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

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Element Discussions

Using the 'Element Discussions' tab of the dockable Discussions window, you can select an individual element and develop a discussion or review that is directly associated with that element. This makes it easy to locate, view and contribute to a discussion, or more than one discussion, on the selected element.

You can review and participate in discussions on different elements simply by clicking on each element in turn; the Discussions window immediately switches to the discussion of the new selected element.

As a discussion develops, the number of responses is shown next to the original Document, in brackets; therefore you can see when a discussion has a new reply without having to expand and work through the thread. You can also set a status of 'Awaiting Review' or 'Closed' on a discussion, indicated by an icon against the posting. This helps you to resolve and close off points raised in the discussion, so that they do not continue indefinitely. You can also delete the whole posting or specific replies, to balance retaining discussion history with removing irrelevant information.

A further facility of the Discussions window is the 'Model Chat' tab and text box, which you can use to follow and participate in quick conversations on a point of interest, not necessarily connected with the selected element. This facility is described separately, in the Model Chat Help topic.

Access

Select an element, then open the Discussions window using one of these methods:

Ribbon

Start > Today > Discussion > Discuss > Element Discussions

Construct > Project > Discussion > Discuss Element > Element Discussions

Specification - Specify > Element > Discuss > Element Discussions

Operations in Element Discussions

Operation

Action

See also

Create a discussion

The window displays the message Create new Discussion. Double-click on this message and type your posting as continuous text (no carriage returns). The text automatically wraps at the border of the Discussions window. You can also paste copied text from the clipboard into the discussion item, by pressing Ctrl+V.

If you do need to break your text into paragraphs, press Ctrl+Enter at the point at which to break the text.

When you have finished typing, click off the text or press the Enter key.

  • An open expansion box, a icon, your user ID and the date and time of posting display above your text
  • The messages Post Reply and Create new Discussion display beneath your text

You can also right-click on the window and select the 'Create New Discussion' menu option. All new discussions are added underneath existing discussion threads.

Add a response

Double-click on the 'Post Reply' message and type your response as continuous text.

When you have finished typing, click off the text or press the Enter key.

  • A icon, your user ID and the date and time of posting display above your text
  • The message Post Reply displays beneath your text
  • The number of responses posted displays or is incremented to the left of the original posting

You can also right-click on a post and select the 'Post Reply' menu option. All new discussions are added underneath existing discussion threads.

Edit postings

Once a discussion or reply has been posted (you have clicked off the message body or pressed the Enter key) you cannot edit it.

However, until you have posted the message you can move the cursor anywhere in the message body and add or delete text.

As you type, the editor automatically checks the spelling and underlines possible spelling errors in red. You can backspace or move the cursor to the errors to correct them, as long as you do not post the message.

Copy Discussion Text

If you want to re-use the text of a discussion item, you can copy the whole message to the clipboard by pressing Ctrl+C, either before you save it or after you have posted it. You can then paste the text into a new discussion item or into another document in Enterprise Architect.

Set discussion status

The icon against a new discussion indicates that the discussion has the status of 'Open'. To change the status, right-click on the discussion item and select either:

  • 'Discussion Status | Awaiting Review' () or
  • 'Discussion Status | Closed' ()

If the discussion already has one of these statuses, you can also select the 'Open' option to return the discussion to 'Open' status.

The status settings are simply labels - they do not have an impact on posting replies, deleting replies or deleting the discussion.

Delete a discussion or reply

Right-click on the original discussion or a reply, and select the 'Delete Selected' menu option. A prompt displays to confirm the deletion. Click on the Yes button.

If you delete a discussion, all replies associated with that discussion will be deleted as well.

If you delete a reply in a thread, the count of replies against the original posting is decremented.

Review Discussion History

Either:

  • Click on the element name button across the top of the window and select the 'Discussion Review' option, or
  • Select the 'Start > Today > Discussion > Manage Discussions' ribbon option

This displays a table of all existing discussion items on elements. You can:

  • Add to or reduce the number of columns using the 'Field Chooser', and display the Filter bar to filter the list for discussions having a specific property such as the user who posted the discussion item, or the person who created the element (element author)
  • Right-click on a discussion in the window and select to show the discussion in a preview pane on the right or at the bottom of the window, to instantly see the discussion thread as you click on it in the list; you can also hide the preview pane if you do not need it
  • List the discussions posted over a number of days - either Today, or 7, 30 or 90 days prior to today, by right-clicking on the display and selecting the 'Visible Timeframe' option
  • Find the element in a selected discussion in the Project Browser or diagrams
  • Click on the 'Edit discussion' option to read the full text and replies for a selected discussion, in the Discussions window; you can work on the discussions as normal - that is, delete the discussions, add replies or new discussions, refresh the display and switch to discussions for a different element
  • Refresh the list to include any discussions that have been posted since you opened the discussion review
Customizing the Search View

Notes

  • The Discussions facility is available in the Corporate and extended editions of Enterprise Architect
  • If the editor does not highlight spelling errors, select 'Start > Workspace > Preferences > Objects' and deselect the 'Disable Spelling' checkbox

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