What's New in erwin DM

erwin DM 15.1 has the following new features and enhancements:

New Features

The new features introduced in this release are:

• AI-Powered Data Modeling

• MS Fabric Lakehouse Support

• Reusing Entities as Shortcuts

• DM Connect for DI - Sync Business Glossary

Enhancements

The enhancements implemented in this release are:

• Database Support Updates

• Data Sources for NoSQL Database Models

• Tree View in Bulk Editor

• MS Fabric Warehouse Update

• erwin Mart Portal Enhancements

• erwin ER360 Enhancements

• Third Party Tools

New Features

The following sections walk you through a brief description of the new features and wherever relevant, a reference to more information.

AI-Powered Data Modeling

erwin DM offers AI-powered data modeling that enhances reverse engineering. You can use AI to generate models using natural language prompts, which reduces manual effort and improves accuracy. You can also provide feedback about the generated scripts to help us improve the feature. For more information, refer to the AI-Powered Data Modeling topic.

The AI model generation feature is available only for Reverse Engineering.

MS Fabric Lakehouse Support

erwin DM now supports Microsoft Fabric Lakehouse as a target database via Azure Synapse.

For information on supported objects and data types, refer Azure Synapse Fabric Lakehouse Object Support.

Microsoft Fabric Lakehouse supports only ODBC data source.

Reusing Entities as Shortcuts

You can now reference entities across models by copying them and pasting them as shortcuts into other models. By default, shortcuts are read-only and can be synced with updates from the source entity.

Reuse any entity using the Paste as Shortcut option from the Home menu. You can update the source entity and its attributes in the source model, and then use the Sync Shortcut option to refresh all linked shortcuts.

To make a Shortcut editable for local changes, clone the entity or attribute. This allows scoped edits while keeping the rest in sync.

This approach ensures data integrity, improves data governance, and reduces duplication.

This feature is supported for the following database models:

• Azure Synapse

• DB2

• Informix

• MySQL

• ODBC

• Oracle

• PostgreSQL

• SAP

• Snowflake

• SQL Server

• Teradata

For more information, refer to the Paste as Shortcut topic.

DM Connect for DI - Sync Business Glossary

The DM Connect for DI feature enables you to sync business glossaries from erwin DM models to erwin Data Intelligence (DI), and harvest them back into the Enterprise Glossary in erwin Mart Portal. This allows you to maintain a centralized and consistent glossary. This feature works on erwin DM and erwin DI 15.1. For more information, refer to the Scenario: Sync Business Glossary topic.

Enhancements

Database Support Updates

Support for the following databases has been updated:

Data Sources for NoSQL Database Models

The Data Source functionality is now available for all supported NoSQL databases. You can use the Data Source Editor to track and update the source of each data warehouse object.

The Data Movement Field UI has been updated to include the following options when NoSQL databases are used as the base model, target data source, or both.

• Sort: Sorts all child items of each object in alphabetical or reverse alphabetical order

• Expand all: Displays all child items for each object

• Collapse all: Hides all child items for each object

For more information, refer to the Data Sources section.

Tree View in Bulk Editor

Following enhancements have been implemented in the Bulk Editor for all supported NoSQL database models:

• Tree view in the Bulk Editor: You can now expand or collapse the tree to review and edit objects.

• Tree view in the Object Instance tab of the Bulk Editor Wizard: You can now expand or collapse the tree to review and select objects for editing.

For more information, refer to the Bulk Editor section.

MS Fabric Warehouse Update

The Microsoft Fabric (MS Fabric) Warehouse is certified using SQLServer: Azure and Azure Synapse: SQL Pool. This is applicable to erwin DM 15.1.

Enhancements in erwin Mart Portal

erwin Mart Portal has undergone following enhancements:

• The Settings module now includes a new DM AI Credentials field under the General tab. This field is used to enable AI-powered features in erwin DM. For more information, refer to the General Settings topic.

• The label Azure AD has been renamed to Entra ID to reflect the updated branding.

Enhancements in erwin ER360

erwin ER360 has undergone following enhancements:

• Object-level CSV and Excel Export: While browsing Metadata, you can now export data directly from cards using the Download CSV and Download Excel icons—making it easier to extract object-specific data. Previously, export options were only available at the model level.

