You can define several settings that apply to all Power*Architect projects.

1. Select File » Project Settings. The Project Settings dialog box appears.

2. Enter the following information:

Snapshot Entire Source Database in Project File? When you open a source database in

Power*Architect (for example, to use for

reverse engineering), the database's data structure

(catalogues, schemas, tables, etc.) is shown in the

database tree. Select this check box if you always

want to save the entire data structure in your

Power*Architect project. This allows you to view

the objects at any time without having to reconnect

to the source system.

Important: If you use this option, the first time you

save your project will be very time-consuming and

involve a lot of database activity.

Number of Common Values in Profiles When profiling a database using graph view, you

can view the most common values that occur

in a column. Use this option to set the number

of common values to include in the profile. For

example, enter 10 if you want to include the ten

most common values.

For more information about profiling, see the

section called “Profiling Data” .

Profile Creator Mode Select the mode used to create a profile.

• Remote Database - This mode sends a query

to the database and the database calculates all

of the statistics. This works well over a large

network because very little data is transferred.

Setting Preferences

37

• Local Reservoir - This mode transfers all of the

data to the local computer where it is sampled

and processed. This works well over a fast

network. This option is still experimental and is

known to cause an out of memory error when

profiling large tables.

For more information about profiling, see the

section called “Profiling Data” .

Draw Relationships With Select the method used to draw relationship lines

in the playpen.

Note: Changing this option affects new and

existing relationship lines.

• Rectilinear Lines - Use horizontal and vertical

line segments to connect tables. One to three line

segments will be used (at right angles to each

other) depending on the position of the tables at

each end of the relationship line.

• Direct Lines - Use a single line segment (usually

diagonal) to connect the tables.

3. Click OK.

You can set preferences that apply to all Power*Architect projects.

Note: This section describes general user preferences only. For information on JDBC drivers preferences,

“Defining Project Settings” ).

1. Select File » User Preferences. For Macintosh, select Application » User Preferences.

The User Preferences dialog box appears.

Setting Preferences

38

2. On the General tab, enter the following information:

PL.INI File Enter the location for the pl.ini file. This file

stores the settings for the database connections you

create. If you leave this location blank, you will be

prompted to use a default location when you start

Power*Architect.

If you have a pl.ini file from another SQL

Power application, you can use the same file for

Power*Architect so that you don't have to re-enter

all of your database connection information.

ETL Log File Enter the location for the etl.log file. This log file

is written to when you use the ETL features in

Power*Architect.

Forward Engineering Log File Enter the location of the ddl.log file. This log file

is written to when you forward engineer a data

model.

Antialiased Rendering in PlayPen Turn on this option to improve the display of the

data model diagrams in the playpen, especially

when zoomed out. This option may cause slower

performance on some systems. Using this option

is recommended unless you experience poor

performance.

Error Reporting Turn on this option to send automatic error

reports to SQL Power. Error reports never include

any information that could be used to identify

Setting Preferences

39

you or the contents or subject matter of your

project. They simply include a Java stack trace

that tells developers where in the program code

Power*Architect encountered a failure, as well

as generic information such as the version of

your Java Runtime Environment and the amount

of RAM Power*Architect is currently using.

These error reports help the Power*Architect

development team prioritize bug fixes based on the

estimated number of times a particular problem has

been encountered.

Show Welcome Screen Turn this option on to view the welcome screen

when you start Power*Architect.

3. Click OK.