You can now generate comprehensive, detailed data model diagrams directly from your connected Salesforce Org. This article walks you through how to use this feature—from selecting the right objects to viewing the final visual diagram—so you can quickly understand your Org's schema for a given capability.
Prerequisites
Before you start, make sure:
Your Salesforce Org is connected to Elements.
You are a space editor.
You are a manager or editor on at least one of the connected Salesforce metadata dictionaries.
Data Model Generation is currently available in closed beta to the customers who have pre-registered for access.
We are planning GA release in May, subject to feedback from beta customers.
How to generate data model from the Org?
In the Diagrams menu, click "New Diagram". From the dropdown, select "Org to model".
In the modal window that will appear:
In the first field, pick one of the metadata dictionaries for which you have edit or manage permission.
In the second field, ask your natural language question. For instance, "How do we manage sales?" Try to focus on the capability you wish to understand.
In the third field, name your diagram.
Elements will identify Objects in your Org that, based on their name and description, most closely match with your query. You can then either accept the proposed objects, unselect some, or even manually search for and add other objects to the scope. This will be your primary selection.
Elements will then identify the related objects by traversing lookup and master-detail fields in your Org. You will see a list of objects that includes:
Objects your selections look up to
Objects that look up to your selections
You can then review and unselect objects you do not wish to include in the final diagram. Once you are happy with your selection, simply click 'generate'.
We recommend that you exclude 'User' object from the final selection, unless is it critical to your analysis. This is because every object in Salesforce has at least two relationships with the user object (created by and last modified by fields) and as a result any data model generated will be very hard to read.
Data model diagram explained
A generated diagram will look like this:
Here is what you can expect from the output:
Each card represents one object, showing:
Name and description
Type: Standard, Custom, or Managed
Number of records
Number of record types
Key relationship fields with field population information on roll-over
Links to metadata in Salesforce Setup and Elements metadata dictionary
Each flowline represents relationship between two objects, showing:
API name of the field
Type of relationship (lookup or master-detail)
FAQs
Can I modify the diagram after it's generated?
You can adjust the scope before generation. Once generated, you can edit it, add sticky notes, raise stories, map future relationships - it is your design canvas.
If I change something in the diagram, will it affect my Org?
Elements.cloud is not like Salesforce Schema Builder. We do not deploy or make changes to your Org. We are an analysis platform. The diagrams we generate are editable, As-Is design diagrams. Any changes to them will not affect your Salesforce Org at all.
How is field usage calculated?
We show how often relationship fields are populated based on object-level record analysis. More here.
Is this feature available to everyone?
Not yet—it's in closed beta. GA is expected in May, subject to beta feedback.