Linking SA screen to elemnt of EA activity diagram

[Lollipop]

Hi all,
I would like to link elements of an activity diagram created in EA to screen prototypes created in SA and vice versa. Is such a dialog possible between these two applications?
I am new to both applications and couldn’t locate references to my problem in either help file. Tank you in advance for any help.

[«Midnight»]

Please note that I am guessing here. Watch this thread for later posts by experts in SA.

Please also prefix all the following with AFAIK... or I assume...

As long as your diagrams are in the same (EA) project file you should be able to create a link between elements on the two diagrams. You should also be able to create hyperlinks between the diagrams themselves. These assumptions are based on the fact that all the diagrams and elements are EA entities, so should cooperate in 'normal' EA links and hyperlinks.

Depending on what you want your model to 'say' to your audience you might try a dependency or «trace». I am not too sure whether using a dependency could modify the semantics of your model from the SA side. It might do so from the EA side; that depends on how you have built your model. A «trace» is less likely to do so, as this is just the sort of thing these links are used for. Both these link types can be tricky to display in the Matrix or other views. You can check the EA documentation and search the forum if you run into trouble. But first update EA to the most recent build as Sparx has been making improvements in this area.

Perhaps this will get you started, or at least encourage some experimentation while you wait for an authoritative answer.

HTH, David

[Lollipop]

Thank you David,
You have pointed me in the right direction. My screens and activity diagrams were not in the same project. I will explore your other pointers as well. I am trying to use EA and SA in requirements definition stage of my project – on a steep learning curve.
Karla.

[«Midnight»]

No problem Karla,

Please post back to let the rest of us know how things eventually sort out.

Yes, the learning curve is steep. EA is a big product, and some of the power of SA depends on knowing EA well. But the good news is that the both products work well, so the effort pays off.

David

[Bryce Day]

Karla,
I hope your project is going well. David is correct SA stores all screen elements in the EA database so you can work with them in EA as you   would with any other EA element e.g. trace or dependency relationships. Adding relationships between the elements in EA won't affect SA either.

SA creates a class element in EA for every GUI element you create in SA. This allows you to associate requirements to any of these elements (either in SA via the element dialog or directly in EA).
You can also create site maps in EA by placing screen class elements onto a diagram and placing information flows between them.

With the release of EA 7.5 and the ability to link directly to an attribute in a class you can now create relationships between GUI elements and their associated database field allowing traceability between the two - impact analysis of GUI changes or databases changes becomes much easier.

Anything else let me know or you can contact us directly at [email protected]
Regards
Bryce

[Lollipop]

Thank you Bryce.
My problem was not enough thinking or rather not enough time to think.
I have managed to resolve my immediate needs with what is out of the box solution in EA/SA, i.e. hyperlink icons in Tool Box/Common tools. I have been temporarily “volunteered” to help on another project using ReqPro and Rational Modeler. Not as intuitive as EA. Looking forward to returning to EA/SA and further explore.
I wander, is there something like a meta model showing how things hang together in EA/SA, on a conceptual level?
Best regards,
Karla.

[«Midnight»]

No Karla, there is no such metamodel. And yes, I agree that is a perplexing omission.

[Spotter's hint: Sparxians, note the ever so subtle hint...]

Depending on what you want to know about EA's internal workings you can discover a bit by poking around. For example you can use some of the functions of EA on itself. You could import and examine the EA schema from an EAP file or DBMS repository. You will quickly notice the lack of relationships, but you could sort this out manually. [Hint: the schema is designed for lowest common denominator; work through all the DBMS engine configurations...]

You can also use the Import Binary Module to examine the public interface to EA. Since EA only imports some forms of executable files you will need to import the wrapper for .Net. [That is the Interop file referred to in the SDK section of the EA documentation; you will find it in the EA installation folder.]

The picture you will get is far from complete. Many functions of EA are not discernible with the information available from this approach. A lot of functionality is also determined by 'magic' values and text strings stored in the various text and memo fields of the schema. But at least you'll have a high level picture of the possibilities.

Once you know where to look (or at least the limits of thereof) you can always search the forum for gems of information. If so, use the Search button at the upper left of forum pages to invoke the Search dialog. This works much better than the 'quick search' box at the right side of the page.

HTH, David

PS: And if (when) you find something in the documentation that is missing or just plain wrong, let Sparx know. EA is a big product and some nits have gotten through over time. Roy & co are very good about stamping out these errors, but they have to know where they are first...

[Lollipop]

Thank you David.
You are a treasure! And I thought I was smart.
Karla.