Please note : This help page is not for the latest version of Enterprise Architect. The latest help can be found here.

Element Class

An Element is the main modeling unit. It corresponds to (for example) Class, Use Case, Node or Component. You create new elements by adding to the Package Elements collection. Once you have created an element, you can add it to the DiagramObject Class of a diagram to include it in the diagram.

Elements also have a collection of connectors. Each entry in this collection indicates a relationship to another element.

There are also some extended collections for managing addition information about the element, including things such as Tagged Values, Issues, Constraints and Requirements.

Associated table in .EAP file: t_object

Element Attributes

Attribute	Type	Notes		See Also
Abstract	String	Read/Write Indicates if the element is Abstract (1) or Concrete (0)
ActionFlags	String	Read/Write A structure to hold flags concerned with Action semantics
Alias	String	Read/Write An optional alias for this element
AssociationClassConnectorID	Long	Read only If the element is an AssociationClass, AssociationClassConnectorID contains the Connector ID of the respective Association connector		CreateAssociationClass() (Information on creating AssociationClasses from elements)
Attributes	Collection	Read only Collection of Attribute objects for the current element; use the AddNew and Delete functions to manage attributes
AttributesEx	Collection	Read only Collection of Attribute objects belonging to the current element and its parent elements
Author	String	Read/Write The element author		Repository: Authors
BaseClasses	Collection	Read only List of Base Classes for this element, presented as a collection for convenience
ClassfierID	Long	Deprecated See ClassifierID
ClassifierID	Long	Read/Write The ElementID of a Classifier associated with this element; that is, the base type Only valid for instance type elements (such as Object or Sequence)
ClassifierName	String	Read/Write Name of associated Classifier (if any)
ClassifierType	String	Read only Type of associated Classifier
Complexity	String	Read/Write A complexity value indicating how complex the element is; used for metric reporting and estimation Valid values are: 1 for Easy, 2 for Medium, 3 for Difficult
CompositeDiagram	Diagram	Read only If the element is Composite, returns its associated diagram; otherwise returns null
Connectors	Collection	Read only Returns a collection containing the connectors to other elements
Constraints	Collection	Read only Collection of Constraint objects		Constraint Class
ConstraintsEx	Collection	Read only Collection of Constraint objects belonging to the current element and its parent elements
Created	Date	Read/Write The date the element was created
CustomProperties	Collection	Read only List of advanced properties for an element The collection of advanced properties differs depending on element type; for example, an Action and an Activity have different advanced properties Currently only editable from the user interface
Diagrams	Collection	Read only Returns a collection of sub-diagrams (child diagrams) attached to this element as seen in the tree view
Difficulty	String	Read/Write A difficulty level associated with this element for estimation/metrics; only useable for Requirement, Change and Issue element types, otherwise ignored Valid values are: Low, Medium, High
Efforts	Collection	Read only Collection of Effort objects		Effort Class
ElementGUID	String	Read only A globally unique ID for this element; that is, unique across all model files
ElementID	Long	Read only The local ID of the Element; valid for this file only
Elements	Collection	Read only Returns a collection of child elements (sub-elements) attached to this element as seen in the tree view
EmbeddedElements	Collection	Read only List of elements that are embedded into this element, such as Ports, Parts, Pins and Parameter Sets
EventFlags	String	Read/Write A structure to hold a variety of flags to do with signals or events
ExtensionPoints	String	Read/Write Optional extension points for a Use Case as a comma-separated list
Files	Collection	Read only Collection of File objects		File Class
GenFile	String	Read/Write The file associated with this element for code generation and synchronization purposes; can include macro expansion tags for local conversion to full path
Genlinks	String	Read/Write Links to other Classes discovered at code reversing time; Parents and Implements connectors only
GenType	String	Read/Write The code generation type; for example, Java, C++, C#, VBNet, Visual Basic, Delphi
Header1	Variant	Read/Write A user defined string for inclusion as header in the source files generated
Header2	Variant	Read/Write Same as for Header1, but used in the CPP source file
IsActive	Boolean	Read/Write Boolean value indicating whether the element is active or not 1 = True, 0 = False
IsComposite	Boolean	Read/Write Indicates whether the element is composite or not 1 = True, 0 = False
IsLeaf	Boolean	Read/Write Boolean value indicating whether the element is in leaf node or not 1 = True, 0 = False
IsNew	Boolean	Read/Write Boolean value indicating whether the element is new or not 1 = True, 0 = False
IsSpec	Boolean	Read/Write Boolean value indicating whether the element is a specification or not 1 = True, 0 = False
Issues	Collection	Read only Collection of Issue objects
Locked	Boolean	Read/Write Indicates if the element has been locked against further change
MetaType	String	Read only The element's domain-specific meta type, as defined by an applied stereotype from an MDG Technology
Methods	Collection	Read only Collection of Method objects for current element
MethodsEx	Collection	Read only Collection of Method objects belonging to the current element and its parent elements
