PowerDesigner can use variables in the generation and reverse-engineering of references and reference columns.
The following variables are available for references:
| Variable | Comment | 
|---|---|
| %REFR% | Generated code of reference | 
| %PARENT% | Generated code of parent table | 
| %PNAME% | Name of parent table | 
| %PCODE% | Code of parent table | 
| %PQUALIFIER% | Qualifier of parent table. See also QUALIFIER. | 
| %CHILD% | Generated code of child table | 
| %CNAME% | Name of child table | 
| %CCODE% | Code of child table | 
| %CQUALIFIER% | Qualifier of child table. See also QUALIFIER. | 
| %REFRNAME% | Reference name | 
| %REFRCODE% | Reference code | 
| %FKCONSTRAINT% | Foreign key (reference) constraint name | 
| %PKCONSTRAINT% | Constraint name of primary key used to reference object | 
| %CKEYCOLUMNS% | List of parent key columns. Ex: C1, C2, C3 | 
| %FKEYCOLUMNS% | List of child foreign key columns. Ex: C1, C2, C3 | 
| %UPDCONST% | Contains Update declarative constraint keywords "restrict", "cascade", "set null" or "set default" | 
| %DELCONST% | Contains Delete declarative constraint keywords "restrict", "cascade", "set null" or "set default" | 
| %MINCARD% | Minimum cardinality | 
| %MAXCARD% | Maximum cardinality | 
| %POWNER% | Parent table owner name | 
| %COWNER% | Child table owner name | 
| %CHCKONCMMT% | TRUE when check on commit is selected on Reference (ASA 6.0 specific) | 
| %REFRNO% | Reference number in child table collection of references | 
| %JOINS% | References joins. | 
The following variables are available for reference columns:
| Variable | Comment | 
|---|---|
| %CKEYCOLUMN% | Generated code of parent table column (primary key) | 
| %FKEYCOLUMN% | Generated code of child table column (foreign key) | 
| %PK% | Generated code of primary key column | 
| %PKNAME% | Primary key column name | 
| %FK% | Generated code of foreign key column | 
| %FKNAME% | Foreign key column name | 
| %AK% | Alternate key column code (same as PK) | 
| %AKNAME% | Alternate key column name (same as PKNAME) | 
| %COLTYPE% | Primary key column data type | 
| %COLTYPENOOWNER% | Primary column owner | 
| %DEFAULT% | Foreign key column default value | 
| %HOSTCOLTYPE% | Primary key column data type used in procedure declaration. For example: without length |