How to autom.open at start the last opened diagrm?

[pstein]

When I opened EA then the initial pane is always empty.
Can I tell EA somehow that always the diagrams should be opened automatically which were opened the last time I closed EA?

[«Midnight»]

There are two possible configurations you can set up. You can designate a single diagram as the default for a model. Whenever the model is opened, that diagram is opened and displayed.

To do this open the diagram and from the main menu choose Diagram | Set as Model Default (I could be a bit off on the wording; I don't have EA open right now). [Note that if you have user security turned on there is an equivalent option that sets a default for each user. These override the model default.]

If you are using a DBMS repository - this is not possible with an EAP file - you can set up several defaults. See Copy | Model in the EA help index.

HTH, David

[zneiley]

If someone happens to Make Model Default on a diagram, how do you "Undo" it if you don't want it to open to any default diagram?

Someone set a diagram for the model and we want to have it go back to defaulting to the start page when people log in.  Is there a way to reset it back to not having a default?

Thanks!

[Krzysztof Swiatkowski]

David, you don't need DBMS to use Save As for this reason.
When you use "Save as" you can create shortcut to EAP file that will perform default like behaviour. The shortcut is EAP as well but it works as a redirector with ability to open Discussion Forum, Search, Diagram or Matrix Profile

HTH, Kris

[zneiley]

Thank you very much!  That solved it!  It may not be the ideal way to do it, but as long as it works, I'm happy.  

[pstein]

If someone happens to Make Model Default on a diagram, how do you "Undo" it if you don't want it to open to any default diagram?

Someone set a diagram for the model and we want to have it go back to defaulting to the start page when people log in.  Is there a way to reset it back to not having a default?

Interesting question! Is there really no answer?

Replies #3 and #4 are somehow confusing. They seem to be from another thread.

[«Midnight»]

David, you don't need DBMS to use Save As for this reason.
When you use "Save as" you can create shortcut to EAP file that will perform default like behaviour. The shortcut is EAP as well but it works as a redirector with ability to open Discussion Forum, Search, Diagram or Matrix Profile

HTH, Kris

Yes, true. But your model must be in a repository. Sorry I was not clear about this earlier.

[«Midnight»]

If someone happens to Make Model Default on a diagram, how do you "Undo" it if you don't want it to open to any default diagram?

Someone set a diagram for the model and we want to have it go back to defaulting to the start page when people log in.  Is there a way to reset it back to not having a default?

Interesting question! Is there really no answer?

Replies #3 and #4 are somehow confusing. They seem to be from another thread.

It is an interesting question.

I keep thinking there is a 'clean' way to do this, but can never remember what it is (or would be).

You can do this in a roundabout way, using either of these two methods (there might be others of course):

• Create a dummy diagram - it can be empty - and set it to model default, then delete the new default diagram and save the model; you should now be back to the start page when you restart EA. [NB: You might have to save and reopen EA before the delete step, I don't remember.]
• Use Save As to make a copy of the model; EA will ask you to confirm whether to carry over the default diagram setting - I believe the default is not to do so - for the new copy; rearrange the original and copy files so your team will find the new file where they expect it.

[Hopefully there really is a 'proper' way to do this, and someone will chime in to tell us.]

HTH, David

[RoyC]

Hmmmm. There are a few things here that I will have to update in the Help.

Firstly, if you are working on a diagram and want to open EA at that diagram next time around, use the Save As option before you close the diagram. EA adds the diagram to the bottom of the list in the shortcut, which means it is the first thing opened next time.

This is part of a wider concept, which is that when you open the Save As dialog and select the shortcut file, EA OVERWRITES the file with the diagrams, searches etc that are currently open. That is, it makes the current status of EA into the shortcut.

Therefore, if you have been using a shortcut and now want to open EA at the start page, either open the Save As dialog on the Start Page with no other view open, or just use your original EA.exe file or desktop icon. Remember that the shortcut is a separate file from the EA.exe - you can create as many different shortcuts as you like, and still have the bulk standard EA startup.

I will get these explanations into the Help tout de suite and PDQ. Sorry they were not there at the beginning.  

[RoyC]

Oh yes - as pstein observed, we forked into two topics in this thread. I have updated the Help for the Save As topic, but I forgot about the Model Default Diagram topic.

Sigh... there are two scenarios here (but, I hasten to add, they are the same topic!): firstly, there is a model default diagram set that nobody wants, and secondly, there is a model default diagram that some people want but others don't. The second situation would only arise in the Corporate edition, but the solution requires security to be enabled.

Midnight David's solution for either situation is the correct one. If you don't want the model default diagram to open, create a dummy, set it as the default, and delete it. Or delete the original model default diagram, if it is no longer relevant.

However, in the second instance, define either your own diagram or a dummy as the USER default and, if it is a dummy, delete the dummy user default. User default caps Model default, so you personally don't get the model default.

I will put this information in the Help, ready for the next release.

[pstein]

If you don't want the model default diagram to open, create a dummy, set it as the default, and delete it. Or delete the original model default diagram, if it is no longer relevant.

However, in the second instance, define either your own diagram or a dummy as the USER default and, if it is a dummy, delete the dummy user default. User default caps Model default, so you personally don't get the model default.

This is all rather not intuitive and far away from being user friendly.

Why not just put a check left of the menu entry "default model"?
When I no lonager want this diagram to be a default model then I remove this check again.

THAT would be the most natural, widely used (in other software) solution for such a scenario!!

[«Midnight»]

And it would fit naturally with a menu indicator that showed whether this was the default diagram when you invoked the diagram menu.

But such is not the case. EAUI...