Chapter 3 Getting Started with the PowerDesigner Eclipse Plugin

Working with Packages

A package is a piece of a model. When working with large models, you can split them into smaller subdivisions in order to avoid manipulating the entire model at once. Packages can be useful to assign portions of a model, representing different tasks and subject areas, to different development teams.

Packages work like models, they can contain other packages, objects and diagrams. You can create as many packages as you need in a model, and you can also assign as many diagrams as you need to provide a specific view of each package.

Creating a package

You can only create a package inside a model.

From a diagram: select the diagram toolbar's Package tool and click in the diagram
From the Model Explorer: right-click a model and select New→Package
From the list of packages: select Model→Packages to display the List of Packages and click the Add a row tool to insert a new package in the list

In the example below, a package called "Lending Records" (with a diagram of the same name) has been added to the model "Library OOM":

Building a package

You build a package in the same way as you build a model, with the difference that you must decide who will own each object, the model or the package. Objects created in and owned by a model will be available to all its packages as shortcuts, and vice versa. Thus only one instance of each object need be created in the model or in a package, and it can be referenced by way of the shortcut.

Saving a package

You cannot save a package individually, but only within its parent model.