Metrics	Collection	Read only Collection of Metric elements for current element
MiscData	String	Read only This low-level property provides information about the contents of the PDatax fields These database fields are not documented, and developers must gain understanding of these fields through their own endeavors to use this property MiscData is zero based, therefore: MiscData(0) corresponds to PData1 MiscData(1) to PData2 and so on
Modified	Date	Read/Write The date the element was last modified
Multiplicity	String	Read/Write Multiplicity value for this element
Name	String	Read/Write The element name; should be unique within the current package
Notes	String	Read/Write Further descriptive text about the element
ObjectType	ObjectType	Read only Distinguishes objects referenced through a Dispatch interface
PackageID	Long	Read/Write A local ID for the package containing this element
ParentID	Long	Read/Write If this element is a child of another, used to set or retrieve the ElementID of the other element; if not, returns 0
Partitions	Collection	Read only List of logical partitions into which an element can be divided Only valid for elements that support partitions, such as Activities and States
Persistence	String	Read/Write The persistence associated with this element; can be Persistent or Transient
Phase	String	Read/Write The phase this element is scheduled to be constructed in; any string value
Priority	String	Read/Write The priority of this element as compared to other project elements; only applies to Requirement, Change and Issue types, otherwise ignored Valid values are: Low, Medium and High
Properties	Properties	Returns a list of specialized properties that apply to the element that might not be available using the automation model The properties are purposely undocumented because of their obscure nature and because they are subject to change as progressive enhancements are made to them
PropertyType	Long	Read/Write The ElementID of a Type associated with this element; only valid for Port and Part elements
Realizes	Collection	Read only List of Interfaces realized by this element for convenience
Requirements	Collection	Read only Collection of Requirement objects		Requirement Class
RequirementsEx	Collection	Read only Collection of Requirement objects belonging to the current element and its parent elements		Requirement Class
Resources	Collection	Read only Collection of Resource objects for current element		Resource Class
Risks	Collection	Read only Collection of Risk objects		Risk Class
RunState	String	Read/Write The object's runstate list as a string
Scenarios	Collection	Read only Collection of Scenario objects for current element		Scenario Class
StateTransitions	Collection	Read only List of State Transitions that an element can support; applies in particular to Timing elements
Status	String	Read/Write Sets or gets the status, such as Proposed or Approved
Stereotype	String	Read/Write The primary element stereotype; the first of the list of stereotypes you can access using the StereotypeEx attribute
StereotypeEx	String	Read/Write All the applied stereotypes of the element in a comma-separated list
StyleEx	String	Read/Write Advanced style settings; reserved for the use of Sparx Systems
Subtype	Long	Read/Write A numeric subtype that qualifies the Type of the main element; for example: For Event: 0 = Receiver, 1 = Sender For Class: 1 = Parameterised, 2 = Instantiated, 3 = Both, 0 = Neither, 17 = Association Class If 17, because an Association Class has been created through the user interface, MiscData(3) contains the ID of the related Association; as MiscData is read-only, you cannot create an Association Class through the Automation Interface For Note: 1 = Note linked to connector, 2 = Constraint linked to connector For StateNode: 100 = ActivityIntitial, 101 = ActivityFinal For Activity: 0 = Activity, 8 = composite Activity (also set to 8 for other composite elements such as Use Cases) For Synchronization: 0 = Horizontal, 1 = Vertical Note that there are many more Types than indicated in the above examples		Type
Tablespace	String	Read/Write Associated tablespace for a Table element
Tag	String	Read/Write Corresponds to the Keywords field in the Enterprise Architect user interface		General Settings
TaggedValues	Collection of type TaggedValue	Read only Returns a collection of TaggedValue objects		TaggedValue Class
TaggedValuesEx	Collection of type TaggedValue	Read only Returns a collection of TaggedValue objects belonging to the current element and the elements specialized or realized by the current element		TaggedValue Class
Tests	Collection	Read only Collection of Test objects for current element		Test Class
TreePos	Long	Read/Write Sets or gets the tree position
Type	String	Read/Write The element type (such as Class, Component) Note that Type is case sensitive inside Enterprise Architect and should be provided with an initial capital (proper case); valid types are:
Type	String	Action Activity ActivityPartition ActivityRegion Actor Artifact Association Boundary Change Class Collaboration Component Constraint Decision DeploymentSpecification DiagramFrame EmbeddedElement Entity EntryPoint Event ExceptionHandler ExitPoint ExpansionNode ExpansionRegion GUIElement InteractionFragment	InteractionOccurrence InteractionState Interface InterruptibleActivityRegion Issue Node Note Object Package Parameter Part Port ProvidedInterface Report RequiredInterface Requirement Screen Sequence State StateNode Synchronization Text TimeLine UMLDiagram UseCase
Version	String	Read/Write The version of the element
Visibility	String	Read/Write The Scope of this element within the current package Valid values are: Public, Private, Protected or Package

