Model Add-Ins

High Deployment Costs

In organizations where installing new or updated software is expensive, model Add-Ins can offer a workaround. New functionality can be added to Enterprise Architect without the need for new software to be installed on user machines.

Required for all users

When all users of a model need an Add-In to use the model as intended it can be difficult to ensure that the Add-In is installed and updated on all user machines. Model based Add-Ins are loaded by all required users automatically on model load.

Alternative deployments allow users to opt-in to using an Add-In, with access controlled by security group.

Model Specific Behavior

For users regularly using multiple models, there will likely be some functions that are only required in some models but not others. By using model based Add-Ins, these functions can be added freely without requiring explicit coding based on the model.

Self Documenting

By modeling your Add-In directly, the documentation describing it is always accurate.

Complex User Interface

The User Interface that model Add-Ins can create is currently not as expressive as Add-Ins written in a traditional IDE. If you need to show your users complex dialogs or forms, you might be better off using an alternative technology.

Use across many models

Add-In functionality that is required across multiple models might not be a good fit for model Add-Ins. In this situation you might need to consider the relative costs of a traditional Add-In vs deploying a model Add-In using XMI, controlled Packages or a re-usable asset service.