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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 |
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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 |