Chapter 2 Resource Files and the Public Metamodel

Working with PowerDesigner Resource Files

The PowerDesigner modeling environment is powered by resource files, which define the objects available in each model along with the methods for generating and reverse-engineering them. These resource files are based up on the PowerDesigner public metamodel (see The PowerDesigner Public Metamodel).

You can view, copy, and edit these XML-format resource files in order to customize and extend the behavior of the environment. The following types of resource files are provided:

Target languages: define the standard objects available in a model. Types of target language files include:
- Process languages (.xpl) – define a specific business process language in the BPM.
- Object languages (.xol) - define a specific object-oriented language in the OOM.
- DBMSs (.xdb) - define a specific DBMS in the PDM (see the DBMS Resource File Reference chapter).
- XML languages (.xsl) - define a specific XML language definition in the XSM.
Extended model definitions (.xem) – extend the standard definitions of target languages to, for example, specify a persistence framework or server in an OOM. You can create or attach one or more XEMs to a model (see Extended Model Definitions).
Report templates (.rtp) - specify the structure of a report. Editable within the Report Template Editor (see the Reports chapter in the Core Features Guide ).
Report language files (.xrl) – translate the headings and other standard text in a report (see the Translating Reports with Report Language Resource Files chapter).
Conversion tables (.csv) - define conversions between the name and code of an object (see "Using a conversion table" in the Models chapter of the Core Features Guide ).