PowerDesigner
 | This article may contain an excessive amount of intricate detail that may interest only a particular audience. (September 2012) |
 |
| Original author(s) | Xiao-Yun Wang |
|---|---|
| Developer(s) | SAP |
| Stable release | 16.5
/ January 2013 |
| Operating system | Microsoft Windows |
| Available in | English (PowerAMC: French) |
| License | proprietary |
| Website | www.sybase.com |
SAP PowerDesigner (PowerDesigner) is a collaborative enterprise modelling tool produced by Sybase. PowerDesigner runs under Microsoft Windows as a native application, and runs under Eclipse through a plugin. PowerDesigner supports model-driven architecture software design. PowerDesigner uses the .pdm file format.
PowerDesigner provides a single modeling environment that brings together the techniques and notations of business process and requirements modeling, data modeling, enterprise architecture modeling, and UML application modeling. The scope of the metadata supported by PowerDesigner is therefore much wider than just the metadata required to describe and manage your data.[1]
PowerDesigner data modeling tool market share in 2002 was 39%.[2] PowerDesigner is priced from $3,000 to $7,500 USD per developer seat.[3]
Features
PowerDesigner includes support for:
- Business Process Modeling (ProcessAnalyst) supporting BPMN
- Code generation (Java, C#, VB .NET, Hibernate, EJB3, NHibernate, JSF, WinForm (.NET and .NET CF), PowerBuilder, ...)
- Data modeling (works with most major RDBMS systems)
- Data Warehouse Modeling (WarehouseArchitect)
- Eclipse plugin
- Object modeling (UML 2.0 diagrams)
- Report generation
- Supports Simul8 to add simulation functions to the BPM module to enhance business processes design.
- Repository
- Requirements analysis
- XML Modeling supporting XML Schema and DTD standards
- Visual Studio 2005 / 2008 addin
- Collaboration by storing metadata and models in a central location, complete with documented histories and version control. Using this shared repository, teams can analyze and design the enterprise architecture using a single, common set of source materials.[4]
History
PowerDesigner started life as AMC*Designor in France and S-Designor internationally, which was written by Xiao-Yun Wang of SDP Technologies. The "or" in the product name refers to "Oracle", since initially the product was developed to design Oracle databases, but very quickly evolved to support all major RDBMS in the market. SDP Technologies was a French company that was started in 1983. Powersoft purchased SDP in 1995, and Sybase had purchased Powersoft earlier in 1994. Shortly after the acquisition, the product was renamed to be consistent with the Powersoft brand. Sybase currently owns all rights to PowerDesigner and PowerAMC (the French version of PowerDesigner). In May 2010, SAP announced that it would be acquiring Sybase for $5.8 billion.[5]
Version History
- 1989 - The first commercial release of AMC*Designor (version 2.0) in France
- 1992 - The first commercial release of S-Designor in the US.
- 1994 - ProcessAnalyst was added to the suite in 1994.
- 1995 - S-Designor becomes PowerDesigner, AMC*Designor becomes PowerAMC
- 1997 - PowerDesigner 6.0 releases.
- 1998 - WarehouseArchitect was added.
- 1999 - PowerDesigner 7.0 was rewritten to take advantage of newer technologies and to provide an interface more consistent with other Sybase products.
- December 2001 - PowerDesigner 9.5 was initially released, with maintenance releases through 2003.
- December 2004 - Version 10.0 (Minerva release)
- 2005 - Version 11.0
- January 2006 - PowerDesigner 12.0 released with metadata mappings and reporting features
- August 2006 - PowerDesigner 12.1 released with enhanced support for Microsoft Visual Studio and SQL Server
- July 2007 - PowerDesigner 12.5 released with new ETL (Extract, transform, load) and EII (Enterprise Information Integration) modeling and full UML 2.0 diagrams support
- October 2008 - PowerDesigner 15.0 released with new Enterprise Architecture Model, customizable frameworks support (Zachman Framework, FEAF, ...), Impact and Lineage Analysis Diagram, logical data model, Barker's Notation, Project support and lot more
- November 2011 - PowerDesigner 16.0 released with new Shell, Role based UI, Glossary, Impact analysis on repository, Sybase IQ reference architecture wizard, New database support,� Web portal enhancements
- January 2013 - PowerDesigner 16.5 released with new features supporting SAP Platform: SAP HANA, SAP BusinessObjects, SAP Netweaver and SAP Solution Manager
Standards
PowerDesigner supports the following standards:
- BPEL4WS
- Business Process Modeling Notation (BPMN)
- Document Type Definition (DTD)
- ebXML
- IDEF
- RDBMS
- Rich Text Format (RTF)
- UML 2.0 diagrams
- XML
- XML Schema
See also
References
- ^ Data Modeling Made Simple with PowerDesigner by Steve Hoberman and George McGeachie, Technics Publications, 2011.
- ^ Xiao-Yun Wang, PowerDesigner Chief Architect, 2005
- ^ Sybase
- ^ Data Modeling Made Simple with PowerDesigner by Steve Hoberman and George McGeachie, Technics Publications, 2011.
- ^ "SAP to Acquire Sybase, Inc" (Press release). SAP.