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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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Navigating the Model

Enterprise Architect stores valuable organizational information in a repository, and over time these repositories will become large and will often contain many thousands of elements and connectors. It is critical to be able locate entities in the repository, and Enterprise Architect provides a rich set of features for this purpose.

The Browser window provides hierarchical views of the repository elements, features and diagrams; knowledge of the Package hierarchy at different levels, and more detailed lists of diagram and element content, will help you to navigate through the repository and drill into and out of Packages, locating what you are looking for. There are also Package and resources browsers that help you to find items in the repository.

A Navigator Toolbar helps you to navigate the hierarchy of Packages in the repository using a textual breadcrumb control, showing you the current Package location.

As models become larger, using the flexible Model Search function will make it easy to find an entity or a set of entities that meet defined criteria. There are a large number of built-in searches, but there is no limit to the searches that can be created and even novice users can define useful and time-saving searches.

Elements in well-formed models are articulated using relationships that create a graph of elements. The ability to traverse this graph is often termed traceability, and Enterprise Architect has a series of features such as the Traceability window that make it easy to visualize this graph of interconnected elements, bringing the repository to life.

Facilities

Facility

See also

The use of the Browser window and Package Browser to navigate and explore your model

The Browser Window The Package Browser

How Model Views provide different perspectives and 'entry points' into a model

Model Views Diagram Slide Show

Focusing on objects with specific characteristics, in the Focus window

The Focus Window

Examining individual elements in the Inspector window

The Inspector Window

Finding elements and relationships using the Model Search tools and custom queries

Model Search Pre-defined Searches

Traceability tools to help track completeness, dependencies and other behavioral and structural relationships

Traceability Tools

Use of the Diagram List or Package Browser to view model elements in a conventional list based manner

Diagram List Package Browser

Use of the Relationship Matrix to understand and track relationships between model elements in a spreadsheet view

Relationship Matrix

Using Diagram Filters to highlight information in diagrams

Diagram Filters

Using the Traceability window to explore model dependencies

The Traceability Window

Finding and working with element Relationships

The Relationships Window