Embarcadero updates ER/Studio modelling tool

Embarcadero Technologies has updated its data-modelling tool ER/Studio to offer support for XML schema generation.

Extended XML support should allow software engineers to collaborate more widely on service-oriented architecture (SOA) initiatives because it gives both data modellers and architects greater flexibility by extending the level of customisation throughout the application and database lifecycle.

Data architects need to collaborate with other parties managing SOA implementations and data-governance programmes by defining and reusing the standards traditionally used for database management. The latest release of ER/Studio, version 7.5, has been engineered to address the challenge of managing consistency and redundancy in data-modelling activities, especially when databases reside on multiple platforms.

The product comes with new wizards for building custom XML schemata directly from a logical or physical data model. It also ships with a naming standards utility and data type mapping editor to transform the model metadata, enabling data architects to be more productive as they move models between the logical and physical design layers.

"XML is of central importance to ensuring an SOA environment is effective," said Greg Keller, vice president of product management for Embarcadero Technologies. "The importance of data architects in the total development ecosystem has naturally spiralled upwards as SOA adoption has increased. This is because they play a crucial role in providing data definitions to application developers. Supplying them in a standards-based XML schemata format will be new territory for these guys, so we have worked to make sure the process is easy to understand and, above all, repeatable throughout project lifecycle."

Pricing for ER/Studio 7.5 starts at around £900.