We know some diagrams are harder to make than others. And we know that certain diagrams are essentially a nightmare to produce—especially those frequented by IT and engineering teams. And some of the most nightmarish diagrams are the ones you may not even find necessary. That’s why we’ve been hard at work this year building tools to make even the trickiest diagrams easier to handle. Let’s take a walk down memory lane and review our top advanced diagramming tools of 2016.

UML Sequence Markup

UML sequence diagrams can also get tricky. Our UML Sequence Markup editor allows you to create sequence diagrams from text, which means no more dragging and dropping every single shape to piece a diagram together. Instead you simply:

1. Create a new Lucidchart document.
2. Click “More Shapes.”
3. Open the UML Shapes Library.
4. Select “Use Markup.”
5. Enter your markup in the dialog that appears, and you’ll have a professional sequence diagram in seconds.

Our markup follows common industry standards, keeping diagram creation simple and efficient. If you ever need to edit your diagram, simply click the “Use Markup” button and make any necessary adjustments to your markup. Once your sequence diagram is generated, customize it with Lucidchart’s easy-to-use formatting capabilities. And if you can’t give up the dragging and dropping, you can always use our UML shape library.

ERD Export to SQL

Lucidchart allows you to build a create statement within Lucidchart and export it to the DBMS of your choice. Use our ERD shape library or import tool, and then customize your finished diagram as much as you’d like before exporting it. You can export single tables or an entire page.

To export a single table:

1. Click the gear icon on the top right of the shape, and then click “Export SQL.”
2. A dialog will appear. Choose your DBMS from the drop-down menu on the right, and the text field below will change to the correct create statement.

To export your entire page:

1. In the Entity Relationship shape library found in the left toolbox, click the “Export” button.
2. A dialog will appear. Choose your DBMS from the drop-down menu on the right, and the text field below will change to the correct create statement for the entire page.

Our engineers have been hard at work in 2016 trying to make your life easier. Check out these tools to see how you can create better diagrams in less time that you’ll be proud to share with your entire organization.