Update ERD diagrams with new import changes

Hi there 

Thanks for posting in the community! You can import updated database files at any time and the fields will be updated in the Toolbox and on the canvas. You do this by (1) selecting the ERD shape(s) and (2) going to the left hand panel and selecting "import". You will then receive a pop up asking if in addition to updating the toolbox if you would also like to update the shape. 

For more details on ERD import I recommend reviewing our ERD article from the Lucidchart Help Center.

Please let me know if I can help you with anything else!
 

I did not see where the article mentioned updating ERD entities from new uploads.

Hey Ed

Thank you for keeping this conversation going! The article does seem to be missing this bit of information--thank you so much for the heads up on this! I would be happy to get this suggestion over to our Content Team to have a look at.

Again thank you for pointing this out to us. Feel free to reach back out on this thread with any other questions--Cheers!

Has there been any update on this request?

Thank you

Hi Rose thanks for continuing this thread. To clarify are you interested in the ability to update your ERD toolbox and table shapes on your canvas with information in a new database upload? If so this is possible as described in Cydney's response above. I see you've also commented on this thread which addresses the fact that styles and positioning edits made to the table shapes after importing your data are not maintained after a new file is uploaded. At this time that is still unsupported but I certainly recognize the impact this could have on your workflow. I've logged your need for this with our development team - please let me know if you would like to share additional context about your use case or if I've misunderstood what you're referring to. 

Hi Rose good news! This functionality has been updated and style choices applied to your ERD table shapes should be maintained after re-importing a new database upload. Please give this a try and don't hesitate to let us know if you have any additional questions!

I need to update my shapes from the actual DB but I do not want the lines I added to the diagram to be deleted...

Is this possible?

Hi Ron 

Thanks for posting your question in the Lucid Community. With this new update you will have the option to either keep the formatting including additional lines you've added or to update all of the shapes to reset the formatting. 

Let us know if you have any additional questions!

I guess I was not clear I want to update the list of columns in each shape but I do not want all my lines to be deleted.

In the box below I get two lines I want to choose for each line if it will be updated (a checkbox instead of a bullet).

Hi Ron 

Thanks for the clarification and my apologies for the miscommunication! Unfortunately it is not possible to choose what will be updated. You can either choose to only update your toolbox or update the toolbox in addition to the ERD shapes on your board. However we're always looking for ways to improve Lucidchart and your feedback is the best way for us to do that. Would you mind adding your idea to our feature request form? Thanks for your feedback and I apologize for any inconvenience this causes you.

Unfortunately the lack of this feature make LucidChart useless to me to use your ERD diagrams to document my DBs...

Hi Ron
Thank you for your reply and I can understand your frustration. As a growing company we take our feature requests very seriously. We are continuously looking for how we can make our product more useful and effective for our users. I have passed your feedback directly to our product development team.

Hi ​@Kausty, 

Thanks for the reply! Have you tried the following? 

To import an updated database file to an existing ERD, follow these steps:

1. Select Import in the Entity Relationship shape library located on the left-hand side of the page. 
2. In the pop up that appears, select one of the following options:
   • No, toolbox only to update only the data in the toolbox.
   • Yes to update both the toolbox and the existing shapes on the document.

Does this cause you to lose lines and relationships?

Hi @Kelsey Gaag,

Yes, I tried those same exact steps. After I re-import, I am presented with those two options.

1. With the 1st option, it only updates the structure on my tables in toolbox only. So, if moving forward, when I use the shape, I get the new structure but the existing ones on the document do not update. for example, if I add a PK / FK, it will not reflect.
2. With the 2nd option, it would update the structure on my document but it will remove the manual lines / relationships I have made. It would only preserve those line which are defined by keys like FK to PK mapping, etc.

Hi ​@Kausty, 

I see thank you for clarifying, I apologize for the misunderstanding. It looks like the original idea was delivered but this related idea brought up by you and Ron, is still a feature request and not available in the product. I’ve moved you first comment to an individual idea so that it be upvoted by other community users.