Find actions that call a particular operation

[Rick Sjogren]

Hi all,

I'm creating a series of models that describe a set of model transformations. Essentially, I use Activity Models to sequence the transformations where each transformation is described as an operation.

These operations (copy, copywithDefault, etc) are collected under a single class (AttributeTransform). They are called through a Call Operation Action element.

What I want to know is how I can find out which Call Operation Action elements call a particular operation. Any help would be appreciated.

Regards,
Rick

[Eve]

My first (and only) suggestion would be to try EA 9.

[Geert Bellekens]

Rick, Simon,

EA 9 allows you to find the diagrams that use an operation.
So if the callOperation action is used on a diagram you can find it.
Other options are:
- Write an add-in (see EA Navigator as an example, should be quite easy to include an option to find the Actions using the operation)
- Create an SQL search to return the actions.

Geert
Geert

[Eve]

Well, yes. I know that it's available in EA 9. That's why I suggested that.

I don't recommend anyone go through the effort of of developing a feature that already exists in EA. But then I'm biased to wanting people to keep their maintenance going.

[Rick Sjogren]

Hi Simon,

In our case, the organisation I'm currently working for tends to be a technology laggard. Accordingly, I need a solution right now for EA 8.

Note that the organisation (and I) have existing maintenance agreements so I expect that they will upgrade in "the fullness of time".

Geert, thanks for your response. I'll check out both EA Navigator and the SQL search option. I'll post my solution when I come up with it (assuming someone doesn't come up with an explicit solution in the meantime).

Regards,
Rick

[Geert Bellekens]

Simon,

There's a difference between being able to navigate to the diagrams that show an action calling the operation, and being able to navigate to the actions directly.
If an action isn't used on a diagram you won't be able to find it using the cltr-u in EA. (and on the other hand if an action is used on several diagrams it will show all of them)
So yes, the new feature in EA v9 is great, but it might not fulfill Ricks requirement entirely.

Geert

[Geert Bellekens]

Rick,

Give me a week. I'll try to put this feature in the EA Navigator. It kinda depends on how much time I'm allowed by our youngest family member (2 months old) as the Navigator is my spare-time hobby project, and babies tend to have a severe impact on my spare time

Geert

[Rick Sjogren]

Hi Geert,

If you do get time, can you ensure that the solution works with a non-Jet repository? In our case, we use MySQL.

Regards,
Rick

[Geert Bellekens]

Rick,

If I use sql in my addins (sometimes you have no choice) I always try follow the ansi standards as much as possible (damn you MS Access ) so it should also work on MySQL.
If you find an issue with that please report it to me so I can fix it.

Geert

[Geert Bellekens]

Rick,

I added the "navigate to calling actions" feature to the code repository this morning, so if you download the whole lot from github you can build and test it yourself.
In the next few days I'll try to update the msi installer and documentation.

Geert

[Geert Bellekens]

Installer for EA Navigator 1.2 (including the new feature to navigate to calling actions) has been uploaded to github
More info on my blog New: Navigate to calling actions with EA Navigator 1.2

Geert