Training or Reference material for Spraxs EA

[Steve B]

Hi,   I am new to Sparxs EA.   I have just installed the lastest version (7.1) and purchased the TOGAF add in.   The framework we are using is FEAF and I am happy to use TOGAF as the methodology.   I have already created a number of Architectural reference material (Principles, Org chart, and Technical Reference Model) in other formats (MS Visio, Word, Excel).

My question is, Is there any Books or white papers around that discuss importing existing material into your EA project?

Steve.

[mrf]

Hi Steve,

The Sparx Systems website contains a collection of White Papers on Enterprise Architect and related technologies. The white papers section can be found here http://www.sparxsystems.com/resources/whitepapers/index.html

[Steve B]

Thanks,   I have looked through that area, but no joy!   I have the help .PDF files from the TOGAF add in, EA Help file, and Open group Web site info.   All discuss the product to some depth, but I can't seem to find anything that explains how to import info into the EA tool, rather they discuss how to make it from scratch.   As I already have (for example) a detailed word document on Architectual principles, I am trying to import the imormation into the EA respositry.   Rather than starting again.

Any furhter suggestions?

Steve.

[Torsten Binias]

So you have created a "technical reference model" with MS Visio (or MS Word or MS Excel respectively) and now you want to import that Visio file into EA???  :-?

[Steve B]

Hi Torsten, Yes I have created a TRM in Excel 2003.   Each level is linked, ie Level is a subset to Level.   And so on.   If I had it in Visio (and yes I have thought about converting to Visio first prior to importing in EA), then I would use the Visio importer.   I have Visio Importer, but have not used it yet!

Steve.

[Torsten Binias]

Hi Steve,

okay, I understand.
Unfortunately I haven't used the visio importer either, so I cannot offer any advice on this.

You can attach files to your model elements (see tab "Files"), but I cannot think of any way to import the information contained in your excel and word files.

Best regards,
Torsten

[Aaron B]

Might be a bit of effort, but you could try to script the import process yourself by using EA's automation interface.  If your Word/Excel documents are in a format that you can easily read out programmatically, you could translate this information into your EA object model.

Depends what you need to do.

For more information on using automation, see:
http://www.sparxsystems.com/EAUserGuide/theautomationinterface.htm

[Dermot]

Apart from the Visio import, EA does support importing standard Word and Excel files in their different formats.  
Word files can be saved as .rtf files and imported into any Elements -Linked Documents or into a UML "Document Artifact" Element.
Excel spreadsheets can be imported as a table in the RTF format.
Excel spreadsheets if they contain what is to be imported as Elements (i.e. requirement elements) can be imported using the CSV import process.  This will only import Element data not any relationship (connector) data.  However It does support package/Element & Element/Element - child/parent relations.  See help CSV import for more details.

[Dave_Bullet]

As dermot says...

What I would do (if your TRM is hierarchical) - is:
1. create a dummy hierarchy in EA
2. Export this as a CSV file - so you can see how EA flags parent-child relationships in the CSV file
3. Create your TRM as a CSV and import / export
4. Update the CSV with the parent-child references (GUIDs)
5. Reimport

OR alternatively, if you are  DB guru - import via SQL into EA directly into the database.  The only tables you need to worry about are t_object and t_package.  This is what I did for our TRM and all the descriptions.

You also may want to add tagged values to your TRM elements to capture other information (such as rationale, statement of intent etc...).  Lookup UML profiles in the help to see how this is done.

Cheers,
Davd.

[Steve B]

Hey Dave,

You are the master, your idea seems so simple after reading it....   I haven't set up the central SQL DB yet, but will try your concept when I do.   Have you used this method for the other areas of the FEAF model (Business, Service, Data, etc)?   I am also hoping to put in our Architectural principles and other reference marterial.

Cheers
Steve
 

[andersd7]

I too have been using the CSV and Excel/VBA to add/update EA elements and connectors.  I am in the process of evaluating the TOGAF extension and will most likely go through a similar exercise as you to move towards FEAF.
I am happy to share experiences and/or code samples offline..
thanks,
David.