Scripter disabled (no console)

[Ericga]

For some reason the Scripter pane is always disabled. I can see sample scripts but I can't execute them or create new ones. Same issue with the Console: if it try to start the console I get a "Could not open console. Reason: The operation completed successfully" and any command returns No console opened"

I have version 7.5 but it is the first time I try to use Scripter.

[Aaron B]

Which edition of EA 7.5 are you running?  I believe the scripting feature requires the Corporate edition or higher.  See:
http://www.sparxsystems.com/products/ea/editions.html

[Ericga]

Thanks for replying.

I have the professional edition. Nothing in the UI nor the documentation says anything about the feature not being available in this edition. If it was limited to a specific edition the documentation would surely say so and the Scripter pane option would be grayed out.

[RoyC]

http://www.sparxsystems.com/uml_tool_guide/uml_modeling_tool_features/the_scripter_window.html

Actually,the user documentation both on the website and integrated with the product does have a note at the top explaining which editions the Scripting window is available in. The table that Aaron refers to, and its equivalent in the user documentation, also indicates that the Scripting window is not available in the Professional edition.

Where things might go awry is with the Help buttons on the Scripts Tab, Console Tab and Script Editor, which take you to the Help topics specific to those areas. These, being subordinate topics to the Scripter Window help, do not have the edition note. I will see about adding the note to each subordinate topic, seeing as they might be the first point of contact for users.

[«Midnight»]

Eric,

FWIW I too agree with Roy. I have also seen something regarding the scripting window in at least one forum thread since EA 7.5 came to production; the thread explicitly mentioned that this feature was only available in the Corporate Edition and higher.

But all is not lost...

Check out the upgrade process for EA. Last I looked - I've seen nothing to indicate this has changed - the pricing was non-punitive. All you had to do was pay the difference in price between the editions. AFAIK this does not extend your year of free support. Check that out; if that's the case you probably want to consider upgrades when you are renewing or shortly after. Doing so just before renewal (in the final third or so of the support period) might not be cost effective (since you'd pay the entire differential just before renewing and paying again). I'll leave you to figure it out.

HTH, David

PS: You could always download a trial of 7.5 Corporate. This would give you a while to play with the scripting window (and other features) to see if an upgrade was worthwhile. Just remember that the trial and production versions of EA do not play nicely together. You'd have to uninstall (not just delete) your production version of EA [save your license key first!] and then install the trial. When the trial ends you need to explicitly uninstall the trial before reinstalling your production copy.

[Ericga]

Thanks to both of you. I can't upgrade because I need to renew around end of May. So I have to wait.

[«Midnight»]

Poor timing to say the least. And if you are thinking of the Corporate Edition (versus the new higher level ones) then the short-term discounts for current licensees won't help you either.

But at least it is only 6 weeks...

You could try the trial version; that would cover most of the intervening period. The trial version operates on the same project files as the production version, so you won't trash your work. There are a few visible differences; one of the most obvious being the 'trial version' watermark on all printed output. If you can tolerate that then perhaps the trial would work for you.

And renewals can often be done during the month they are due; if the same holds true for upgrades then you might be able to cover the entire 6 weeks.

I suggest you send an email to Sparx Sales (check the About Us link near the top right of any forum page) and ask what the timing of renewals and upgrades is. Mention that you are a current Professional Edition owner and need to upgrade to access this new feature. They should be able to give you a definitive answer about timing and such.

David

[Ericga]

> Poor timing to say the least.

Yes and we have multiple licenses to upgrade which makes it a royal pita since I have not budget this. The only reason we need scripting is because EA truncates the names on diagrams and the only workaround is to set the Alias field but doing it manually would take forever (thousands of classes and hundreds of diagrams).

This is really frustrating as we will have to revert to ERStudio and ERD diagrams for all persistent classes (object database)  . I also tried setting the Alias field in the XMI files we import to EA but EA does not recognize it and imports it only as a tag value  

[Aaron B]

You can still access the automation interface without using the script window by writing an external application or script.  There is a little bit more involved in connecting to the EA repository when working from an external source than when using the scripting engine within EA, but it is certainly possible.

For more reference materials on the automation interface, see the SDK section of the EA help file.
http://www.sparxsystems.com/uml_tool_guide/sdk_for_enterprise_architect/theautomationinterface.html

See the "Code Samples" directory under you EA installation directory for further examples in VB, C# and Java.

[Ericga]

Thanks, I will try that path!