ease of use
- The clarity of the interface
- Improves databases
through checks and
warnings
- Support for multiple databases
- Attribute package system
- “A great tool for the
development and
maintenance of
databases diagrams and
the corresponding databases
Field of industry:
HRM, Logistics, Education, Government
Name spokesperson:
Ir. Birger Jansen
Website:
www.cnoc.nl
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