Manage sub-projects

[Simone15]

Hello,
I'm new of Enterprise Architect so bear with me and my english.
Is it possible to manage sub-projects or every project are completly indipendent?
For example, defined a base project, can I create new projects that share some common elements, like requirements?
I saw the import/export function for the package, is it the only way?

[Oliver F.]

Hi Simone.

Hello,
I'm new of Enterprise Architect so bear with me and my english.
Is it possible to manage sub-projects or every project are completly indipendent?
For example, defined a base project, can I create new projects that share some common elements, like requirements?
I saw the import/export function for the package, is it the only way?

First, EA is not a project management tool- It is a tool to administrate and document a model.
This difference is important for the view and your problem.

That said it depends if you have several projects based on the same model (functional, logical, etc.) or if you have several projects for different end products which only share some components, etc.

If you find that the first view is correct then you gave yourself the right answer- one model for all.

In the second case things are more difficult.
An interesting approach could be to have templates which contain a project structure and basic components, patterns, etc.
Then apply this structure pattern for the new project and you are set.
However this has a drawback: You will have to keep the templates current as components, patterns etc. evolve.

Other idea: Keep a global repository (DBMS) for your model and create branches for your customer project. However I am not a friend of the branch way of doing things.

As always in life there are more ways to accomplish things but I hope you got an idea.

Oliver

[Vinx]

Other idea: Keep a global repository (DBMS) for your model and create branches for your customer project. However I am not a friend of the branch way of doing things.

Can this branch thing be done by EA features or are you talking about an external versioning tool?

[Simone15]

Thank Oliver, your answer is very clear.

So is impossible to define a global repository and branch projects directly in EA?

[Oliver F.]

Thank Oliver, your answer is very clear.

So is impossible to define a global repository and branch projects directly in EA?

In terms of branches related to version control- not in the sense you propably think of. I must admit I have been taking over the Sparx glosary here which is misleading.
By talking about a "branch" I refer to a model branch.
You can have several models in the same project repository by just adding a new model root node.
So you could have several model roots (one for each customer) and add a global one for commonly used elements, patterns, etc.

The only disadvantage here: If you are creating reports you can not reference objects from another model.
Eg. for HTML reports of a customer model you will not have detail links created for components which you have borrowed from the general model on top.

Vinx: You can do some sort of branching by considering baseline handling, not from version control.
However it looks rather cumbersome and I  have yet to figure out a process which fits our needs best.

Regards,

Oliver