Converting PAM Objects into DFD Objects

The open process converts PAM objects into DFD objects as follows:

PAM object	DFD object
Process	Process
Split/Merge	Split/Merge
External entity	External entity
Off page connector	Sub-process diagram containing all the objects connected to the parent process in the upper-level
Data flow	Flow or Resource flow
Data store	Data store. The Number property is imported in the Number ID property and the Is Entity property is imported as an extended attribute (isEntity) on the resource. The list of data items is not imported
Data item on Data flow	Data (elementary)
Domain	—
Business rule	Business rule

Off Page Connector

PowerDesigner helps you initialize, in the sub diagram, the objects from the upper-level to link to the sub-process.

External entities and data stores connected to the composite process in the upper-level are imported and displayed in the sub-process diagram as organization units and resources.

Processes and split/merge objects connected to the composite process in the upper-level are imported and displayed in the sub-process diagram as process shortcuts and synchronization shortcuts.

Incoming and outgoing flows connected to the composite process are displayed in the sub-diagram with their source or destination object.

Data Flow

A data flow between a data store and a process is imported as a resource flow. Any other data flow is imported as a flow.

A data flow with a double direction is imported as two distinct flows.

The data flow type is imported as a flow type property for process flows and is lost for data flows imported as resource flows.

Data Item on Data Flow

Data items are imported as elementary data. The attachment of a data item to a flow is preserved, by attaching the corresponding data to the imported flow.

Check parameters are not imported.

Domain

Domains are not imported.

Business Rule

Business rules are imported.

Attachment of a business rule to a domain or a data item is not imported.