From time to time we get asked for information about how data is organised within the database.

Customers typically request this because they are wanting to do reporting in some external tool that connects directly to the database server, and so they need to know which tables hold the information they want and how those tables are related.  Note that we do not support adding, updating or deleting data via external tools or applications.

There are numerous ways of asking for this information.  Customers may ask about: 

• Data dictionary
• Entity relationship diagram
• Database design document
• Database schema documentation

We supply two customer-facing documents that meet the above requirements:

• Diagrams vX.zip:  this is a PowerPoint file showing the relationships between the different entities within the system - for example:
  

• Schema vX.zip:  This is a set of htm files, each representing a table and describing its structure

Note that these documents describe the standard schema, custom fields/tables will not be included.

The files are available as part of the documentation download (in the Schema subfolder), and the v6 version is available as a separate download, at:

https://s3-eu-west-1.amazonaws.com/ideagen-pentana-audit-downloads/Ideagen%20Pentana%20Audit%20v6.0.1.x%20Database%20Schema%20Information.zip

Regarding direct database access

Note that:

• We do not support adding, updating or deleting data via external tools or applications.  Changing data via mechanisms outside of the Internal Audit applications voids the support agreement.  Customers may access the database directly for read-only reporting purposes.
• While we provide this guidance on how the database is structured, we cannot support third party reporting tools or other issues arising from their use