Defining Named Paths

When you add a document or a model to the workspace, create an external shortcut, or perform various other file operations, PowerDesigner saves the paths to these external files in the workspace or model files.

However, in a team environment, when people exchange model files, the links may be broken when one user opens the file of another .

To solve this potential problem, you can define named paths in PowerDesigner. A team leader can define a list of names corresponding to shared resource files and specify a folder structure. Then each team member recreates the named paths on his/her workstation.

PowerDesigner provides a number of predefined named paths, each of which is preceded by an underscore:

Name	Path
_DBMS	Folder where DBMS definition files are stored
_EXAMPLES	Folder where the demo examples are stored
_HOME	PowerDesigner installation folder
_LIBRARY	Folder where object libraries are stored
_OBJLANG	Folder where object language definition files are stored
_PRCSLANG	Folder where process language definition files are stored
_RTPLANG	Folder where report language definition files are stored
_XEM	Folder where extension files are stored
_XMLLANG	Folder where XML language definition files are stored

_HOME Predefined Named Path

_HOME is a very useful named path that facilitates the installation of your add-ins without having to modify your XEM or your XML or ActiveX add-ins commands.

For example: %_HOME%\add-ins\SpellChecker\SpellCheckAddIn.dll

By default, the path of a predefined named path corresponds to the installation path you have selected. If you use files proceeding from another directory, the path of the predefined named paths is not automatically modified. You have to carry out this change manually.

You should not modify the name of a predefined named path. If you do so, the predefined named path is preserved in the list and a new named path is created with the name and path of the modified predefined named path.

If you modify the path of a predefined named path and want to cancel the change, you have to select the predefined named path in the list, delete it and click OK in the General Options dialog box. The next time you open the Named Path page in the General Options dialog box, the deleted predefined named path is displayed in the list with the default installation path.

Saving a File

When you save a PowerDesigner model or workspace, the name of a named path is substituted for the actual path . For example, if the HOME named path is defined as:

HOME = c:\Program Files\Sybase

And you have the following path in your model:

c:\Program Files\Sybase\PowerDesigner\tempo_samples

When you save this file, the path will be saved as:

%HOME%\PowerDesigner\tempo_samples

Opening a File

When you open a file, named paths are replaced by the value of that path in the local environment. For example:

%HOME%\PowerDesigner\tempo_samples

becomes:

c:\Program Files\Sybase\PowerDesigner\tempo_samples

If you open a file containing a named path not defined on the current machine, the Unresolved Named Path dialog box open, offering you the following options:

Ignore the named path and keep the file name unresolved - The link between files is broken and you may have update problems.
Define a new named path ... - Allows you to define the path on your machine.
Browse another existing variable to replace with – Allows you to resolve the path using one of your existing names paths.
Directly browse the target file – Allows you to browse for another target file. The selected file will replace the file you were trying to open