Add-Ins

To review and enable add-ins to provide additional features and services in PowerDesigner, select Tools > General Options, and click the Add-Ins category in the left pane.

Add-ins installed with PowerDesigner are called system add-ins, and are declared in a Local Machine registry key. The following system add-ins are installed by default:
  • Microsoft Analysis Services and Microsoft SQL Server 2005 Analysis Services - Generate and reverse engineer multidimensional objects for MS SQL Server 2000 (deprecated) and 2005 respectively (see Data Modeling > DBMS Definition Reference > Microsoft SQL Server). Require the client for the appropriate version of SQL Server.
  • Microsoft Word Import - Imports and exports MS Word documents to and from requirements models (see Requirements Modeling > Working with Word Documents and RQMs).
  • SAP BusinessObjects - Generates universes from physical data models (see Data Modeling > Building Data Models > Generating and Reverse-Engineering Databases > Generating a BusinessObjects Universe). Requires BusinessObjects 4.0 or higher.
  • SAP HANA - Generates database schemas using the HANA API (see Data Modeling > DBMS Definition Reference > SAP HANA Database).
  • Spell Checker - Uses the MS Word spell checker to check PowerDesigner object names, codes, comments, descriptions, and annotations (see Spell Checking). Requires Word 2000 or higher.
  • Sybase IQ Reference Architecture - Analyzes the architecture required to deploy a Sybase® IQ data warehouse solution suitable for your workload (see Enterprise Architecture Modeling > Sybase IQ Reference Architecture Model).
  • XML Validation - Checks that an XML document conforms to the schema in the XML model (see XML Modeling). Requires MSXML 4.0.
Note: If you modify system add-in properties, you can click the Reset Values For System Add-In tool to recover the parameters registered in the registry.

You enable an add-in by selecting its checkbox.

You can create your own XML or ActiveX user add-ins, which are declared in a Current User registry key:

  1. Click one of the following tools:
    • Add New ActiveX Add-In - An ActiveX add-in implements an interface that defines methods, which are invoked by PowerDesigner in order to dialog with menus and execute commands that are defined by the ActiveX.
    • Add New XML Add-In - An XML add-in defines a menu structure for calling scripts or executables from within PowerDesigner.
    For information about developing these add-ins, see Customizing and Extending PowerDesigner > Scripting PowerDesigner > OLE Automation and Add-Ins
  2. Enter the name of your add-in and click the Select File tool to browse to the .xml, .dll, or .exe file.
  3. [ActiveX only] Enter the name of the ActiveX implementation class in the Class field.


  4. Click OK.
    If your add-in has been correctly defined, it will immediately be available under the appropriate PowerDesigner menu.
Parent topic: General Options