EA with multiple users - some questions

[jump-jet]

EA Corporate Edition - Version 7.1

Hello,

I have a question regarding the use of EA where a project is being shared between multiple users and individual packages are version controlled using SourceSafe (although I don't think anything to be discussed here is specific to the fact that SourceSafe is being used).

Here's the scenario:
1. A single .EAP file containing the project is available to users A and B via a network share.
2. The packages within the project are version controlled.
3. When the Version Control Settings were configured, the "This model is private" checkbox was left cleared.
4. Both users have the .EAP file open.
5. User A checks-out a controlled package, and makes some changes.
 
Q - How does user B get to see the changes?  The documentation under the help topic "Specify Private or Shared Models" states "If user1 checks-out and modifies a package within Enterprise Architect, user2, who also has this shared model open in Enterprise Architect, can see the changes to the model immediately."  I'm not seeing this behaviour.  User B is not seeing the changes made.  To see the changes, user B is having to close and re-open the project.  Is this correct?  Should user B see the changes immediately without having to do anything?  Is EA supposed to monitor/poll the .EAP file in order to see changes made by other users?

Any help with this would be appreciated.

Regards
David Razzetti

[«Midnight»]

A lot of these questions are answered in the white papers - scan the list for those that are closest to your subject - at: http://www.sparxsystems.com.au/resources/whitepapers/index.html

Once you've been through the information there, you'll either know what you need, or which questions to ask.

HTH, David

[Frank Horn]

Should user B see the changes immediately without having to do anything?

That's what some of us are dreaming of. But EA doesn't poll for changes in a shared database, it only updates diagrams and things when you open another diagram and switch back to the old one, or whatever the trigger for actualization is. But you need not reload the whole project. The diagram tab at the bottom has a "reload" context menu.

That's better than restarting EA, but of course it's worse than not having to do anything at all.

[jump-jet]

Thank you for the replies so far...

I've already read both of the white-papers on version control by Dermot O'Brien:

• Setting Up Version Control
• Deployment Of Enterprise Architect

Neither of these white papers gave any detail of how a user sharing an EA model file with other users gets to see changes made by the other users.

Are there any others I should have read?

Frank - Thank you for the information regarding the diagram reload option on the diagram's tab.  This indeed causes the individual diagram to reload, but doesn't deal with the contents of the package as viewed in the project browser.  After some further searching I've now discovered the Contents | Reload Current Package context menu item on the package.  This reloads the package within the project browser but does not reload any open diagrams within the package.  Finally one of my colleagues has just found File | Reload Current Project which does the whole job as a single atomic operation. 8-)

So I guess this has answered the original question.  User B doesn't see the changes "immediately" as implied by the help topic, they become visible to B only after B explicitly requests them using one of the Reload features above or they are supplied implicitly when B closes and re-opens the project.

Regards
David Razzetti

[«Midnight»]

...
So I guess this has answered the original question.  User B doesn't see the changes "immediately" as implied by the help topic, they become visible to B only after B explicitly requests them using one of the Reload features above or they are supplied implicitly when B closes and re-opens the project.

As I understand things that's the situation. This has been so for quite a while, and seems to be "by design." I doubt you'll see any change soon.

[Of course that's my opinion only. Things could change, but I've seen no public discussion to suggest that.]

David

[RoyC]

The Help that you quote is indeed incorrect, and you have arrived at the proper conclusion, that you have to reload the package in one of various ways in order to see the changes.

That Help looks as if it came off the web page; it doesn't get updated for every build and is out of date. I hope that the product help you display within EA (loaded with the installer) is correct. I can't check, because in preparation for release 831 I have removed that topic and put different text in the Version Control Settings dialog description. The interim correct Help text seems to have had a short life!

Anyway, I have also added a topic on refreshing the view of the model to see recent changes. HTH