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

ArchiMate

ArchiMate is an open-standard enterprise architecture language from The Open Group, based on the IEEE 1471 standard. It offers a common language for describing the construction and operation of business processes, organizational structures, information flows, IT systems and technical infrastructure, enabling Enterprise Architects to describe, analyse and visualize the relationships among business domains in an unambiguous way.

Access:   From the Toolbox select: More Tools | ArchiMate

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ArchiMate in Enterprise Architect

Enterprise Architect enables you to develop ArchiMate diagrams quickly and simply, through use of an ArchiMate MDG Technology integrated with the Enterprise Architect installer. The ArchiMate facilities are provided in the form of:

  • An ArchiMate diagram type, accessed through the New Diagram dialog
  • A set of ArchiMate pages in the Toolbox
  • ArchiMate element and relationship entries in the Toolbox Shortcut Menu and Quick Linker

New Diagram

Toolbox Shortcut

Quick Linker

Archimate Pages

ArchiMate Toolbox Pages

The toolbox pages provide three categories of elements - Information, Behavior and Structure - and a page of connectors that are largely based on the UML connectors.

The appearance of elements can be modified with the use of Tagged Values, as suggested below:

  • For Artifact, Process, Function, Interaction, Service, Event, Actor, Role, Collaboration, Interface, Component, Node and Device elements:
  • iconstyle=true shows the iconic representation of the element
  • iconstyle=false shows a rectangle with a decoration in the top corner
  • An Interface element (if iconstyle=true) can be provided, required, symmetric or assembly, and can be rotated, by setting the Tagged Values
  • A Function element (if iconstyle=true) can be rotated
  • An Actor element (if iconstyle=false) can be compound
  • Process and Function elements can be marked atomic

Because there is a large range of ArchiMate elements, you should make good use of the Quick Linker arrow to guide you in selecting appropriate source and target elements and relationship types to model your enterprise architecture.

 

 

Disable ArchiMate

If you prefer not to use ArchiMate in Enterprise Architect, you can disable it (and subsequently re-enable it) using the MDG Technologies dialog (Settings | MDG Technologies).

MDG Technologies