Element Methods

Method	Type	Notes	See Also
ApplyGroupLock (string aGroupName)	Boolean	Applies a group lock to the element object, for the specified group, on behalf of the current user Throws an exception if the operation fails; use GetLastError() to retrieve error information Parameter: aGroupName: String - the name of the user group for which to set the group lock
ApplyUserLock ()	Boolean	Applies a user lock to the element object for the current user Throws an exception if the operation fails; use GetLastError() to retrieve error information
CreateAssociationClass (long ConnectorID)	Boolean	Makes this element an AssociationClass of the Association with the provided Connector ID; the return value indicates whether the function succeeded in converting the element to an AssociationClass AssociationClasses are created only where: The current element is valid The current element is a Class The current element is not already an AssociationClass The specified connector exists The specified connector is an Association The specified connector is not already in an AssociationClass pair The current element is not at either end of the specified connector Parameter: ConnectorID: Long - the Connector ID of an Association connector
GetLastError ()	String	Returns a string value describing the most recent error that occurred in relation to this object This function is rarely used as an exception is thrown when an error occurs
GetLinkedDocument ()	String	Returns a string value containing the element's linked document contents, in RTF format If the element contains no linked document, an empty string is returned
GetRelationSet (EnumRelationSetType Type)	String	Returns a string containing a comma-separated list of ElementIDs of directly- and indirectly-related elements based on the given type Recurses using the same relation type on all elements it finds, retrieving all dependencies and sub-dependencies of the current element; for example, Object1 depends on Object2, which depends on Object3, therefore this method returns Object2 and Object3 To obtain only the direct relationships of the element, use the Connector collection instead	EnumRelationSetType Connector
GetStereotypeList ()	String	Returns a comma-separated list of stereotypes allied to this element
IsAssociationClass	Boolean	Returns whether or not the current element is an AssociationClass
LoadLinkedDocument (string Filename)	Boolean	Loads the RTF document from the specified file into the element's linked document Parameter: FileName: String - the name of the file from which to load the RTF document
Refresh ()	Void	Refreshes the element features in the Project Browser Usually called after adding or deleting attributes or methods, when the user interface is required to be updated as well
ReleaseUserLock ()	Boolean	Releases a user lock or group lock on the element object Throws an exception if the operation fails; use GetLastError() to retrieve error information
SaveLinkedDocument (string Filename)	Boolean	Saves the linked document for this element to the specified RTF file Parameter: FileName: String - the name of the RTF file to which to save the linked document
SetAppearance (long Scope, long Item, long Value)	Void	Sets the visual appearance of the element Parameter: Scope: Long - Scope of appearance set to modify 1 - Base (Default appearance across entire model) To set appearance for the element (diagram object) in a selected diagram only, see Setting The Style in the DiagramObject Class topic Item: Long - Appearance feature to modify 0 - Background color 1 - Font Color 2 - Border Color 3 - Border Width Value: Long - Value to set appearance to	DiagramObject Class
UnlinkFromAssociation	Boolean	Performs the opposite of CreateAssociationClass()	CreateAssociationClass()
Update ()	Boolean	Update the current element object after modification or appending a new item If false is returned, check the GetLastError function for more information

Please note : This help page is not for the latest version of Enterprise Architect. The latest help can be found here.

Element Class

Element Methods

See Also