Like any other PowerDesigner object, extensions can be read, created and modified using scripting.
For detailed information about extensions, see Extension Files.
The following script illustrates how you can access an existing extension, browse it , create an extended attribute within the definition and at last modify the extended attribute values. A function is created to drill down the categories tree view that is displayed in the Extension Properties dialog box.
Dim M
Set M = ActiveModel
'Retrieve first extension in the active model
Dim X
Set X = M.ExtendedModelDefinitions.Item(0)
'Drill down the categories tree view using the searchObject function (see below for details)
Dim C
Set C = SearchObject (X.Categories, "Settings")
Set C = SearchObject (C.Categories, "Extended Attributes")
Set C = SearchObject (C.Categories, "Objects")
Set C = SearchObject (C.Categories, "Entity")
'Create extended attribute in the Entity category
Dim A
Set A = C.Categories.CreateNew (cls_ExtendedAttributeTargetItem)
'Define properties of the extended attribute
A.DataType = 10 'integer
A.Value = 10
A.Name = "Z"
A.Code = "Z"
'Retrieve first entity in the active model
Dim E
Set E = M.entities.Item(0)
'Retrieve the values of the created extended attribute in a message box
msgbox E.GetExtendedAttribute("X.Z")
'Changes the values of the extended attribute
E.SetExtendedAttribute "X.Z", 5
'Retrieve the modified values of the extended attribute in a message box
msgbox E.GetExtendedAttribute("X.Z")
********************
'Detail SearchObject function that allows you to browse a collection from its name and the searched object
'* SUB SearchObject
Function SearchObject (Coll, Name)
'For example Coll = Categories and Name = Settings
Dim Found, Object
For Each Object in Coll
If Object.Name = Name Then
Set Found = Object
End If
Next
Set SearchObject = Found
End Function