Extended Attributes (Profile)

Extended attributes allow you to define additional metadata for your objects.

They can be defined for metaclasses, stereotypes, and criteria, in order to:

Control generation for a given generation target. In this case, extended attributes are defined in the target language or DBMS of the model. For example, in the Java object language, several metaclasses have extended attributes used for generating Javadoc comments.
Further define model objects in extensions. For example, in the extension for Sybase ASA Proxy tables, the extended attribute called GenerateAsProxyServer in the DataSource metaclass is used to define the data source as a proxy server.

Note: By default, extended attributes are listed on a generic Extended Attributes tab in the object property sheet. You can customize the display of attributes by inserting them into forms (see Forms (Profile)). If all the extended attributes are allocated to forms, the generic page will not be displayed.

Creating an Extended Attribute
You can create an extended attribute for a metaclass, stereotype, or criterion.
Extended Attribute Properties
You specify the properties for an extended attribute by selecting its entry in the resource editor.
Creating an Extended Attribute Type
You can create extended attribute types to define the data type and authorized values of extended attributes. Creating extended attribute types allows you to reuse the same list of values for several extended attributes without having to write code.
Specifying Icons for Attribute Values
You can specify icons to display on object symbols in place of extended attribute values by creating an attribute icon set with individual attribute value icons for each possible value.
Linking Objects Through Extended Attributes
When you specify the [Object] data type, you enable the display of the Object type, Object stereotype, and Inverse collection name fields.

Parent topic: Extension Files