PowerDesigner 9.5 Configuration Guide

PowerDesigner 9.5

Configuration Guide





PowerDesigner 9.5 introduces more powerful features that allow you to extend the definition of basic metadata as needed.



Using PowerDesigner, you can extend new concept definitions on the basis of existing concepts, add unique attributes, constraints, symbols, and generate code for this concept.



This article describes this feature in detail with a module extension that supports robustness structure diagrams.


Brief introduction
The robustness structure chart is applied to the collaboration structure diagram. Users can use three types of objects: boundary, control, and Entity. These objects have a specific representation and follow the following rules:

· The Actor object cannot directly access the control or Entity object and must be transitioning with a boundary object.

· Boundary objects cannot communicate with each other. And the boundary object is reserved for external use (Actor object).

· The Actor object or boundary object cannot directly access the Entity object and must be transitioning with the control object. Entity objects are prohibited from accessing each other.

The text in the following illustration describes the entire process of sending a message.





We will show you powerdesigner this feature by extending the configuration guide with the following robustness chart.


Robustness configuration: Object extensions


The three types of objects (boundary, Actor, and Entity) that we are going to implement will be managed by a specific UML object prototype.



In the configuration file definition (Extension module definition), the metaclasses tree diagram shows three prototypes under the UML object meta class.







Each defines its own unique notation to represent the requested form, where a predefined form, bitmap, or Metafile (metafile) can also be used.







At the same time, each type of prototype has a custom tool panel to quickly and efficiently access the newly created concept.







Robustness Configuration: Link checking



Because of the strict definition and control of objects, some objects are prohibited from linking to each other.



We further illustrate the implementation of the first rule (that is, the Actor object cannot directly access the control or Entity object).



In the configuration file, a quick link (instance link) class constraint is defined to ensure that if the Actor object appears at one end, the control object or Entity object must not appear on the other end. The constraint is written in VBScript. When the user runs the constraint module, the VBScript code executes for each object that belongs to the corresponding meta class, and here is the quick link.



Any link, if its source object is Actor and the target object is boundary, the check fails, and the test for the reserved object fails.



The short VBScript code in the figure below ensures that the user performs the required checks. You can see this code in the meta-class tree diagram defined by the extension module.







Robustness configuration: Generating text



Finally, the text generated for each chart is used to verify the validity of the exchanged message. The configuration file uses the template Generation language (GTL) to generate text based on the module data.







GTL features include browsing all collections and objects through the PowerDesigner module, testing certain properties, and generating the resulting text when needed.



The GTL code in the following figure has the ability to browse the collection of chart symbols. If it is a message symbol, another GTL template defined for the message will be returned as the result.



Finally, this section of code generates a result sentence based on the control and strict definition of the message.







The end result can be seen in the code preview of the module or extension generated, and the following are examples of generated text:



<<collaboration Scenario Collaborationdiagram_1:



1) Actor ' Customer ' sends message "The stock value query" to Object ' Internet browser '

2) object ' Internet browser ' sends message ' Ask value to App server ' to object ' Application Server '

3) Object ' Application Server ' sends message ' ask value to DB ' to object ' Database server '

4) Object ' Database Server ' sends message ' return value from DB ' to object ' Application Server '

5) Object ' Application Server ' sends message ' return value from App server ' to object ' Internet browser '

6) Object ' Internet browser ' sends message ' return value ' to Actor ' Customer ' >>



Conclusion



With this powerful feature, we are able to provide comprehensive support for the robustness structure diagram approach, extend the concept of objects, and add new symbols and constraints based on new concepts, especially specific text generation.



PowerDesigner enables you to quickly extend the metamodel of any concept (including Entity, Table, Column, Process, component, etc.) as needed.



Act now, the first to feel the new shock bar!