The PowerDesigner metamodel provides the capability to link objects to other objects in a variety of semantic ways. For example, when you create an external shortcut, or when you attach a business rule to an object, a dependency link is created between models or objects. The Dependencies tab of the object's property sheet displays these links.
Dependencies can be of two types:
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Internal, when the links are within a model. These dependencies are saved in the model and appear in the Dependencies tab of an object property sheet
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External, when the links exist between models. These dependencies are created during intermodel generation or external shortcut creation, they appear in the Dependencies tab if the related model is opened in the workspace. If the related model is not available, you can use the repository to retrieve external dependencies (see "Auditing repository activities" in the Repository Administration chapter in the Working with the Repository manual).
The Dependencies tab of a model also lets you check the model origin (Generated From tab) and destination (Generated As tab).