Automating TypeScript API Generation from ER Diagrams: A Visual Paradigm Plugin Approach

Abstract

In modern software development, where data structures form the foundation of digital solutions, translating conceptual database designs into functional code remains a critical challenge. Bridging the gap between visual representations and executable implementations is often a time-consuming and error-prone process, requiring significant expertise. As applications grow in complexity, the need for automated and reliable solutions to streamline this transition becomes increasingly apparent. Ensuring precision and consistency across database design and API implementation is crucial, yet manual processes often introduce inefficiencies and inconsistencies. This thesis presents a Visual Paradigm plugin designed to automate the transformation of ER diagrams into TypeScript APIs. By ensuring accuracy, consistency, and efficiency, this tool minimizes manual effort while enhancing development workflow. The plugin introduces several key innovations: • Automated ER Diagram Parsing – It intelligently interprets entity relationships, attributes, and constraints in Visual Paradigm ER diagrams, ensuring accurate database schema representation. • Type-Safe API Generation – Leveraging TypeScript’s strong type system, the generated API endpoints provide compile-time type checking, enhancing reliability and developer productivity. • Database-Agnostic Implementation – Through integration with TypeORM, the generated APIs support multiple DBMSs (MySQL, PostgreSQL, and Microsoft SQL Server) without requiring code modifications. • Comprehensive CRUD Operations – For each entity in the ER diagram, the tool generates REST API endpoints with full Create, Read, Update, and Delete functionality, respecting defined relationships and constraints. The solution is built upon modern technologies, including Visual Paradigm for diagram modeling, TypeScript for type-safe API development, Express.js for web application routing, and TypeORM for database abstraction. By automating API generation, the tool significantly reduces development time and potential coding errors while maintaining consistency between the ER diagram and the final implementation. Beyond code generation, it promotes better software engineering practices by ensuring alignment between design and implementation, minimizing manual coding errors, accelerating prototyping and iteration, supporting database portability and enforcing type safety throughout the application stack.