I found this very handy tool for viewing my database tables graphically, and it’s called DB Designer. So far, I’m using it for viewing existing MySQL databases and it helps a lot in planning for changes.
To load an existing database model, make sure that the MySQL server is up and running first. Then open up DB Designer and go to Database > Reverse Engineering. Select the database from the list under MySQL. Provide the username and password and then click OK. Make sure all tables are selected, and, voila! Models are now loaded.
One useful tip – be sure to restart the MySQL server before attempting to connect whenever you load a new SQL dump file. If you skip that part, DB Designer won’t be able to load any models.
