Getting Started

Using the  ArcGIS features in Enterprise Architect you can visualize geodatabases inside this system and collaboration platform. This allows you to unify teams working in traditional software-centric and engineering systems with your geospatial teams defining features and domains. Teams defining the strategy business rules and requirements for a system or the components that deliver the system functionality can share models with the geospatial teams creating an integrated model that will help with integration and risk reduction. The multidisciplinary teams can communicate and collaborate using the collaboration features including chat, discussion and reviews, ensuring that the geospatial components are well-considered during the strategy, specification, analysis, design, implementation and support of the overall system.

ArcGIS diagram showing a trace between a Smart Meter and a formal system requirement.

In this topic you will learn how to work with the features that support ArcGIS geodatabases outlined, in the sections.

Selecting the Perspective

Enterprise Architect partitions the tool's extensive features into Perspectives, which ensures that you can focus on a specific task and work with the tools you need without the distraction of other features. To work with the ArcGIS Geodatabases features you first need to select this Perspective:

<perspective name> > Database Engineering > ArcGIS

Setting the Perspective ensures that the ArcGIS diagrams, their tool boxes and other features of the Perspective will be available by default.

Example Diagram

An example diagram provides a visual introduction to the topic and allows you to see some of the important elements and connectors that are created in specifying or describing an ArcGIS geodatabase schema including Features and Domains. Diagrams in other topics will show how Spatial References, Geometric Network and Topology can be modeled in the tool.

Modeling with ArcGIS

This topic introduces the ArcGIS profile, which provides the diagrams, Toolbox pages and elements that you will wor,k with including connectivity rules and topologies. You are able to select the ArcGIS perspective from the Geospatial group, which will set the tool up for modeling geodabases.

Importing ArcGIS XML Workspaces

This functionality allows you to import an ArcGIS workspace which is an XML document that contains the geodatabase schema. Any number of schemas can be imported and then layout tools can be used to show or hide features, including the ability to show or hide ArcGIS System features.

AcrGIS menu options on the Specialize ribbon to Import an ArcGIS Workspace.

Exporting ArcGIS XML Workspaces

You can model ArcGIS geodatabse schemas in Enterprise Architect and when you are happy that they have been elaborated correctly, including adding Features and Coded Value and Range domains, they can be exported to an XML document which in turn can be imported into the Esri tool.

Export Modular ArcGIS Schemas

In Enterprise Architect, you can export discreet parts of  schemas. This is useful if you have a large geodatabase schema, for example a schema defined as part of an industry reference model. Individual Features (elements) can be exported using this facility allowing you to incrementally build up a geodatabase

Validate ArcGIS Workspaces

Enterprise Architect provides a validation services that allows you to check whether the models that you develop are compliant with a set of inbuilt system rules for well-formed models.

AcrGIS menu options on the Specialize ribbon to Validate an ArcGIS model.

More Information

This section provides useful links to other topics and resources that you might find useful when working with the ArcGIS Geodatabase tool features.