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Artifact

Artifacts

Description

An Artifact is any physical piece of information used or produced by a system. In Enterprise Architect these are represented by the Artifact element,  which can have one of a number of stereotypes to tailor it to a specific purpose, including internal operations and structures within the model, as indicated in the examples. Artifacts can have associated properties or operations, and can be instantiated or associated with other Artifacts according to the object they represent.

You can create an Artifact element by dragging one of the Artifact icons from the Artifacts page of the Diagram Toolbox, or from one of several other Toolbox pages according to type. The Common page of the Toolbox also has a generic Artifact icon that - when you drag it onto a diagram - offers a choice of types of Artifact to create.

Types of Artifact

Type

Description

See also

Base Artifact

A Base Artifact defines the external artifacts used in a process and the internal artifacts generated in the process, such as model files, source files, database tables, development deliverables or support documents. The files represented by the Artifact are listed on the Files tab of the element Properties dialog.

To open the files represented by the Artifact, click on the element on the diagram and pressCtrl+E. Each file is opened either on a separate tab in the Diagram View workspace (if the file can be opened within Enterprise Architect) or in the default Windows viewer/editor for the file type (if the file cannot be opened within Enterprise Architect).

Files can also be launched individually from the Files tab (opening in the Windows default editor), as for elements of any other type that have associated files.

 

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Create File Artifacts

Associated Files

Generate, Save and Load (Profiler) Reports

Document Artifact

A Document Artifact is an Artifact having a stereotype of «document». You create the Document Artifact using the Artifacts, Component, Documentation or Deployment pages of the Diagram Toolbox, and associate it with an RTF document or CSV file.

Double-click on the element to display the Linked Document Editor. When you have created the linked document, the Document Artifact element on the diagram shows an A symbol in the bottom right corner.
 

Artifact

 

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Linked Documents

Add Quick Linker Definition To Profile

Working Set Artifact

A Working Set Artifact defines a Working Set that opens various windows, diagrams and views, recreating a work environment that you frequently use.

·To create or modify the Working Set, right-click on the element and select the Edit Working Set option
·To execute the Working Set to open the defined windows and views and execute any commands, double-click on the element
 

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Working Sets

Executable State Machine Artifact

An Executable State Machine Artifact is the vehicle through which you can generate, build (compile) and execute - via simulation - code for a State Machine or complex of State Machines.

Each State Machine is the child of a Class element; when you drag the Class from the Project Browser onto the Artifact element, it is pasted inside the Artifact as a Part. You can paste several Classes - and, therefore, Parts - into a single Artifact.

Having set up the Executable State Machine Artifact, you use simple context menu options on the Artifact to perform the code generation, build and execution operations on all State Machines bound within the Artifact.
 

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ExeSM

 

Code Generation - State Machines

Matrix Specification

A Matrix Specification Artifact encapsulates a Relationship Matrix Profile definition. When you have created the element on the diagram, you double-click on it to display the Matrix Specification dialog, in which you create the Profile definition. The Profile takes the name of the element.

After you create the Profile definition, each time you double-click on the Artifact element the Relationship Matrix displays with the Profile applied.

To edit the Profile you can either open it through the Relationship Matrix, or right-click on the  Artifact and select the Documentation | Edit Matrix Profile option.

 

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Create Matrix Profile

Report Specification

A Report Specification Artifact encapsulates a report definition. When you have created the element on the diagram, you double-click on it to display the Generate Documentation dialog, on which you enter the report parameters and, if you wish, generate the report.

After you create the Report Specification, each time you double-click on the Artifact element the Generate Documentation dialog again displays with the same report parameters. You can continue to generate the same report, or alter the parameters if necessary. If you change the parameters, they are re-presented until such time as you change them again,

 

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Generate Documentation

User Story

A User Story Artifact provides a means of documenting a business Use Case in the context of Agile methodologies such as Extreme Programming (XP). In the Linked Document, you define the functions a business system must provide; it captures the 'who', 'what' and 'why' of a requirement in a simple, concise format. The User Story Artifact behaves as a Document Artifact (above), prompting you to select a Linked Document template to base the document on.

 

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Standard Chart

A Standard Chart Artifact provides the facilities for generating a Pie Chart or Bar Chart on an aspect of the data in your model. It adds three Chart Details tabs to the standard tabs of the element Properties dialog.

After you have added the element to your diagram, double-click on it. The element Properties dialog automatically opens at the Chart Details - Source tab. Define the chart type and data source, then go on to define any filters you want to apply, and how the chart should display.

Once you have defined the chart, it automatically displays with the latest information whenever you open the parent diagram.

 

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Standard Chart Data

Chart Appearance

Model View

A Model View Artifact provides the facilities for generating a tabular Model View Chart on a segment of the data in your mode, extracted using a custom SQL search.

After you have added the element to your diagram, double-click on it. The element Properties dialog automatically opens at the Chart Details - Source tab. Define the SQL Search to extract and tabulate the information.

Once you have defined the chart, it automatically displays with the latest information whenever you open the parent diagram.

 

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Define a Model View Chart

Time Series Chart

A Time Series Chart Artifact provides the facilities for generating a linear graph of a model  property over time.

After you have added the element to your diagram, double-click on it. The element Properties dialog automatically opens at the Chart Details - Source tab. Define the Package from which the data is to be extracted, and the time interval over which the data is to be sampled. Then go on to define the appearance of the chart.

Once you have defined the chart, it automatically displays with the latest information whenever you open the parent diagram.

 

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Define a Time Series Chart

Learn more

 

OMG UML Specification

The OMG UML specification (UML Superstructure Specification, v2.1.1, p. 201) states:

An Artifact defined by the user represents a concrete element in the physical world. A particular instance (or 'copy') of an artifact is deployed to a node instance. Artifacts may have composition associations to other artifacts that are nested within it. For instance, a deployment descriptor artifact for a component may be contained within the artifact that implements that component. In that way, the component and its descriptor are deployed to a node instance as one artifact instance.