Sketching ER Diagrams

Hand-drawn diagrams are frequently used as the first visualization of a model. Converting these preliminary diagrams into a specific formal format is time consuming. Computer based sketch-tools can offer support during the informal sketching stage and automatic conversion to formal representations. Entity Relationship diagrams are particularly difficult to convert because of their characteristics such as cardinality notations. We extend the general diagram sketching tool InkKit with domain semantics to successfully recognize and automatically convert Entity Relationship diagrams. This approach takes advantage of sketching as the preferred initial design realization while minimizing the effort required to translate the initial design to a functional prototype.