Notes in a database model
Notes keep design decisions and open questions right next to the tables they're about. Attach one to a table or foreign key, and it moves with it. Notes never change your tables, and they never end up in your SQL.
Adding and writing a note
Click Add note next to Add table, press N, or right-click an empty spot on the canvas and choose Add note. A new note opens ready for you to type. Enter saves; Shift+Enter starts a new line. To make text bold or italic, select it and click B or I in the small toolbar next to the note, or press ⌘B or ⌘I (Ctrl+B or Ctrl+I on Windows and Linux). The same toolbar has − and + for the note's text size (6–80), and the note grows or shrinks to match. Text wraps to the note's width, and the height always fits the text. To change the width, drag a corner or the handle on either side.
Attaching a note
If a table or foreign key is selected when you click Add note or press N, the new note is attached to it. To attach an existing note, drag from its edge onto a table or foreign key, just as you'd draw a foreign key from a table. Each drag adds one more, so a note can be attached to several at once.
A thin dashed line, called a link, connects the note to each table or foreign key it's attached to. A note on a foreign key follows its midpoint, and a note attached to two tables moves half as far when you move only one of them. Arrange brings attached notes along and moves any note that's in the way to the nearest open spot. A note stays visible as long as anything it's attached to is visible.
When you delete a table or foreign key, its notes keep their other links. A note with no links left stays where it is.
Removing a link
Click a dashed line to select the link, then press Delete. Only that link is removed; the note stays, and so does the table or foreign key.
Styling a note or a link
With a note selected, the Format tab shows its color, border color, border width (0–10), shadow, text size, and alignment. With a link selected, it shows Line color and Line width (0.5–10) under Link. To give every visible note and link the default look again, click an empty spot on the canvas, then click Reset to default style under Format all. This resets the rest of the model's style too.
Notes and layers
Every note is in the Notes layer at the top of the Layers tab, so one click on that layer's eye shows or hides them all. Locking a layer never locks a note. Simple mode hides notes.