Database Schema Designer Quick Tips

Power Users have long known the benefits of keyboard shortcuts and other secrets to speed up the use of an application.   We have provided this list of Quick Tips to help empower all Users with the knowledge that can make them even more productive.   All of the described methods can also be achieved through normal GUI based operations.

Using the Naming Convention

Table Column Names
	Use prefixes and suffixes to specify column data type and size. <prefix> must be lowercase and <Column Name> must begin with an uppercase letter.
	FORMAT	SYNTAX	EXAMPLE
	Standard Format	<prefix> + <Column Name>	strFirstName
	Standard Format with Size	<prefix> + <Column Name> + (<Size>)	strFirstName(100)
	Standard Format with Precision/Scale	<prefix> + <Column Name> + (<Precision,Scale>)	sngTaxRate(5,2)
	Identity Column	<prefix> + <Column Name> + (<Seed,Increment>)	intEmployeeID[1,1]
	Discard Prefix After Edit	<prefix> + . + <Column Name>	str.FirstName -> FirstName
	To edit the Naming Conventions select "Tools -> Naming Conventions" from the menu. To select a Naming Convention for the current schema choose "Schema -> Properties" from the menu.