• Permissions added for Collections, Worksheets, and Views: To improve access control, two new permissions have been added:

  • View: Allows you to see shared items without modifying them.

  • Shared Delete: Enables you to delete shared items only when explicitly granted permission.

  Previously, only Create and Edit permissions were available.

• Display Name in Collections and Views: Display Names are now shown instead of usernames across Collections and Views, making user identification clearer and more intuitive. This also applies when selecting users to share views and collections with them.

• Validation Rule Cards for Columns: Validation rule cards are now displayed for applicable columns while browsing metadata.

• Improved ER Diagrams: The ER Diagram now renders bend points and subtype discriminators for relationships, improving diagram clarity and the visual representation of inheritance structures. To enable subtype discriminators, in erwin DM, in the ER Diagram Editor, under the Relationship tab, select Display Subtype Discriminator.

  For these changes to reflect in the ER diagrams of existing models, you must reharvest your models.

Third Party Tools

Support for third-party tools has been updated as follows for erwin DM:

• erwin DM: OpenSSL version has been downgraded to 3.0.8.

erwin DM 15.2 has the following new features and enhancements:

New Features

The new features introduced in this release are:

• Conceptual Modeling

• Neo4j Edge Mapping

• AI-Powered DDL Script Validation

• REST API Report and Access Token

Enhancements

The enhancements implemented in this release are:

• Database Support Updates

• AI-Powered Model Creation

• erwin Mart Portal Enhancements

• erwin ER360 Enhancement

• Third Party Tools

New Features

The following sections walk you through a brief description of the new features and wherever relevant, a reference to more information.

Conceptual Modeling

erwin DM introduces enhancements to conceptual modeling. A conceptual model now enables you to define high-level business concepts before moving to detailed models. This approach helps you capture business requirements without technical constraints and improves collaboration between business and technical teams.

A conceptual model consists of entities and the relationships that define interactions among those entities. Supported relationship types include identifying, non-identifying, and many-to-many.

Key capabilities of Conceptual Modeling:

• Compare models: Compare conceptual models or conceptual models with logical models to analyze differences and make better design decisions.

• Derive models: Derive logical models from conceptual models or conceptual models from existing logical models to ensure flexibility and consistency across modeling layers. You can also derive conceptual models from other conceptual models.

• Create Reports: Generate comprehensive reports on conceptual models, for impact analysis, documentation, or presentation using the Report Designer.

For more information, refer to the Creating a Conceptual Model topic.

Neo4j Edge Mapping

Neo4j now supports defining relationship properties in the logical model using the Edge Mapping feature. Previously, relationship properties were available only in the physical model. This feature introduces a mediator entity in the logical model to store these properties and map them to Neo4j relationships during conversion. It simplifies mapping relationship properties in the logical model, converting logical relationships to physical edges, and maintaining relationship properties consistently across logical and physical models. For more information, refer to the Neo4j Edge Mapping topic.

AI-Powered DDL Script Validation

erwin DM now supports AI-based DDL script validation. You can now validate your reverse engineering and forward engineering scripts before using them. This reduces manual effort and minimizes errors, and helps in troubleshooting to maintain script accuracy.

For more information, refer to the Validating DDL Scripts during Reverse Engineering and Validating DDL Scripts during Forward Engineering sections.

REST API Report and Access Token

You can now generate Access Tokens to authenticate requests for accessing the erwin ER360 REST API services via new Token option available in the User Account setting. Using this token, you can generate Catalog reports via an API endpoint.

Enhancements

Database Support Updates

Support for the following databases has been updated:

AI-Powered Model Creation

You can now use AI to create starter-level data models using simple natural language prompts. This enables you to generate foundational models and then refine or expand them to meet specific requirements. This approach accelerates the modeling process and reduces the effort needed to build complex structures from scratch.

For more information, refer to the Creating Models using AI topic.

erwin Mart Portal

erwin Mart Portal has undergone following enhancements:

• Enterprise Glossary:

Several enhancements have been implemented for Enterprise Glossary:

• Dashboard for Glossary View: Enterprise Glossary now has a dashboard that displays insights on usage trends and key performance indicators. This dashboard is available at the Glossary View node. It shows metrics such as the Total Glossaries, Glossaries with Most Associations, and Glossary Monthly Stats.

• Toolbar with erwin AI and Formatting Features: You have a new toolbar that includes text formatting options and erwin AI for generating and updating business term descriptions and definitions.

