General Options

You can control the look and behavior of the PowerDesigner interface through the general options, the values for which are saved in the registry of your local machine.

To set general options, select Tools > General Options. The following options are available under the General category:

Option	Description
Autosave	Save recovery backup file every `x` minutes - Instructs PowerDesigner to save changes to all open models to a recovery backup file at the specified interval. Enabling this option provides you with a recovery option if PowerDesigner or your computer crash before you have had a chance to save your changes. The save will take place after the interval has passed, but only when PowerDesigner is idle for more than ten seconds. Note that saving large or multiple models may take several seconds, and that PowerDesigner will not be responsive while it is performing the save. In the event that your modeling session exits abnormally, when next you open PowerDesigner you will be invited to restore your unsaved models. You can choose: Yes - to open the recovered models in the Browser allowing you to review and save or delete them as necessary. No - to postpone reviewing the recovered models until the next time you open PowerDesigner. Note: This option is not supported for the PowerDesigner plugins for Eclipse and Visual Studio.
Delete	Confirm object deletion - Controls the display of a confirmation dialog box when you delete an object. If you disable this option, the confirmation dialog will no longer be shown and the default behavior is as follows: Deleting an object symbol - the symbol only is deleted Deleting an object in the browser - the object, any sub-objects it contains, and any associated diagram symbols are deleted. You can delete any object without confirmation at any time by selecting its symbol in a diagram and pressing Shift+Delete. For more information, see Deleting Objects.
Startup	Auto-reload last workspace - Opens the last-edited workspace when you launch PowerDesigner. If this option is unchecked, PowerDesigner will open with an empty workspace. Show welcome page - Displays the Welcome Page when starting PowerDesigner. If you select the Do not show this page again check box in the Welcome page, the Show Welcome page option is deselected.
Browser	Browser drag and drop: Default action - Specify the default result of dragging and dropping an object (without any modifier key) in the Browser. You can choose from the following: Move (Shift) – The object is displaced to the new location (parent object, package, model, etc). Copy (Ctrl) – A copy of the object is created in the new location. Create Shortcut (Ctrl+Shift) – A shortcut to the object is created in the new location. Create replica (Alt+Shift) – A replica of the object is created in the new location. The modifier keys given after the option are valid no matter what the default behavior.
Output log	Log path - Specifies the path to the log file where PowerDesigner records all of its outputs.
Graphical tool behavior	Edit in place after creation - Allows you to directly modify the name of an object from the object symbol in the diagram without opening its property sheet whenever you create an object with the Toolbox.
Sort	Natural Sort - Treats numbers numerically when sorting objects in the Browser. For example, a naturally sorted list of tables would have the order: Table_1, Table_3, Table_12, Table_20.

Dialog Box General Options
To set general options for dialog boxes, select Tools > General Options, and select the Dialog category in the left hand pane.
Specifying Text Editors
When you are using PowerDesigner, you will need to edit such things as descriptions and annotations for objects, or generated scripts like SQL in the PDM or Java in the OOM
Defining Environment Variables
PowerDesigner defines a certain number of environment variables for use used in generation commands and with GTL. You can edit these variables and add your own.
Defining Named Paths
Named paths allow you to handle links between models and resource files in environments where users may install PowerDesigner in different locations or have customized their install. PowerDesigner initializes a number of predefined named paths, each of which is preceded by an underscore to point to various file locations that depend on the installation directory.
Defining Default Interface Fonts
You can modify the default font proposed for:
Managing Add-Ins
An add-in is a module that adds a specific feature or service to PowerDesigner. PowerDesigner provides several add-ins by default.
Spell Checking
You can spell check your PowerDesigner models if you have MS Word 2000 or higher installed on your machine, and if your system code page is consistent with the model language. For example, for the spell checker to work properly on a Chinese model, your system code page should be Chinese.
Customizing the New Model Dialog
You can control the format of the New Model dialog by hiding some of the methods of model creation.
Repository General Options
To set repository options, select Tools > General Options to open the General Options window, and then select the Repository category.

Parent topic: Customizing Your Modeling Environment