Design and Manage MonetDB Databases Visually with DbSchema

DbSchema lets you design, manage, and document MonetDB databases. Create ER diagrams, define tables and columns, and generate SQL scripts - with or without a live database connection.

Use Git to share the design, compare it with the MonetDB database, and deploy changes. DbSchema also includes a data editor, query builder, and HTML5 documentation - everything you need in one tool.

DbSchema Database Designer

Download DbSchema Download MonetDB JDBC Driver

Schema Visualization for MonetDB's Columnar Architecture

MonetDB is a pioneering open-source column-store database developed at CWI Amsterdam, designed for analytical workloads that benefit from column-at-a-time execution. Its schema model includes tables, views, functions, and R-tree indexes organized within named schemas. While MonetDB excels at analytical SQL workloads, its tooling ecosystem is more limited than mainstream databases. DbSchema bridges this gap by providing a visual schema explorer and SQL client that connects to MonetDB via JDBC.

ER Diagrams for MonetDB Schemas

DbSchema reads MonetDB's system catalog and renders tables, views, and relationships as an interactive entity-relationship diagram. This visual representation helps onboard new team members and documents the analytical data model for a MonetDB-backed application or research database.

Creating an ER diagram of MonetDB tables and schema in DbSchema

SQL Editor for MonetDB Analytical Queries

The DbSchema SQL editor connects to MonetDB and supports its SQL dialect, including window functions, user-defined functions, and MonetDB-specific aggregate operations. Run analytical queries and inspect result sets without using the mclient command-line tool.

Running MonetDB SQL analytical queries in DbSchema's SQL editor

Schema Documentation for MonetDB Data Models

DbSchema generates HTML documentation from MonetDB's system catalog, capturing table schemas, column types, constraints, and views. This documentation helps analytical engineering teams maintain a clear reference for their MonetDB data model alongside query logic and ETL pipelines.

Auto-generated MonetDB schema documentation in DbSchema

Connecting DbSchema to MonetDB

MonetDB listens on port 50000 by default. The JDBC URL format is: jdbc:monetdb://host:50000/dbname. The JDBC driver class is nl.cwi.monetdb.jdbc.MonetDriver. Download the MonetDB JDBC driver from monetdb.org/downloads and add it to DbSchema via Connections > Manage Drivers. MonetDB's default configuration restricts remote connections; edit the monetdb.conf file to bind the server to the appropriate network interface for external access.

Why DbSchema for MonetDB

  • Explore MonetDB column-store schema structures with a visual diagram editor
  • Run analytical SQL queries from a desktop GUI instead of the mclient terminal
  • Document MonetDB data models for analytical engineering and BI teams
  • Browse and filter table data interactively without writing SELECT queries
  • Compare MonetDB schemas across different database instances or versions