We are using Erwin Data Modeler to document our databases. We have already finished with one of our databases (started from reverse engineering and compiled manually all the entity and attribute definitions) and now moved on to the second database. As the two databases are very similar, is it any way to copy-paste the attribute definitions from one Erwin file to the another?
Thank you!
I hope you found your answer before now, erik, but here's an answer for anyone else who is still searching.
erwin Data Modeler 2020 R1 (and beyond) has a couple of features that can help with this:
You will need to create/save a Bulk Editor option set to reuse in each model to generate the spreadsheet template you will use to transfer metadata from one model to the other.
You can either copy/paste or import from CSV using Bulk Editor, but you must have the exact same options selected in your source and target models, and you will need to account for the unique property IDs and column headers that erwin will assign to the values in the Bulk Editor output from the 2 different models.
Complete Compare - Depending on the scope of differences between the 2 models, you may be able to use Complete Compare (Actions > Complete Compare) to move logical names and descriptions present in one model into another where the table names and column names are the same.
Report Designer - Within Tools > Report Designer, there are numerous default reports under Model Reports and Model Validation Reports for analysis of model metadata to identify where objects are missing logical names and definitions, for example. You can also create your own custom reports. For any of the output, you can export to CSV, HTML, or PDF for further analysis and use in making your Bulk Editor updates.
In later versions of erwin DM, there is a 4th feature, Tools > Object Browser, which allows you to easily export out a full set of CSV files for Entities, Views, Indexes, and Relationships that can be useful in this sort of exercise.
Finally, you also have the option to use the Tools > Bridges > Export / Import feature to activate the Meta Integration bridge and export your model metadata into an XLSX workbook. This format can be a bit complex if you are unfamiliar with the MIMB/MIRM template (there are many tabs and columns, many of which will be empty if you have not used the referenced objects in your data model).
In this scenario, you configure your export as desired in the wizard (reading the instructions in the bottom panel of each tab), choosing Destination Type = Metadata Excel Format and Parameter "Include business name and description" = True. The output XLSX workbook will have all your metadata from the first model. You use this file to build a 2nd workbook with the desired metadata for the 2nd model and then use the Import tool to create the 2nd model with all the right business names and descriptions already applied.