Setting Up a Model Structure

Enterprise Architect has been designed as a productivity tool from the ground up, and includes a built-in Model Wizard that makes setting up a model structure very simple. These intuitive tools save valuable time for the experienced user and remove difficulties for the beginner. With Decision Modeling, the elements that you create will typically form part of a project or initiative and be related to other models, such as Business Process diagrams and StateMachines created by Business Analysts, System Engineers, Software Engineers and others.

This illustration shows an example repository structure that indicates the location of the Decision Modeling elements within the Requirements Modeling branch of a project. The Decision Models can be located anywhere within a project, and Enterprise Architect provides a facility to drag-and-drop them (or their containing Package) from one location to another within the Browser window.

The next illustration shows how Business Knowledge Models, which are designed to be reusable decision components, can be contained in a library and can be reused by any project or initiative. The library can be stored at the level of the enterprise models, and when needed the appropriate Business Knowledge Models can be included in the respective project by dragging them from the Browser window onto a Decision Requirements diagram (DRD) in the selected project.

The Business Knowledge Models provide a mechanism for reuse by allowing decision information to be passed in as parameters and the output to be passed back to the invoking decision.

The overall structure of the repository is a subject that is beyond the scope of this guidebook, but it is a critical aspect of setting up a repository and your librarian or systems administrator will have performed this task or will be able to assist you. We will learn later that Packages are important units in the organization and maintenance of a model repository. For more information see the The Model Wizard Help topic.