Generate Structured Scenario from Activities?

[MStratton]

Is there anyway we'll be able to generate structured scenarios from activity diagrams prior to EA 8.0?  We have a few use case scenarios that are done via swimlines and tasks in activity diagrams.  Would be nice to leverage the new feature with existing diagrams.

[Geert Bellekens]

Hmm, I don't think so. The current GA release (7.5.850) is the last 7.x release and it doesn't have this functionality.

Geert

[MStratton]

I am suggesting in EA 8.0 with the new structured scenario features, being able to import previous activity diagrams.  At least as a brute force method of pulling in activities into the new scenarios feature in 8.0.  

[RoyC]

Not so much brute force, more like make sure you fix or cut the right wires...

You can take any Activity diagram that lives under a Use Case, and try to reverse engineer it into a scenario. It might work, if might refuse to do it.

If it doesn't work, try creating a simple scenario and generate an Activity diagram from it, then study the structure and composition of  that diagram. Edit your original diagram to conform to the characteristics of the generated diagram. Now try again to reverse engineer your edited diagram into its scenario.

Are your original diagrams represented by text descriptions on the old Scenarios tab? You can generate scenarios from pre-8.0 text descriptions.

[Graham_Moir]

Roy - the help does say the following

"The source Activity diagram must be generated from another Use Case Scenario"

which to me suggests you can't do what you're suggesting with older activity diagrams.

[Paolo F Cantoni]

My limited experimentation suggests that if the (non generated) Activity diagram exhibits certain characteristics the transformation can go in the reverse direction.

However, due to the particular nature of the "forward" transformation (UseCase->Activity) you are unlikely to find suitable diagrams.

Nevertheless, there's nothing to be lost by seeing what EA does with an arbitrary Activity diagram it thinks was created by a Structured Use Case Transformation.

Don't forget to work on copies until you're happy...

HTH,
Paolo

[beginner]

Use the "The spirit is willing but the flesh is weak" to Russian and back to English translation-method. If the result is "The whisky is good but the steak is lousy" you're probably on the wrong side.

b.

[RoyC]

Graham is correct - the Help is stating how the facility is supposed to work, in the 8.0 release.

But what I was saying, and what Paolo was testing, is that we are sneaking around the back door trying to persuade EA that this old Activity diagram was generated from a shiny new scenario, honest guv'na. If there are sufficient similarities between the old diagram and an authentic scenario-generated diagram, the bouncer might be deceived and allow the reverse engineering to take place. But if the disguise is too thin (and I suspect that swimlanes might indeed give the game away) then you'll either have to submit the Activity diagram to further tailoring or pay your dues at the front door and write the scenario from scratch.

I like beginner's allegory!

[beginner]

I just thought I'd have a whisky...

Unfortunately EA doesn't let me find any activity diagram. It shows only packages and never any contents. Am I doing something wrong or is it simply not working (using build 856)? Even the diagram which I forward engineered is not selectable (found by the "Search" but can't click the OK button).

b.

[beginner]

Seems it isn't even moonshine. It's more like swamp water. That feature does not work. Am I surprised?

b.

[PHoehne]

Is it possible meanwhile?
I want to create scenarios (for testing) from activity diagrams.

[Geert Bellekens]

It works, but I don't think it does what you think it does.
The only thing it will do is recreate exactly the same information as you have in your activity diagram in the scenarios, and only if you have followed the scenario-to-diagram conventions used by Enterprise Architect.

I'm guessing you are more after a feature that lists all possible paths from an activity diagram no?

I don't think something like that exists. One of these days I'll probably start writing a script to do something similar based on BPMN diagrams.

Geert