Please note : This help page is not for the latest version of Enterprise Architect. The latest help can be found here.

Kanban Facilities

Using the Kanban project management methodology, you might work on tasks or the objects of tasks organized on a chart according to the value of a project management property, such as Phase, Version or Status. Your work on the task is represented by moving the corresponding element to a different position on the chart, which reflects the change in status of the selected project management property of that element.

In Enterprise Architect, you can apply a form of this methodology to your project administration diagrams to monitor and manage the flow of work in a particular area. You can develop the chart to divide your diagram into a series of vertical lanes that represent the status of the elements in the organization of work. Dragging the elements from one lane to another automatically applies the change in value of the selected status indicator property of the element, which can also be a Tagged Value (of type Enumeration or String).

Access     Diagram | Swimlanes, Matrix and Kanban > Kanban

Define the Kanban chart

Field/Option/Button

Action

See also

Active

Click on this checkbox to set the diagram to use the defined Kanban chart, as opposed to any Swimlanes or Swimlane Matrix facilities that have also been defined.

Swimlanes

Swimlanes Matrix

 

Line Color

Click on the drop-down arrow and select the color in which to display lane borders.

If the color you require is not shown, click on the Other button and either select from a wider range of standard colors or define a custom color.

 

 

 

Standard Colors
 

Create Custom Colors

Font Color

Click on the drop-down arrow and select the color in which to display the text in the Kanban lane headings.

If the color you require is not shown, click on the Other button and either select from a wider range of standard colors or define a custom color.

 

A

Click on this button to display the Font dialog, through which you define the font and style, size and effects of the text in the Kanban lane headings.

If you also change the text color here, it overrides the setting of the Font Color field (above).

 

Set Element Font

Title Color

Click on the drop-down arrow and select the color with which to fill the lane heading cells.

If the color you require is not shown, click on the Other button and either select from a wider range of standard colors or define a custom color.

 

 

 

Standard Colors
 

Create Custom Colors

Overfilled Color

Click on the drop-down arrow and select the color with which to fill a Kanban column if it contains more than the maximum number of elements. You set the maximum number of elements when you define the specific columns to work with, in the Swimlanes panel.

If the color you require is not shown, click on the Other button and either select from a wider range of standard colors or define a custom color.

 

Line Width

Click on the drop-down arrow and select the line width of the Kanban lane borders - either 1 (thinnest), 2 or 3 (thickest).

 

 

Locked

Select this checkbox to prevent the lanes in the diagram from being made narrower or wider. You cannot change the depth of the header cell even if this checkbox is clear.

 

 

Bold Font

Select this checkbox to display the lane headings in bold (if their font definition does not already set them to bold).

 

 

Hide Names

Select this checkbox to hide the names displayed in the lane heading cells (but not the heading cells themselves).

 

 

Hand Drawn

Select this checkbox to display the Kanban lanes and the elements on the diagram in Hand-drawn mode.

 

Configure Diagram Display

Show Names in Title Bar

 

Select this checkbox to display the Lane names in diagram title bar, above the lanes.

This option is not available if the Hide Names checkbox is selected.

 

Enable Overfill Highlight

 

Select this checkbox to apply the overfilled color (above) to the lane if it contains more elements than the defined maximum number (see New, below).

 

Value

Click on the Browse button ( ... ) and select, firstly, the type of property to test for in assigning elements to lanes, either:

·Element Properties
·Tagged Value (Enumeration or String types only)
·None (if you want to manually manage elements on the basis of some value that is not captured in the element properties or Tagged Values)
 

If you select Element, also select one of the properties Phase, Version, Priority (for Requirement-type elements) and Status.

If you select Tagged Value, also choose to either Create a new tag (and simply type in the name) or select an existing one. In the latter case, the Kanban Tagged Value selection dialog displays.

On the dialog, click on the appropriate radio button to select either from a list of Global Tagged Values, or from a list of Tagged Values from a selected element; click on the Select Element button to browse for the element anywhere in the model.

In the Tagged Value field, click on the drop-down arrow and select the reference Tagged Value from those listed. Click on the OK button.

 

The Value field now displays either the element property or the Tagged Value you have selected.

 

 

New

Click on this button to define a new lane on the Kanban chart. The Kanban Lane Details dialog displays:
 

·In the Name field, click on the drop-down arrow and select the property value that the lane represents and that the lane title will reflect; the drop-down list generally provides a list of appropriate values, but you can type in other values if necessary
·In the Max Items field, leave the value set to 0 if you do not want to limit the number of elements that can be placed in a lane, or type in the maximum number allowed; if this number is exceeded AND you have selected to highlight an overfill with a different lane color (see Enable Overfill Highlight above) the lane will change to that  overfill color
·Click on the OK button to add the lane definition to the Swimlanes list and the lane to the diagram; the lane name and fill limit display in the title cell at the top of the lane

 

 

Modify

Click on an entry in the Swimlanes list and click on this button to display the Kanban Lane Details dialog for that lane, and to change the details as necessary (see New, above).

 

 

Delete

Click on an entry in the Swimlanes list and click on this button to delete the lane definition and clear the lane from the diagram. A prompt displays for you to confirm the deletion.

 

 

Swimlanes

This panel lists the currently defined lanes, in the sequence (top to bottom) in which they are displayed on the diagram (left to right).

 

 

Hand (Up)

Click on an entry in the Swimlanes list and click on this button to move the entry one line up in the list, and one lane to the left on the diagram.

 

 

Hand (Down)

Click on an entry in the Swimlanes list and click on this button to move the entry one line down in the list, and one lane to the right on the diagram.

 

 

OK

Click on this button to save and apply your changes, and close the dialog.

 

 

Cancel

Click on this button to abort your changes, and close the dialog.

 

 

Notes

·The elements in a Kanban chart individually represent work in progress; you cannot create connectors between elements on the chart
·If you apply a Kanban chart to a current diagram, all connectors on the diagram are hidden; when you de-activate the chart, the connectors are shown again
·When you first set up a Kanban chart, any element that does not have a property value represented on the chart is moved to the right-hand side of the chart
·Moving an element into a lane automatically sets the appropriate property of that element to the value represented by the lane; for a Tagged Value, if the element does not have that tag, adding the element to the lane adds the tag and sets it to the lane value
·Elements on a Kanban chart are automatically adjusted to match the width of the lane they are in, both when the element is moved into a lane and when the lane width is changed
·All elements added to a Kanban chart initially have the same height and spacing, but the height can change as displayable information is added to an element