Please note : This help page is not for the latest version of Enterprise Architect. The latest help can be found here.
The Processing Instruction (PI) Macro
The PI (Processing Instruction) macro provides a means of defining the separator text to be inserted between the code pieces (which represent entities) that are generated using a template.
The structure for setting the Processing Instruction is:
%PI=<value>%
where <value> is a literal string enclosed by double quotes, with the following options:
· | "\n" - New line (the default) |
· | " " - Space |
· | "\t" - Tab |
· | "" - Null |
By default, the PI is set to generate a new line (\n) for each non-empty substitution, which behavior can be changed by resetting the PI macro. For instance, a Class�s Attribute declaration in simple VB code would be generated to a single line statement (with no new lines). These properties are derived from the Class-Attribute Properties in the model to generate, for example:
Private Const PrintFormat As String = "Portrait"
The template for generating this starts with the PI being set to a space rather than a new line:
%PI=" "%
%CONVERT_SCOPE(attScope)%
%endIf%
%if attConst == "T"%
Const
%endIf%
On transforming this, attscope returns the VB keyword �Private� and attConst returns �Const� on the same line spaced by a single space (fitting the VB Class.Attribute definition example above).
Alternatively, when generating a Class you might want the Class declaration, the notes and Class body all separated by double lines. In this case the %PI is set to "/n/n" to return double line spacing:
%PI="\n\n"%
%ClassDeclaration%
%ClassNotes%
%ClassBody%
PI Characteristics
· | Blank lines have no effect on the output |
· | Any line that has a macro that produces an empty result does not result in a PI separator (space/new line) |
· | The last entry does not return a PI; for example, %Classbody% (above) does not have a double line added after the body |
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