Chapter 3 Using the PowerDesigner Interface

Defining environment variables

Variables listed in the General Options dialog box can be compared to environment variables, they are defined on a workstation and saved in the registry. Any other variable that is likely to change during generation, must be defined in the corresponding resource file.

Variables defined in the General Options dialog box can be used in the Generation Template Language. More precisely, these variables are used in existing commands in the Generation\Commands sub-category of the JAVA object language. The syntax for using these variables is different than the syntax used for variables defined in an object language or an extended model definition: you have to add $ before the variable name within the % signs, for example %$CMD%.

For more information about the GTL, see the "Generation Reference Guide: GTL" chapter in the Advanced User documentation .

The following variables are created when you install PowerDesigner:

Variable Description Default
CMD Windows command interpreter command.com or cmd.exe
HOME Variable defining the default home directory —
J2EEVERIF Batch program for verifying if the deployment jar for an EJB is correct verifier.bat
JAR Command for archiving java files jar.exe
JAVA Command for running JAVA programs java.exe
JAVAC Command for compiling JAVA source files javac.exe
JAVADOC Command for defining JAVA doc comments javadoc.exe

The Value column is empty upon installation. You have to type the path and executable you wish to use on your workstation or use the Ellipsis button to browse to the directory where the executable is located.

If you do not specify any path and executable, PowerDesigner uses default values and displays a message in the Modeling Output. Default values are indicated in the Comment column of the list.

Steps To define an environment variable:

  1. Select Tools→General Options to display the General Options dialog box. By default, the General category is selected.
  2. Select Variables in the Category tree view to display the Variables page.
  3. Click in the Value column of the variable you want to specify and type a path and executable.

    or

    Click in the Value column of the variable you want to specify and click the Ellipsis button to select the executable directory.
  4. Repeat previous step for each variable you want to specify.
  5. Click OK.

 

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