  To enable the erwin AI feature, configure your license with AI credentials in the erwin Mart Portal. For more information, refer to the AI-Powered Data Modeling topic.

• New Custom Properties Fields: You can now add custom properties to business terms. Two new fields are available for this:

  • Property Name

  • Property Value

• Semantic Mapping using AI: The Automap feature now supports AI-powered semantic mapping in addition to existing name-based matching. This update improves mapping precision and reduces manual effort.

For more information, refer to the Enterprise Glossary section.

• Real-time deletion of library and/or models: Catalog deletion for harvested models can now be synchronized in real-time across erwin Mart Portal and erwin ER360. In erwin Mart Portal, when you delete a catalog, a confirmation screen appears. For harvested models, you can select the confirmation checkbox to delete the complete library structure with models so that it reflects in erwin ER360.

erwin ER360

Shortcut and Clone Icon: When a model with shortcut and clone entities is harvested to erwin ER360, the shortcut and clone icons can be viewed in the ER diagram.

Third Party Tools

Support for third-party tools has been updated as follows for erwin DM:

• erwin DM:

  • OpenSSL version has been updated to 3.5.0.

• erwin Mart Portal:

  • Apache Server has been updated to v2.4.65.

erwin DM 15.2 Patch has the following new features and enhancements:

• SAP PowerDesigner Model Migration

• Quest Licensing

• RDF/TTL Semantic Export

• erwin Mart Portal Token-Based REST API Access

• erwin ER360 Enhancements

The following sections walk you through a brief description of the new features and wherever relevant, a reference to more information.

SAP PowerDesigner Model Migration

erwin DM introduces enhanced migration capabilities for SAP PowerDesigner, enabling organizations to move from legacy, end-of-life tooling to a modern, scalable data modeling platform.

In addition to existing Meta Integration Bridges (MITI) for UI-based migration, you can now leverage the erwin DM API for bulk migration, allowing you to convert multiple models in a single operation. This significantly reduces migration time and effort, especially for enterprise environments with large model inventories. The migration process ensures that conceptual, logical, and physical models are converted with high fidelity and minimal disruption.

The result is a faster, lower-risk migration journey and a strong foundation for modern data modeling and governance.

Key Benefits:

• Accelerated Migration at Scale: Move hundreds of models in bulk, rather than one file at a time

• Reduced Risk and Effort: Automated conversion minimizes manual rework and errors

• Preservation of Model Integrity: Retains relationships, constraints, and business logic during migration

• Faster Time to Value: Transition quickly to a fully supported, modern data modeling environment

• Future-Ready Foundation: Enable better data governance, integration, and AI readiness with erwin

For more information, refer to the SAP PowerDesigner to Quest erwin DM Migration topic.

Quest Licensing

In erwin Data Modeler 15.2 patch, licensing moves to the Quest Licensing Portal, a web-based interface for managing licenses. This change affects all new purchases and requires existing customers to convert their licenses before upgrading to version 15.2 or later.

• If you are a new customer, you use Quest Licensing by default.

• If you are upgrading from 15.1 or earlier, you must convert your existing license before upgrading.

Licensing updates enable you to:

• Manage licenses in one place

• View all your active licenses

• Switch between personal and organizational accounts

• Transfer licenses and reassign seats

• Manage users, roles, and permissions

• Use a simpler license format

• Track license activity and usage

Key capabilities include:

• License Activation Methods

  • Online Activation

  • Offline Activation (Long-Term Checkout)

  For more information about license activation and required configuration, refer to the Activate a License for 15.2 and Later section.

• Reporting and Analytics

  • Event Logs: Filter and export activation and deactivation events.

  • Usage Analytics: Track users, usage, denials, and utilization.

  • Denial Tracking: Monitor access denials to assess if more seats are needed.

• License Conversion

  Existing customers must convert their licenses to Quest Licensing Portal before upgrading.

