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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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The Browser Window

The Browser window displays your model objects and features in a number of arrangements, reflecting the content and structure of your model. The Browser window is the primary mechanism for browsing and exploring your model and is the jumping off point for many of the most important features in Enterprise Architect. You can use it to navigate through the Enterprise Architect project space and:

  • Review the structure, content and organization of your model
  • Drill down to and into specific elements
  • Drag and drop elements and Packages within the model
  • Copy (duplicate) whole Packages
  • Import/export model information
  • Set up Version Control, locking, execution analysis and many other aspects of the model tied to a particular Package
  • Document models
  • Import code, xmi and csv files, database schema and other external data sources

The Browser window provides a range of context menus through which you can perform additional actions such as adding new Packages, creating diagrams, renaming items and deleting model elements.

The full model structure is represented in the 'Project' tab of the Browser window, which is the default display.

You can also select a View, Package, diagram or element at any level and focus the display on just the portion of the structure underneath that object, in the three tabs:

  • Context (see the Using the Context Tab of the Browser Help topic)
  • Diagram (see the Using the Diagram Tab of the Browser Help topic) and
  • Element (see the Using the Element Tab of the Browser Help topic)

If it is inconvenient to have all four tabs shown in the window, you can temporarily hide and re-display one or more of the Browser window tabs. See the Hide and Show Browser Tabs Help topic.

On the 'Project' and 'Context' tabs, you can also add 'Favorite' folders to present just your selection of Packages to work on. See the Refine Browser Content Help topic.

If you are working with an external data source in a Cloud-connected model, the Browser has a fifth tab - 'External' - that shows the characteristics and features of the selected external data item. See the External Item Details Help topic.

Access

Ribbon

Start > Desktop > Design > Browser

Explore > Portals > Windows > Explore > Project Browser

Keyboard Shortcuts

Ctrl+1

Alt+1 | Browser

Views

The 'Project' tab of the Browser window can be divided into Views, each of which contains diagrams, Packages and other elements. A default View hierarchy is described here, but you can create different Views to suit your requirements.

View

Description

Use Case View

The functional and early analysis View, containing Business Process and Use Case models.

Dynamic View

The dynamics of your system, containing State Charts, Activity and Interaction diagrams.

Logical View

The Class Model and Domain Model View.

Component View

A View for your system components. The high level view of what software is to be built (such as executables, DLLs and components).

Deployment View

The physical model; what hardware is to be deployed and what software is to run on it.

Custom View

A work area for other Views, such as formal requirements, recycle bin, interview notes and non-functional requirements.

Selective Collapse to the parent element or Package

When you are working on an expanded project in the 'Project' tab (or a large segment in the 'Context' tab) you might want to locate the parent element or Package of an item, and/or collapse the structure under that parent element or Package.

Step

Action

See also

1

Position the cursor on an item within the element or Package.

2

Press the left-arrow key on the keyboard to highlight the parent.

3

Press the same key again to collapse the structure under that parent element or Package.

If you keep repeating this sequence, you locate and collapse the parent nodes further and further up the hierarchy to, ultimately, the root node.

Adding elements from the Diagram Toolbox

When you have a structure in the Browser window, you can add elements to it by picking them up from the Diagram Toolbox and dropping them onto the parent element or Package. To do this, you:

  • Click on the element icon in the Diagram Toolbox, then click on the parent Package or element in the Browser window to select it, and click again to drop the element under the parent

You cannot add objects that do not display in the Browser window, such as Note elements, Text elements, connectors or Boundaries.

If an element is of a type that cannot be added as a child of the object in the Browser window, an error message displays.

Changing names

If you decide to change the name of a Package, diagram or element on the 'Project' tab, you can simply click on it and press F2. This makes the name editable, and you can quickly overtype it.

Learn more

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