Database Explorer

A Mendix Studio Pro extension that provides a treeview pane for exploring the domain model structure of your app — modules, entities, attributes, and associations — at a glance.

Features

• Treeview navigation: Browse modules → entities → attributes + associations in a collapsible tree
• Expand / Collapse all: Quickly open or close the entire tree from the header toolbar
• Search: Filter modules and entities by name
• Association support: Displays both intra-module and cross-module associations with target entity info
• Attribute types: Shows the Mendix attribute type next to each attribute name
• Open Domain Model: Double-click any entity to open its module's domain model editor in Studio Pro
• Auto-refresh: Reload the tree with a single click

Architecture

src/
├── main/
│   ├── index.ts          # Extension entry point — registers pane & menu
│   └── style.css         # Base styles
├── ui/
│   └── pane.tsx          # React root for the pane
├── components/
│   └── database-explorer/
│       ├── index.tsx      # DatabaseExplorer component (tree, icons, data fetching)
│       └── database-explorer.css  # Tree & layout styles
└── manifest.json          # Mendix component manifest

Key APIs Used

• Domain Models API (studioPro.app.model.domainModels) — load domain models per module, read entities, attributes, associations, and cross-associations
• Projects API (studioPro.app.model.projects) — list all modules in the app
• Panes API (studioPro.ui.panes) — register and open the side pane
• Extensions Menu API (studioPro.ui.extensionsMenu) — add a menu item to open the pane
• Editors API (studioPro.ui.editors) — open the domain model editor on double-click

Build

npm run build        # Type-check + bundle
npm run build:dev    # Type-check + bundle with watch mode

Build Pipeline

1. TypeScript — type checking via tsc --noEmit
2. esbuild — bundles TS/TSX entry points into main.js and pane.js
3. CSS bundling — all imported CSS files are combined into a single style.css
4. Manifest — src/manifest.json is copied to the output directory
5. Deployment — the built extension is copied to the configured Mendix app directory

Configuration

Update build-extension.mjs to point to your Mendix app directory:

const appDir = "path/to/your/mendix/app"

Entry Points & Manifest

{
  "mendixComponent": {
    "entryPoints": {
      "main": "main.js",
      "ui": {
        "pane": "pane.js"
      }
    }
  }
}

Key Implementation Details

Pane & Menu Registration (11.6+ API)

const paneHandle = await studioPro.ui.panes.register(
    { title: "Database Explorer", initialPosition: "right" },
    { componentName: "extension/database-explorer", uiEntrypoint: "pane" }
);

await studioPro.ui.extensionsMenu.add({
    menuId: "database-explorer.MainMenu",
    caption: "Database Explorer",
    action: async () => {
        studioPro.ui.panes.open(paneHandle);
    }
});

Association Resolution

Associations in the Mendix API reference parent and child entities by GUID. The extension builds an entity-ID-to-name mapping to resolve these into human-readable names:

const entityIdToName: Record<string, string> = {};
for (const entity of domainModel.entities) {
    entityIdToName[entity.$ID] = entity.name;
}

Both associations (intra-module) and crossAssociations (cross-module) are extracted from the domain model.

Open Domain Model on Double-Click

await studioPro.ui.editors.editDocument(domainModelId);

Tech Stack

• Mendix Web Extensibility API v0.5.3-mendix.11.6.3
• React 18 with hooks
• TypeScript 5
• esbuild for bundling

Resources

• Mendix Web Extensibility API — Getting Started
• Model Access API
• Editor API — Open a Document
• Menu API

Changelog

Version 1.2.0 - March 12, 2026

• Inline renaming of entities and attributes
• Drag and drop to reorder attributes
• Default expanded modules to show entities
• Only expand when user clicks on chevron
• Refactored code to improve performance and maintainability

Version 1.1.0 - March 10, 2026

• Added entity type detection for persistable, non-persistable, view entities and external entities with correct icons
• Added grouped vs flat list toggle feature
• Improved toolbar and search layout for better spacing, preventing overflow
• Improved tree readability with visual consistency (row styling, indentation guides, and module labeling, svg icons)

Version 1.0.0 - Initial Release

Core Features

• Treeview navigation for domain model structure
• Module, entity, attribute, and association browsing
• Search functionality
• Expand/collapse all controls
• Double-click to open domain model
• Auto-refresh capability

License

MIT