Chapter 9 Accessing objects using VBScript

Manipulating MetaData using VBScript

You can access and manipulate PowerDesigner internal objects using Visual Basic Scripting. The scripting lets you access and modify object properties, collections, and methods using the public names of objects.

The PowerDesigner metamodel provides useful information about objects:

Information	Description	Example
Public name	The name and code of the metamodel objects are the public names of PowerDesigner internal objects	AssociationLinkSymbol ClassMapping CubeDimensionAssociation
Object collections	You can identify the collections of a class by observing the associations linked to this class in the diagram. The role of each association is the name of the collection	In PdBPM, an association exists between classes MessageFormat and MessageFlow. The public name of this association is Format. The role of this association is Usedby which corresponds to the collection of message flows of class MessageFormat
Object attributes	You can view the attributes of a class together with the attributes this class inherits from other classes via generalization links	In PdCommon, in the Common Instantiable Objects diagram, you can view objects BusinessRule, ExtendedDependency and FileObject with their proper attributes, and the abstract classes from which they inherit attributes via generalization links
Object operations	Operations in metamodel classes correspond to object methods used in VBS	BaseModel contains operation Compare that can be used in VB scripting
<<notScriptable>> stereotype	Objects that do not support VB scripting have the <<notScriptable>> stereotype	CheckModelInternalMessage FileReportItem

PowerDesigner lets you access the MetaData via VBScript using the MetaModel As BaseObject global property. There is only one instance of the MetaModel and it can be reached from anywhere through the global property Application.MetaModel.

Properties and collections are read-only for all MetaData objects.

The main actions you can perform on MetaData are the following:

Retrieve the MetaModel version
Retrieve the available types of MetaClass libraries
Access the MetaClass of an object using its public name
Access the MetaAttribute and MetaCollection of an object using its public name
Retrieve the children of a MetaClass
List all MetaAttribute and MetaCollection objects available for a MetaClass

To access MetaData objects:

Use the following	Description
MetaModel As BaseObject	Global property. Entry point to access MetaData objects

To retrieve the MetaModel version:

Use the following	Description
Version As String	Property. Allows you to retrieve the MetaModel version

To retrieve the available types of MetaClass libraries:

Use the following	Description
MetaLibrary	Collection. Allows you to retrieve the available MetaClass of libraries of a given module

To access the MetaClass of an object:

Use the following	Description
MetaClass As BaseObject	Property. Provides access to the Metaclass of each object

To access the MetaClass of an object using its public name (from the MetaModel):

Use the following	Description
GetMetaClassByPublicName (ByVal name As String) As BaseObject	Method. Provides access to the MetaClass of an object using its public name

To access the MetaAttribute and MetaCollection of a metaclass using its public name (from the MetaClass):

Use the following	Description
GetMetaMemberByPublicName (ByVal name As String) As BaseObject	Method. Provides access to a MetaAttribute or a MetaCollection using its public name

To retrieve the children of a MetaClass:

Use the following	Description
Children As ObjectSet	Collection. Lists the MetaClasses that inherit from the parent MetaClass