Relationship Matrix

The Matrix facility in WebEA enables you to view the Relationship Matrix generated from any Relationship Matrix Profile that has been defined in the model.

The Relationship Matrix is a spreadsheet display of relationships between model elements within a Package, or between elements in two different Packages. It is a convenient and simple tool for reporting and working on all the relationships in a selected structure. The relationships shown can be filtered according to:

• The element type of the source and target elements in each relationship
• The relationship type and direction
• The Package(s) in which the source elements and target elements are held

Those parameters can be defined in a Relationship Matrix profile; to display a matrix in WebEA you select one of the available profiles.

The matrix shows all the relationships of the specified type between source and target elements by:

• Listing the source Package elements down the side of the matrix, as row titles
• Listing the target Package elements across the top of the matrix, as column titles, and
• If a relationship exists between a source and target element, displaying an arrow indicating the direction of the relationship, at the intersection of the appropriate row and column

Clicking on a square containing an arrow displays the 'Relationship Properties' screen for the relationship represented by that arrow. On that screen you can click on the source or target element names and display the 'Element Properties' screen for those elements.

Access

In WebEA's main header, click on the 'More' button, then 'Matrix'.

Matrix Profiles

The 'Matrix Profiles' page provides the 'Select Profile' drop-down field that you use to list and select from the matrix profiles defined within Enterprise Architect.  You cannot add to or edit these profiles.

When you select a matrix profile, the rest of the fields on the page will be populated with the values defined in the profile. Click on the View Matrix button to load the relationships selected under the profile, in a Relationship Matrix grid.

WebEA is only able to load complete matrix profiles; if an incomplete matrix profile is requested, this error message will be displayed:

If this message is displayed, ask the Project Manager to update the Matrix Profile.

Matrix

This is a sample Relationship Matrix as displayed by WebEA. It is almost identical to what would be displayed in Enterprise Architect.

If the matrix content (rows/columns) will not fit onto a single screen then the matrix is automatically divided into multiple pages.

You can access the previous/next page using the arrows in the source/target headers.

If necessary you can also increase number of columns/rows which are displayed per page by using the Matrix Options button. Note, the number of cells per page will have an impact on the web browser performance, so avoid using pages with a large number of cells (e.g. more than 200 x 200).

When you click on a relationship arrow within the matrix - such as, in the example, the 'Manage Titles' to 'REQ019 - Manage Inventory' arrow - the 'Relationship Properties' screen displays.

Notes

• A Matrix Profile can also be accessed via a Hyperlink or a Matrix Specification Artifact on a diagram
• Matrix Profiles that use a Model Search to populate the source or target elements are not supported in WebEA