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SAP HANA Core Data Services (CDS)Locate this document in the navigation structure

While the HDBtable syntax remains supported, Core Data Services (CDS) syntax is the preferred method for defining tables, views, types, and associations in HANA. To create a PDM with support for features specific to the SAP HANA® CDS DBMS family, select the appropriate version in the DBMS field of the New Model dialog. To view these extensions to the PowerDesigner metamodel in the Resource Editor, select Start of the navigation path Database Next navigation step Edit Current DBMS End of the navigation path and expand the Profile node.

PowerDesigner provides DBMS files to support modeling CDS artifacts for:
  • SAP HANA CDS Repository (up to HANA v1 SP11)
  • SAP HANA CDS HDI (HANA v1 SP11 and higher)
PowerDesigner support for CDS is focused on initializing your environment following these high-level steps:
  1. [optional] To generate an initial schema from a different DBMS or from a CDM or LDM:
    1. [optional] Reverse-engineer the schema to a PDM targeting the existing DBMS and generate the PDM to a CDM or LDM.
    2. Generate the CDM or LDM to a SAP HANA CDS Repository or SAP HANA CDS HDI PDM as appropriate.
    Note You can generate directly from a SAP HANA CDS Repository to a SAP HANA CDS HDI PDM by selecting Start of the navigation path Tools Next navigation step Generate Physical Data Model End of the navigation path and selecting SAP HANA CDS HDI in the DBMS field.
  2. Review the generated CDS PDM and perform any necessary modeling tasks. The following tools are available in the CDS toolbox:

    Tool

    Description

    		 Can Create In

    HANA Package - An organizing container for HANA artifacts. See HANA Packages (HANA).

    		 Model Root or HANA Package

    Context - An organizing container for CDS artifacts. See Contexts (CDS).

    		 Anywhere

    Entity - A table with a set of data elements that are organized using columns and rows. See Entities (CDS).

    		 Anywhere

    Association - A relationship between two entities. See Associations (CDS).

    		 Anywhere

    View - A query based on one or more entities. See Views (CDS).

    		 Anywhere

    [none]

    Simple type - A user-defined type. See Simple Types (CDS).

    		 Context

    Structured type - A user-defined type containing a list of attributes. See Structured Types (CDS).

    		 Context
    [none]

    [HDI] Constant - A user-defined constant value. See Constants (CDS).

    		 Context
  3. Generate directly to your HANA Repository (SAP HANA CDS Repository, see Exporting CDS Objects to the HANA Repository) or to files (SAP HANA CDS HDI, see Generating CDS Files).
  4. Review and complete files in HANA Modeler (SAP HANA CDS Repository) or in Web IDE (SAP HANA CDS HDI).
    Note PowerDesigner supports only one-shot generation of CDS artifacts to initialize your environment. Reverse-engineering or generation of updates (where changes may be present in HANA) is not supported.
For detailed information about working with CDS, see the SAP HANA Core Data Services (CDS) Reference at http://help.sap.com/hana_platform.

In this section:
    Contexts (CDS)
    Contexts provide a way of structuring your CDS artifacts. In HDI environments, one file is generated for each top-level context.
    Entities (CDS)
    A CDS entity is a table with a set of data elements that are organized using columns and rows.
    Associations (CDS)
    Associations define relationships between entities.
    Views (CDS)
    A view is a virtual table based on the dynamic results returned in response to an SQL statement.
    Simple Types (CDS)
    A simple type is a user-defined data type for your entity attributes. Simple types can be created inside a context.
    Structured Types (CDS)
    A structured type is a data type comprising a list of attributes, each of which has its own data type.
    Constants (CDS)
    You can define constants for use in view definitions when working with HANA CDS HDI. PowerDesigner models CDS constants as columns in a special Constants table.
    Exporting CDS Objects to the HANA Repository
    In repository environments, PowerDesigner provides a wizard to allow you to export your CDS contexts, entities, and views and their supporting objects to the HANA repository.
    Generating CDS Files
    In repository and HDI environments, PowerDesigner supports generating CDS files for loading to HANA.