Import from ERwin

[PeteM]

Please could someone let me know the easiest way to import Data Models from ERwin to EA?

Cheers, Pete

[thomaskilian]

You will find the answer here by using SEARCH

[PeteM]

Thanks Thomas, that was the first thing I tried but the answer was not clear.

Cheers, Pete

[thomaskilian]

And that's probably the answer then. If you can't get it going via XMI then you have bad luck (I guess). I not an ERWIN user so there might be hope, though.

[speekna]

Erwin release 7 (be sure to get sp2) incorporates the Metaintegration software that transports models between a ton of different CASE tools.  It has an explicit way to select for Sparx enterprise architect.

Caveat:  When we first started looking for this capability, we were actually going to acquire the Metaintegration software - it's good stuff.  We were experimenting, and after working with the folks at MI, we got a full physical database design from ERwin to EA that included all definitions.  

What we really were after at the time was getting the logical model transferred to EA as a domain class diagram - i.e., a business model, not a technical model.  Much to our suprise, when 7.1 came out - it did exactly that; in the process, of course it strips all the foreign keys (OO does not support foreign keys - it's a relational concept).  

Unfortunately, it no longer transfers the PHYSICAL database model to EA.  You cannot go from an ERwin database design to an EA database design.  

So far, we have not had much luck in getting EA to generate DDL without errors - and many of them - for any DBMS.  We also find EA difficult to work with productively for physical database design IF you want to do anything different than what EA generats for you - e.g., changing primary keys to include more than a single surrogate key column is a real pain - especially if those keys cascade to more than one table.  

Another issue for us is lack of an ability to do a complete compare at a granular level where you can select what to import & what not to import - EA just overlays everything.

But if you want to move  your logical modeling effort to a UML environment, the ERwin 7.1 transport mechanism works well.

[Whitestar]

Hi speekna,

I am an existing ERwin user & have data models in ERwin that I need to import into EA.  I have version 7.2 of ERwin but cannot find specific reference to Sparx or EA.  Could you tell me where you found the EA transport mechanism please?

Cheers

Paul