Basic Document Generation

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Publish > Model Reports > Report Builder > Generate Documentation > Generate

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F8 | Generate

Model Document
Root Element
Root Package

Check the name of the element selected from the Browser window, diagram, Diagram List, Specification Manager or Model Search.

If this is the specially-created Model Document element for a virtual document, the field is 'Model Document'.

Otherwise, this field identifies the selected element of the hierarchy to be reported on; that is, the Root element or Root Package.

Output to File

Type or select the location and filename for the generated documentation.

Click on the button to navigate to the location.

Enter the appropriate file extension for the document format in which to generate the report - PDF, RTF or DOCX.

Template

Click on the drop-down arrow and select the name of the template to use for your document report.

You can select any template from the drop-down list, which is divided into Custom (or user) templates and System templates. If you have loaded an MDG Technology containing document templates, those are also listed under the Technology name.

You can also immediately create a new template, by selecting the '<new template>' option.

The system checks all template folders for the specified template, in the order Custom Templates > Technology Templates > System Templates. If there are different templates available under the same name, the system uses the first found in this sequence.

Cover Page

Click on the drop-down arrow and select the name of the cover page definition to apply to your document report.

You can select any definition from the drop-down list, whether a standard format or a user-designed page.

Use the default value <none> to not include a cover page, or to use a cover page built in to the selected user-defined template.

Table of Contents

Click on the drop-down arrow and select the name of the Table of Contents definition to apply to your document report.

You can select any definition from the drop-down list, whether a standard TOC format or a user-designed format.

Use the default value <none> to not include a Table of Contents, or to use a table of Contents built in to the selected user-defined template.

Stylesheet

Click on the drop-down arrow and select the name of the Stylesheet to apply to your document report.

You can select any Stylesheet from the drop-down list, whether a standard definition or a set of user-designed styles.

Use the default value '<none>' to not use a Stylesheet and instead apply the styles defined in the template you have selected in the 'Template' field.

Diagram Theme

Click on the drop-down arrow and select a Diagram Theme to apply the color, line thickness and font style to diagrams of elements in the report, if those elements are using default values.

If an element has a tailored appearance assigned using, for example, the 'Default Appearance' dialog, that appearance overrides the Theme settings.

The default option is the Diagram Theme you have currently set in your 'Local' options. You can, however, select any other Theme just for this report. The field setting reverts to your default Theme after the report is generated.

Suppress Sections

Click on the drop-down arrow and select from a list of Suppress Profiles that you or other users of the model have created on the 'Suppress Section' tab of the 'Generate Documentation' dialog.

Each Suppress Profile defines report sections that can be omitted when you generate the current report. This helps you to tailor the report for a specific audience on generation.

(You can also omit child Packages from any report generated on the parent Package; see the Exclude Package from Document and HTML Report Help topic.)

Watermark

Type in the location of the image to use as a watermark on the document, or click on the button to browse for the location.

Wash image

If you have selected a watermark image, select this checkbox to apply a wash to the image before applying it to the document. This makes the image lighter so that it does not detract from the report content printed over it.

Language

Click on the drop-down arrow and select the language in which to generate the document. The list of available languages is defined by the Model Administrator on the 'Translations' page of the 'Manage Model Options' dialog ('Settings > Model > Options').

When the document is generated, the generator includes in the document all Notes, object names and aliases that have translations into the selected language. If any fields do not contain a translation for that language, the corresponding document field remains blank.

Image Quality

Click on the drop-down arrow and select the level of scaling required to reproduce the diagram images in the report. This determines the visual quality of the image.

• Draft
• Standard (the default)
• High Resolution
• Very High Resolution

Regardless of the image quality, all images are reproduced at a consistent size.

View Document On Completion

Select this checkbox to open the document report as soon as it has been generated.

Use Language Substitutions

Select this checkbox to switch custom language word substitutions on.

Deselect the checkbox to switch custom language word substitutions off.

Markup Glossary Terms

Select this checkbox to apply, throughout the generated RTF report, any styles applied to any Glossary terms through the Notes text of an element.

A style is applied to a Glossary term according to its Glossary term type.

Use Glossary Substitution

(Available if Markup Glossary Terms is selected.)

Click on the drop-down arrow and select a term type. For all glossary terms of that type, wherever a term occurs in the report it will be replaced by its meaning.

For example, if you select a term type of 'edition', in the report the terms 'Corp', 'Uni' and 'Ult' would be replaced by the meanings 'Corporate', 'Unified' and 'Ultimate', respectively.

Batch

Click on this button to display the 'Batch Document Generation' dialog, to generate reports in a batch process.

Use Internal Viewer

Select this checkbox to enable the View button to launch the generated document in the Enterprise Architect internal viewer.

Deselect this checkbox to enable the View button to launch the generated document in the MS Windows default file viewer.

Include all Diagram Elements in Report

Select this checkbox to include elements in the report from external Packages that are referenced from a diagram, for every diagram searched by the report; the checkbox defaults to selected.

To include the external elements in the document, also select the 'Package.Diagram.Element' and 'Package.Element' checkboxes in the current template.

If external elements are to be included only for specific diagrams, deselect this checkbox and - only for the diagrams for which you want to include external elements in the report - for each diagram select the 'Add each contained element in Documentation' checkbox in the diagram properties.

When both options are deselected, or when neither of the 'Package.Diagram.Element' or 'Package.Element' checkboxes are selected in the template, only elements in the current Package are documented.

Progress

Indicate the progress of document generation with status messages and an increasingly filled status bar.

Resource Document

Click on this button to save the currently-set options as a document definition.

Open Template

Click on this button to edit the currently-selected template using the Document Template Editor.

You can only edit user-defined templates, not the standard templates provided with the system. If you have selected a system template, this button is grayed out.

Generate

Click on this button to generate the document (after you have set all the options you require, on all tabs of the dialog).

View

Click on this button to launch the generated document in:

• The MS Windows default file viewer, or
• The Enterprise Architect internal viewer, if you have selected the 'Use Internal Viewer' checkbox

Abort

Click on this button to cancel report generation; a prompt displays to confirm cancellation of the report.