Stereotypes (Profile)

Stereotypes subclassify metaclasses so that extensions are applied to objects only if they bear the stereotype. Stereotypes can be promoted to the status of metaclasses with a specific list, Browser category and custom symbol and Toolbox tool.

1. Right-click a metaclass, criterion, or stereotype, and select New > Stereotype.
2. Enter the following properties as appropriate:

   Property	Description
   Name	Specifies the internal name of the stereotype, which is used for scripting.
   Label	Specifies the display name of the stereotype, which will appear in the PowerDesigner interface.
   Parent	Specifies a parent stereotype of the stereotype. You can select a stereotype defined in the same metaclass or in a parent metaclass. Click the Properties button to go to the parent stereotype in the tree and display its properties.
   Abstract	Specifies that the stereotype cannot be applied to metaclass instances. The stereotype will not appear in the stereotype list in the object property sheet, and can only be used as a parent of other child stereotypes. Disables the Use as metaclass property.
   Use as metaclass	Promotes the stereotype to the same status as standard PowerDesigner metaclasses, to give it its own list of objects, Browser category, and its own tab in multi-pane selection boxes such as those used for generation (see Creating New Metaclasses with Stereotypes).
   No Symbol	[available when Use as metaclass is selected] Specifies that instances of the stereotyped metaclass cannot be displayed in a diagram and are visible only in the Browser. Disables the Toolbox custom tool.
   Icon	Specifies an icon for stereotyped instances of the metaclass. Click the tools to the right of this field in order to browse for .cur or .ico files. Note: The icon is used to identify objects in the Browser and elsewhere in the interface, but not as a diagram symbol. To specify a custom diagram symbol, see Custom Symbols (Profile).
   Toolbox custom tool	[available for objects supporting symbols] Specifies a Toolbox tool to enable you to create objects in a diagram. If you do not select this option, users are only able to create objects bearing the stereotype from the Browser or Model menu. Custom tools appear in a separate Toolbox group named after the resource file in which they are defined. Note: If you have not specified an icon, the tool will use a hammer icon by default.
   Plural label	[available when Use as metaclass is selected] Specifies the plural form of the display name that will appear in the PowerDesigner interface.
   Default name	[available when Use as metaclass or Toolbox Custom Tool is selected] Specifies a default name for objects created. A counter will be automatically appended to the name specified to generate unique names. A default name can be useful when designing for a target language or application with strict naming conventions. Note that the default name does not prevail over model naming conventions, so if a name is not correct it is automatically modified.
   Comment	Provides a description or additional information about the stereotype.

   
   
   

• Creating New Metaclasses with Stereotypes
  You can use stereotypes to create new kinds of objects that behave like standard PowerDesigner metaclasses or to have objects with identical names but different stereotypes in the same namespace (a metaclass stereotype creates a sub-namespace in the current metaclass).