Are Relationships Model Entities

[TylerReed]

I'm new to EA and I can't figure out what's up with relationships between elements. There doesn't seem to be a way to create them in the Project Browser and they are not included in CSV exports. Are relationships really 2nd class citizens in EA, purely for display? Or am I missing something?

[qwerty]

You can create relationsships in the Relationship Matrix. If you use V<=12 it's Tools/Relationship Matrix. If V=>13 enter Relationship in the Start/Search menu.

You can also use Add/Create Link from the browser's context menu for an element.

To view Relationships you can use the Relationships window (V<=12: Element/Relationships; else Start/Search).

q,

[Glassboy]

Are relationships really 2nd class citizens in EA, purely for display? Or am I missing something?

Sort of.  Having used other tools where they are first class citizens I'm in two minds about whether this is a bad thing.

[KP]

purely for display?

Absolutely not!

[Nizam]

I'm new to EA and I can't figure out what's up with relationships between elements. There doesn't seem to be a way to create them in the Project Browser and they are not included in CSV exports. Are relationships really 2nd class citizens in EA, purely for display? Or am I missing something?

If you are used to some other tools, yes Relationships may appear to be second class citizens in EA, however EA handles it differently, but in a fairly logical way. Some pointers in the previous posts should help, however some of the below pointers could also help
1. Relationships are associated to Elements, and can be viewed only i the context of Elements
2. You can View them using Relationships Window, Element Browser, Traceability Window (to name a few)
3. Relationships between two elements are visible (by default) in any diagram where the two elements are used ( you can show / hide visibility of the connector)
4. You can include Relationships in Word export and excel Export, and EA offers a number of controls on how to publish the necessary contents.