RDF/TTL Semantic Export

You can now export your erwin DM model as a standards-based semantic model in Resource Description Framework (RDF) and Turtle (TTL) format. The export represents each entity as a class and each attribute as a property, so that your existing models become a foundation for enterprise knowledge graphs, governance platforms, and AI agents, without maintaining a separate, hand-built ontology. This feature:

• Turns existing data models into an open-standard semantic asset that RDF-compliant tools can consume
• Lets governance teams reuse business definitions and relationships instead of recreating them manually
• Gives AI agents structured context about entities, which improves answer accuracy and reduces hallucinations
• Supports constraint-oriented exports that validate data contracts before deployment

For more information, refer to the Save a Model as RDF/TTL topic.

erwin Mart Portal Token-Based REST API Access

You can now securely authenticate and invoke REST API endpoints to create libraries in your mart or move models between libraries using access tokens.

• Create Library

  POST /api/catalog/library/create

  Programmatically create libraries within Mart or existing library containers.

• Move Catalog

  POST /api/catalog/move

  Move libraries, models, and templates between containers programmatically.

For more information, refer to the Using REST API - Create Libraries and Using REST API - Move Catalogs topics.

erwin ER360 Enhancements

erwin ER360 has the following enhancements in this release:

• Online License Activation via Quest Licensing: You can now activate an erwin ER360 instance online using Quest client credentials. You can now generate an access key (Client ID and Client Secret) on the Quest Licensing Portal and use it with your license key and target environment on the license screen to acquire or migrate to a Quest Per Instance license. After activation, you can initialize the erwin ER360 and sign in.

  For more information, refer to the Initializing erwin Mart Portal and erwin ER360 topic.

• Using REST API - Retrieve Catalog Links: You can now securely authenticate and invoke a REST API endpoint to retrieve the full catalog object tree for a catalog, where every object (models, entities/tables, columns, domains, relationships, key groups, and more) includes a link property that opens the object directly in the erwin ER360 Metadata Browser using access tokens.

  Catalog Links

   GET /service/portal/repository/cataloglinks

  For more information, refer to the Using REST API - Retrieve Catalog Links topic.

• Enterprise Architecture: The Enterprise Architecture component automates model relationship creation by using derivation history captured when harvesting the catalog from erwin Mart Portal into erwin ER360. Key enhancements include:

  • Automatic relationship harvesting: The harvest process now extracts derivation history from your erwin DM models and stores it in the erwin ER360 database. Enterprise Architecture uses this metadata to generate model-to-model derivation relationships automatically, so you no longer need to create these links manually.

  • Entity and attribute level tracking: You can now drill down to the entity or table level to compare source and derived models. This helps you understand which objects were inherited from the original model and which were added or modified after derivation.

  • Automatic re-establishment of existing relationships: Model relationships previously created in Enterprise Architecture based on model derivation are now automatically restored when you reharvest the catalog.

  • Updated user interface: The Enterprise Architecture user interface is redesigned for a cleaner, more streamlined experience, making it easier to build and review architecture diagrams.

  Relationships created using custom or non-derivation logic may not be re-established automatically. After upgrading and re-harvesting, review those relationships in Enterprise Architecture.

  For more information, refer to the Enterprise Architecture topic.

• Enterprise Architecture Visualization Enhancements: The following visualization capabilities are added to the Enterprise Architecture component in erwin ER360:

  • Model type color coding: Models in the Enterprise Architecture diagram are now color-coded by model type, making it easier to distinguish between Conceptual, Logical, Physical, and Logical/Physical models at a glance.

  • Cross-model layer visualization: The Enterprise Architecture diagram now supports end-to-end visualization across Conceptual Data Models (CDM), Logical Data Models (LDM), and Physical Data Models (PDM). You can trace how business concepts defined in a Conceptual model flow through to logical definitions and physical implementations within a single diagram.

  • Cross-layer navigation: You can now navigate between related model layers (CDM, LDM, and PDM) directly from the Enterprise Architecture diagram.

  For more information, refer to the Enterprise Architecture topic.

• Conceptual Model Support in Browse Metadata: erwin ER360 lets you view Conceptual Data Models (CDM) harvested from erwin Mart Portal. When you open a Conceptual model in the Browse Metadata page, the following applies:

  • Conceptual model identification: The model is marked as Conceptual in the Browse Metadata page, clearly distinguishing it from logical and physical models.

  • Diagram rendering: The ER diagram for a Conceptual model renders the conceptual entities and relationships as defined in erwin DM, in the same way the diagram is displayed in erwin DM.

  • View Mode: Conceptual models are always displayed in Conceptual view and the mode cannot be switched.

  For more information, refer to the Browse Metadata topic.