Automatically Generate Comprehensive Database Docs with Screw

Introduction

In enterprise development, documenting database table structures is often time‑consuming. Many projects either lack documentation or maintain it manually, leading to errors and maintenance headaches. The Screw plugin helps automate this process.

Features of Screw

Lightweight, well‑designed, no need for heavyweight tools like PowerDesigner.

Supports multiple databases: MySQL, Oracle, SQL Server, and more.

Outputs documentation in MD, HTML, WORD formats.

Extensible with custom templates and styles.

Supported Database Types

MySQL

MariaDB

TIDB

Oracle

SQL Server

PostgreSQL

Cache DB

Dependencies

Example for MySQL 8:

<code><!--数据库文档核心依赖-->
<dependency>
  <groupId>cn.smallbun.screw</groupId>
  <artifactId>screw-core</artifactId>
  <version>1.0.2</version>
</dependency>
<!-- HikariCP -->
<dependency>
  <groupId>com.zaxxer</groupId>
  <artifactId>HikariCP</artifactId>
  <version>3.4.5</version>
</dependency>
<!-- mysql driver -->
<dependency>
  <groupId>mysql</groupId>
  <artifactId>mysql-connector-java</artifactId>
  <version>8.0.20</version>
</dependency>
</code>

1. Generate Documentation via Custom Code Configuration

<code>@Test
public void shouldAnswerWithTrue() {
    // Data source
    HikariConfig hikariConfig = new HikariConfig();
    hikariConfig.setDriverClassName("com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver");
    hikariConfig.setJdbcUrl("jdbc:mysql://127.0.0.1:3306/test");
    hikariConfig.setUsername("root");
    hikariConfig.setPassword("root");
    // Enable table remarks
    hikariConfig.addDataSourceProperty("useInformationSchema", "true");
    hikariConfig.setMinimumIdle(2);
    hikariConfig.setMaximumPoolSize(5);
    DataSource dataSource = new HikariDataSource(hikariConfig);
    // Engine config
    EngineConfig engineConfig = EngineConfig.builder()
            .fileOutputDir("/Users/lengleng")
            .openOutputDir(true)
            .fileType(EngineFileType.HTML)
            .produceType(EngineTemplateType.freemarker).build();
    // Ignore tables
    ArrayList<String> ignoreTableName = new ArrayList<>();
    ignoreTableName.add("test_user");
    ignoreTableName.add("test_group");
    // Prefix and suffix
    ArrayList<String> ignorePrefix = new ArrayList<>();
    ignorePrefix.add("test_");
    ArrayList<String> ignoreSuffix = new ArrayList<>();
    ignoreSuffix.add("_test");
    ProcessConfig processConfig = ProcessConfig.builder()
            .ignoreTableName(ignoreTableName)
            .ignoreTablePrefix(ignorePrefix)
            .ignoreTableSuffix(ignoreSuffix).build();
    // Overall config
    Configuration config = Configuration.builder()
            .version("1.0.0")
            .description("Database design documentation")
            .dataSource(dataSource)
            .engineConfig(engineConfig)
            .produceConfig(processConfig).build();
    // Execute
    new DocumentationExecute(config).execute();
}
</code>

2. Generate Documentation Using Maven Plugin

<code><build>
    <plugins>
        <plugin>
            <groupId>cn.smallbun.screw</groupId>
            <artifactId>screw-maven-plugin</artifactId>
            <version>1.0.2</version>
            <dependencies>
                <!-- HikariCP -->
                <dependency>
                    <groupId>com.zaxxer</groupId>
                    <artifactId>HikariCP</artifactId>
                    <version>3.4.5</version>
                </dependency>
                <!-- mysql driver -->
                <dependency>
                    <groupId>mysql</groupId>
                    <artifactId>mysql-connector-java</artifactId>
                    <version>8.0.20</version>
                </dependency>
            </dependencies>
            <configuration>
                <username>root</username>
                <password>root</password>
                <driverClassName>com.mysql.cj.jdbc.Driver</driverClassName>
                <jdbcUrl>jdbc:mysql://127.0.0.1:3306/test</jdbcUrl>
                <fileType>HTML</fileType>
                <fileOutputDir>/Users/lengleng</fileOutputDir>
                <openOutputDir>false</openOutputDir>
                <produceType>freemarker</produceType>
                <description>数据库文档生成</description>
                <version>${project.version}</version>
                <title>数据库文档</title>
            </configuration>
            <executions>
                <execution>
                    <phase>compile</phase>
                    <goals>
                        <goal>run</goal>
                    </goals>
                </execution>
            </executions>
        </plugin>
    </plugins>
</build>
</code>

Reference

screw: https://gitee.com/leshalv/screw