Extending Your Models with Profiles

All PowerDesigner resource files contain a Profile category directly beneath root. A profile is a UML extension mechanism, which is used for extending a metamodel for a particular target.

Profiles are used in PowerDesigner for adding additional metadata to objects and creating new kinds of links between them, sub-dividing object types (via stereotypes and criteria), customizing symbols, menus, and forms, and modifying generation output. For example:

The Java 5.0 object language resource file - extends the Component metaclass via several levels of criteria to model various forms of EJBs.
The BPEL4WS 1.1 process language resource file - extends the Event metaclass through stereotypes to model Compensation, Fault, and Timer events.
The MSSQLSRV2005 DBMS resource file - uses stereotyped extended objects in order to model aggregates, assemblies, and other SQL Server-specific objects.

You can extend the metamodel in the following ways:

Add or sub-classify new kinds of objects:
- Metaclasses (Profile) – to sub-classify objects.
- Stereotypes (Profile) [for metaclasses and stereotypes only] – to sub-classify objects.
- Criteria (Profile) – to evaluate conditions to sub-classify objects.
- Extended Objects, Sub-Objects, and Links (Profile) – to create new kinds of objects.
Provide new ways of viewing connections between objects:
- Dependency Matrices (Profile) – to show connections between two types of objects.
Add new properties to objects:
- Extended Attributes (Profile) – to provide extra metadata.
- Extended Collections and Compositions (Profile) – to enable manual linking between objects.
- Calculated Collections (Profile) – to automate linking between objects.
- Forms (Profile) – to display custom property tabs or dialog boxes.
- Custom Symbols (Profile) – to help you visually distinguish objects.
Add constraints and validation rules to objects:
- Custom Checks (Profile) – to provide data testing.
- Event Handlers (Profile) – to invoke methods when triggered by an event.
Execute commands on objects:
- Methods (Profile) – to be invoked by other profile extensions such as menus and form buttons (written in VBScript).
- Menus (Profile) [for metaclasses and stereotypes only] – to customize PowerDesigner menus.
Generate objects in new ways:
- Templates and Generated Files (Profile) – to customize generation.
- Transformations and Transformation Profiles (Profile) – to automate changes to objects at generation or on demand.

You can review and edit the profile in a resource file by opening it in the Resource Editor and expanding the top-level Profile category. You can add extensions to a metaclass (a type of object, such as Class in an OOM or Table in a PDM), or to a stereotype or criterion, which has previously been defined on a metaclass:

In the example above:

Class is a metaclass. Metaclasses are drawn from the PowerDesigner metamodel, and always appear at the top level, directly beneath the Profile category
MyCriterion is a criterion that refines the Class metaclass. Those classes that meet the criterion can be presented and processed differently from other classes.
MyStereotype is a stereotype that refines the Class metaclass. Those classes that bear the MyStereotype stereotype can be presented and processed differently from other classes.
AnotherCriterion is a criterion that refines further those classes that bear the MyStereotype stereotype. Classes bearing the stereotype AND meeting the criterion can be presented and processed differently from those that merely bear the stereotype.

Extensions are inherited, so that any extensions made to a metaclass are available to its stereotyped children, and those that are subject to criteria.

Thus, in the example above, classes that bear the MyStereotype stereotype have available the Attribute_5 extended attribute, and those that bear this stereotype AND meet AnotherCriterion have Attribute_4 and Attribute_5 available.

Note:

Since you can attach several resource files to a model (for example, a target language and one or more extended model definitions) you can create conflicts, where multiple extensions with identical names (for example, two different stereotype definitions) are defined on the same metaclass in separate resource files. In case of such conflicts, the extended model definition extension usually prevails. When two XEMs are in conflict, priority is given to the one highest in the list.

Metaclasses (Profile)
Metaclasses are classes drawn from the PowerDesigner metamodel, and appear at the top level of the Profile category. You add a metaclass to a profile when you want to extend it.
Stereotypes (Profile)
Stereotypes are a per-instance extension mechanism. When a stereotype is applied to a metaclass instance (by selecting it in the Stereotype field of the object's property sheet), any extensions that you add to the stereotype are then applied to the instance.
Criteria (Profile)
You can control the treatment of metaclass instances based on whether they conform to one or more criteria. Whereas you can apply only one stereotype to a metaclass instance, you can test the instance against multiple forms of criteria.
Dependency Matrices (Profile)
Dependency matrices allow you to review and create links between any kind of objects. You specify one metaclass for the matrix rows, and the same or another metaclass for the columns. The contents of the cells are then calculated from a collection or link object.
Extended Objects, Sub-Objects, and Links (Profile)
Extended objects, sub-objects, and links are special metaclasses that are designed to allow you to add completely new types of objects to your models, rather than basing them on existing PowerDesigner objects.
Extended Attributes (Profile)
Extended attributes allow you to define additional metadata for your objects, and can be defined for metaclasses, stereotypes, and criteria, in order to:
Extended Collections and Compositions (Profile)
An extended collection allows you to associate multiple instances of one metaclass with an instance of another.
Calculated Collections (Profile)
You define a calculated collection on a metaclass, stereotype, or criterion, when you need to display a list of associated objects with a user-defined semantic.
Forms (Profile)
You can use forms to create new property sheet tabs or to replace existing tab, or to create dialog boxes that are launched from menus or by clicking on buttons in your property sheet tabs. Building a new form is fast and easy, using the form tools in the resource editor.
Custom Symbols (Profile)
A custom symbol allows you to modify the appearance of instances of the metaclass, stereotype, or criterion.
Custom Checks (Profile)
Custom checks are model checks, written in VBScript, which enable you to verify that your model objects are well-defined. Custom checks are listed with standard model checks in the Check Model Parameters dialog box.
Event Handlers (Profile)
An event handler can automatically launch a VBScript when an event occurs on an object. You can associate an event handler with a metaclass or a stereotype; criteria do not support event handlers.
Methods (Profile)
Methods allow you to perform actions on objects.
Menus (Profile)
You can add menus in the PowerDesigner interface and fill them with commands that call method or transformations.
Templates and Generated Files (Profile)
The PowerDesigner Generation Template Language (GTL) is used to generate files from metaclasses and for scripting. You write a template in GTL, using variables that allow you to access properties of the current object or any other object in the model.
Transformations and Transformation Profiles (Profile)
A transformation defines a set of actions to be executed during generation or upon request. You define a transformation in the profile category of an extended model definition on a metaclass or a stereotype or other criteria.
Using Profiles: a Case Study
To illustrate the concept of profile, you are going to build an extended model definition for an OOM. This model extension will let you design a robustness diagram.