Siimple custom toolbox design

[Minnow]

Please enable the user to easily clone existing elements and save properties for them without programming.  This will greatly simplify modeling using custom element sets.  

For example, say the user wants to create a toolbox with elements that match Cisco or AWS icon sets.  The user should be able to drag Node, Device or other elements to a new toolbox, change each element type to Router, Virtual Machine, or whatever, set a custom alternative image, and then be able to use that icon set.  (I *think* this akin to creating a new profile?)  In other tools this is trivially easy.  It would allow EA to be used more broadly than just semantic modeling diagrams.  

[Geert Bellekens]

You don't need to program anything if you use a UML profile.

OK, I agree it looks scary at first, but it's really not that difficult once you start with it.

But there is definitely still room for improvement

Geert

[Uffe]

Hi Minnow,


EA's take on modelling-related adaptations (ie stereotypes and diagram toolboxes) is that you should model those as well. Kinda neat in its way.

As long as you don't need the elements to be displayed any differently in the diagrams, you won't have to write any code, just develop the model that describes your adaptation, push it through the wizard and you're done.

If you do need your elements to look different in diagrams, you have to write some code in EA's ShapeScript language. Not too bad, really. If you only need your element symbols to be different in the diagram toolbox, again, no coding needed.

The other thing with EA is that it's a modelling tool, not a drawing tool. This is reflected in the adaptation design philosophy: you can't just create a different skin for an element, you must actually make decisions on the metamodel level.

So I don't think your suggestion will get much traction. However, creating a UML profile and a custom toolbox is a pretty straightforward process and there's plenty of info in the help file.

Failing that, there are always consultants around who will gladly build your adaptation for you, such as Geert or myself.  


/Uffe