Browsing and Modifying Collections (Scripting)

Most metamodel navigation is performed by descending from the model root through collections of objects to collections of sub-objects or associated objects. An OOM contains a collection of classes and classes contain collections of attributes and operations. You can obtain information about and browse the members of a collection through scripting, as well as adding, removing, and moving objects in the collection.

To browse the members of a collection, navigate to the parent object and then use a For each loop. This script prints the names of all the tables in an open PDM:

Dim MyModel
Set MyModel=ActiveModel
For each t in MyModel.Tables
    Output "* " & t.Name
Next

When you browse a collection, both full objects in the collection and any shortcuts will be retrieved.

Note: For information about accessing collections defined in extensions, see Creating and Accessing Extensions (Scripting).

The following kinds of collections appear in the metamodel:

Compositions - contain objects that will be deleted if the parent is deleted. For example, the PdPDM/Tables and PdPDM/Table/Columns collections are compositions.
Aggregations - reference objects that will continue to exist if the parent is deleted. For example, the PdCommon/NamedObject/AttachedRules collection (inherited by most objects) is an aggregation.
Unordered collections - contain objects with no significant order. For example, the PdCDM/Entity/Relationships collection is unordered.
Ordered collections - contain objects where the user chooses the order. For example, the PdPDM/Table/Columns collection is ordered.
Read-only collections - can only be browsed. For example, the global Models collection (all open models) is read-only.

The following properties are available for all collections:

Count - Retrieves the number of objects in the collection.
Item[(index)] - Retrieves the specified item in the collection as an object. Item(0) is the first object (and the default) and Item(-1) is the last object.
MetaCollection - Retrieves the metadefinition of the collection as an object.
Kind - Retrieves the type of objects the collection can contain.
Source - Retrieves the object on which the collection is defined.

The following methods are available for modifying writeable collections:

CreateNew([kind] and CreateNewAt(index[,kind]) - [compositions only] Creates a new object at the end of the collection or at the specified index (default, -1). The kind parameter (for example, PdPDM.cls_Table) is only needed if the collection supports multiple kinds of objects.
Add(object) - Inserts the specified object at the end of the collection.
Insert([index][, object]) - Inserts the specified object in the collection at the specified index position (default, -1).
Move(index2, index1) - Moves the object at position index1 to position index2 in the collection.
Remove(object[, delete = y|n]) and RemoveAt([index][, delete = y|n]) - Removes the specified object or the object at the specified index (default, -1) from the collection. For aggregations, you can additionally specify to delete the object (objects removed from a composition are always deleted).
Clear([delete = y|n]) - Removes all objects from the collection and optionally deletes them.

The following script:

Creates a PDM,
Creates objects in the model's Tables and BusinessRules unordered composition collections, and
Adds some objects to table T1's AttachedRules ordered aggregation collection and then manipulates that collection:

Dim MyModel, t, r, sym
set MyModel = CreateModel(PdPDM.Cls_Model,"DBMS=SYASA12")
MyModel.SetNameAndCode "MyPDM" , "MyPDM"
'Create tables and rules
For idx = 1 to 12
   Set t=MyModel.Tables.CreateNew()
   t.SetNameAndCode "T" & idx, "T" & idx
   Set sym=ActiveDiagram.AttachObject (t)
   Set r=MyModel.BusinessRules.CreateNew()
   r.SetNameAndCode "BR" & idx, "BR" & idx
Next
ActiveDiagram.AutoLayoutWithOptions(2)
'Attach rules to Table 1
   Dim MyTable
   Set MyTable=MyModel.FindChildByName("T1",cls_table)
   For idx = 1 to 10
      MyTable.AttachedRules.Add(MyModel.FindChildByName("BR" & (idx),cls_businessrule))
   Next
'Print list of rules attached to Table 1
Output "Rules Attached to T1 (" & MyTable.AttachedRules.Count & ")"
For each r in MyTable.AttachedRules
    Output "* " & r.Name
Next
'Modify attached rules by insertion, move and removal
MyTable.AttachedRules.Insert 3, MyModel.FindChildByName("BR12",cls_businessrule)
MyTable.AttachedRules.Move 5,0
MyTable.AttachedRules.Remove(MyModel.FindChildByName("BR6",cls_businessrule))
'Print modified list of rules
Output "Modified Rules Attached to T1 (" & MyTable.AttachedRules.Count & ")"
For each r in MyTable.AttachedRules
    Output "* " & r.Name
Next