Chapter 5 Managing Models

Using a conversion table

Conversion tables provide a way to define a correspondence between the name and the code of an object or the code and the name of an object.

Conversion tables are stored into separate CSV (Comma-Separated Values) files and are shared by all models.

PowerDesigner provides CSV file samples stored in the Resource Files\Conversion tables folder of the PowerDesigner installation directory. You can also store the conversion tables you create in that directory.

Conversion tables are not case sensitive. You can indifferently use lower-or-uppercases in tables.

A conversion table encompasses a Name column and a Code column. Depending on the conversion type you use, a name or a code is returned during the generation. However, if several different names have the same code for example, only the first found name is returned.

The following example illustrates a Name To Code conversion where two different names (Customer and Client) have the same code (CUST):

• When converting the name into code, CUST will appear in the Code box of both Client and Customer property sheet objects
• When converting the code into name, only the first occurrence (Customer = CUST) will be taken into account to appear in the Name box of the Customer object property sheet

A selected conversion table will be operational only if you simultaneously invoke it using the Convert_name or Convert_code macros in the Conversion script edit box.

For more information on the Convert_name or Convert_code macros, see the "Using a conversion script" section.

To use a conversion table:

1. Select a conversion table from the Conversion table dropdown listbox located in the lower part of the Name To Code or Code to Name pages.

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