Master Navicat: Database Design, Structure Sync, and Backup for E‑commerce Projects

Mall Project Introduction

The Mall project is a SpringBoot3 + Vue e‑commerce system (GitHub ★60K) that supports multiple modules, Docker and K8S deployment, and includes front‑end shop and back‑end admin with full order workflow covering products, orders, carts, permissions, coupons, members, payments, etc.

Boot project: https://github.com/macrozheng/mall

Cloud project: https://github.com/macrozheng/mall-swarm

Video tutorials: https://www.macrozheng.com/video/

Database Design

Before discovering Navicat’s built‑in design tool, I used PowerDesigner to design databases and then imported them into Navicat. Navicat already includes a modern visual designer, which I demonstrate using the Mall project.

Click the Model button on Navicat’s toolbar, then New Model to create a MySQL model.

Use the New Table button to create a table, e.g., ums_admin, and add fields.

To establish a foreign key, click Add Foreign Key and drag between the related fields (e.g., many‑to‑many between admin and role).

Right‑click Open External Model to open an existing model, such as the product module.

The complete Mall database design models are stored in the mall-learning repository: https://github.com/macrozheng/mall-learning

Structure Synchronization

During development, database schemas evolve. For example, the production environment only has permission and product modules, while the development environment adds an order module. Navicat’s structure sync can copy the new tables from dev to prod.

Production DB: mall-prod (contains permission and product tables only).

Development DB: mall-dev (contains permission, product, and order tables).

Use Tools → Structure Sync, select source and target databases, and let Navicat compare differences.

Proceed through the wizard to apply the synchronization.

Data Backup

Before performing risky operations, backing up the database prevents data loss. Navicat provides backup and restore functions.

Choose Backup → New Backup to create a backup file.

To restore, right‑click the backup entry and select Restore Backup.

Summary

Navicat is not only a database management tool; its design, structure synchronization, and backup features are highly practical for managing complex e‑commerce databases.

Project Repository

https://github.com/macrozheng/mall