Chapter 11 Managing Object Replications

Creating a replica using the drag and drop feature

You can use the drag and drop feature from the Browser to the diagram window and conversely to create replicas while using the alt+shift keys combination.

When you create a replica using the drag and drop feature, a specific icon (a rounded arrow within a circle) appears under the cursor.

You can also define the default behavior of a drag and drop action to directly create replicas.

For more information on how to define the default behavior of a drag and drop action, see "Defining drag and drop options" in the"Using the PowerDesigner interface" chapter.

Steps To create a replica by drag and drop:

  1. Select a target object in the Browser.
  2. Press alt+shift while you drag the object to the desired model or package and release the mouse button.

    The replica appears in the active model or package and in the Browser under the appropriate node.

For more information on the drag and drop functionality, see the "Dragging and dropping objects" in the "Managing Objects" chapter.

Note   Replicate Here contextual menu
You can also create a replica by clicking the right mouse button while dragging the target object and select the Replicate Here menu item from the contextual menu.

Sub-object replication

You can also directly replicate a sub-object by dragging and dropping it in the Browser while pressing the alt + shift keys combination. A table column, a class attribute or a class operation are sub-objects that you can replicate using the drag and drop feature.

It can be very useful to replicate a sub-object independently of its parent object (for example a column without the table that owns it) to create a reference library, in which you can store columns, attributes or operations for example that you regularly use. The replicated sub-objects can be modified according to your needs, while preserving the link to their target object.

The following example illustrates a column (Column_1) in Table_1 that is replicated in Table_2:


 

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