Chapter 8 Working with Object-Oriented Models

Generating Other Models from an OOM

You can generate the following types of models from an OOM:

CDM - to translate OOM classes into CDM entities. You will then be able to further refine your model and eventually generate a Physical Data Model (PDM) from the CDM.
PDM – to translate the design of your system to your database. This allows you to model the objects in the world they live in and to automate the translation to database tables and columns.
OOM – to transform an analytical OOM (designed with the Analysis object language) to implementation OOMs designed for Java, C#, and any other of the object languages supported by PowerDesigner.
XSM – to generate a message format from your class structure.

To generate a model from an OOM:

Select Tools, and then one of the following to open the appropriate Model Generation Options Window:
- Generate Conceptual Data Model... Ctrl+Shift+C
- Generate Physical Data Model... Ctrl+Shift+P
- Generate Object-Oriented Model... Ctrl+Shift+O
- Generate XML Model... Ctrl+Shift+M

On the General tab, select a radio button to generate a new or update an existing model, and complete the appropriate options.

[optional] Click the Detail tab and set any appropriate options. We recommend that you select the Check model checkbox to check the model for errors and warnings before generation.

[optional] Click the Target Models tab and specify the target models for any generated shortcuts.

[optional] Click the Selection tab and select or deselect objects to generate.

Click OK to begin generation.

Generation options
For detailed information about the options available on the various tabs of the Generation window, see the Linking and Synchronizing Models chapter of the Core Features Guide .

The following table details how OOM objects are generated to other models:

OOM	CDM	PDM	XSM
Domain	Domain	Domain	Simple Type
Class (Persistent and Generate check boxes selected)	Entity	Table	Element
Abstract class	Entity	Table	Complex type
Attribute (Persistent check box selected)	Attribute	Column	Attribute or element (see generation options)
Identifier	Identifier	Identifier	Key
Composition	-	-	New level in the element hierarchy
Operation with <<storedProcedure>> stereotype (parent class generated as a table)	-	Stored procedure attached to the table, with the operation body as a body in the procedure definition.	-
Operation with <<storedFunction>> stereotype (parent class generated as a table)	-	Stored function attached to the table, with the operation body as a body in the function definition.	-
Association	Relationship or association	Reference or table	KeyRef constraints
Association class	Entity/relationship notation: entity with two associations. Merise notation: association, and two association links	A table and two associations between the end points of the association class	-
Dependency	-	-	-
Realization	-	-	-
Generalization	Inheritance	Reference	Complex type derivation (XSD) or attribute migration to child element (DTD)

Generating from classes

For a class to become a table you need to select the Persistent check box and define a type of generation in the Generation list in the Detail tab of the class property sheet.

The cardinality of a class becomes the number of records of a table.

Generating from associations

If the association has a many-to-many multiplicity: both roles of the association have the * sign selected in their multiplicity lists, the association is translated into a table in the generated PDM. If it has any other multiplicity, the association becomes a reference.

A role name becomes a migrated foreign key after PDM generation.