Resolution:
Yes, you can use db based checkpointing while running a process in designer. You need to add the following properties to bw property file properties.cfg and place it in C:\tibco\designer\&ltversion> directory
Engine.UseDatabase=true
Engine.Database.Configuration=/sharedConfig/JDBCOra
Database.Tablename.Prefix=CP

This setting assumes that you have configured a jdbc connection called JDBCOra  in sharedConfig folder in project.
The db table names are prefixed with "CP". Then you just need to restart designer and start the process in tester.