Chapter 5 Using the PowerDesigner Interface


Defining named paths

When you add a document or a model to the project, create an external shortcut, or perform various other file operations, PowerDesigner saves the paths to these external files in the project or model files.

However, in a team environment, when people exchange model files, the links may be broken when one user opens the file of another .

To solve this potential problem, you can define named paths in PowerDesigner. A team leader can define a list of names corresponding to shared resource files and specify a folder structure. Then each team member recreates the named paths on his/her workstation.

PowerDesigner provides a number of predefined named paths, each of which is preceded by an underscore:

Name Path
_DBMS Folder where DBMS definition files are stored
_EXAMPLES Folder where the demo examples are stored
_HOME PowerDesigner installation folder
_LIBRARY Folder where object libraries are stored
_OBJLANG Folder where object language definition files are stored
_PRCSLANG Folder where process language definition files are stored
_RTPLANG Folder where report language definition files are stored
_XEM Folder where extended model definition files are stored
_XMLLANG Folder where XML language definition files are stored

_HOME predefined named path

_HOME is a very useful named path that facilitates the installation of your add-ins without having to modify your XEM or your XML or ActiveX add-ins commands.

For example: %_HOME%\add-ins\SpellChecker\SpellCheckAddIn.dll

By default, the path of a predefined named path corresponds to the installation path you have selected. If you use files proceeding from another directory, the path of the predefined named paths is not automatically modified. You have to carry out this change manually.

You should not modify the name of a predefined named path. If you do so, the predefined named path is preserved in the list and a new named path is created with the name and path of the modified predefined named path.

If you modify the path of a predefined named path and want to cancel the change, you have to select the predefined named path in the list, delete it and click OK in the General Options dialog box. The next time you open the Named Path page in the General Options dialog box, the deleted predefined named path is displayed in the list with the default installation path.

 


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