Chapter 14 Reverse Engineering a Database into a PDM

Reverse Engineering from an ODBC Data Source

PowerDesigner can reverse engineer a PDM from an ODBC data source.

To reverse engineer database objects from an ODBC data source:

1. To reverse engineer from an ODBC data source into an existing PDM, select Database→Reverse Engineer Database to open the Database Reverse Engineering dialog box.
   
   or
   
   To reverse engineer from an ODBC data source and create a new PDM, select File→Reverse Engineer→Database to open the New Physical Data Model dialog box. Specify a model name, choose a DBMS from the list, and then click OK.
2. When the Database Reverse Engineering dialog box opens, click the Using an ODBC data source radio button.
   
   
   
      ODBC data source
   An ODBC data source might be predefined, or you can type the name of an existing ODBC data source. In both cases, when you click OK, a database connection dialog box opens, if you need to specify additional connection parameters. Click Connect and the ODBC Reverse Engineering dialog box is displayed. (Go to step 9)
   
   
3. Click the Connect to an ODBC Data Source tool to open the Connect to an ODBC Data Source dialog box.
   
4. Select the Machine data source radio button and select a data source from the list.
   
   or
   
   Select the File data source radio button, and then click the Select a File DSN tool to select a .DSN file from an appropriate directory.
5. Type a user ID and a password, and then click Connect. To return to the Database Reverse Engineering dialog box.
6. If you want to select tables reserved to the database administrator, then you must select the Reverse using administrator's permissions check box.
7. Click the Options tab to specify any reverse engineering options. For more details, see Reverse engineering Options tab.
   
8. Click the Target Models tab to specify any external shortcuts. For more details, see "Reverse engineering Target Models tab".
9. Click OK to open the ODBC Reverse Engineering dialog box. This box allows you to specify a selection of objects to reverse engineer. Only tables and triggers are selected by default.
   
   
   For more information about selecting objects, see ODBC Reverse Engineering Selection window.
10. Click OK to begin the process of reverse engineering. When the process is complete, a confirmation message is given in the Output window. If you are reverse engineering to an existing PDM, then the Merge Models dialog box opens to help you merge the new objects into your PDM.

For more information on comparing and merging two models, see the Comparing and Merging Models chapter in the General Features Guide .

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