Guid references to deleted model elements etc

[trickster60]

Hi,

I have been developing an addin and in some of my bespoke stereotypes I have a need to create taggedvalues in which I store the guid reference of some element in an EA Model. If I delete the referenced element from the EA model will EA automatically trawl through the EA model looking for and deleting any guid referring to the deleted element, or will I have to write code to do that?

Regards, Nick.

[KP]

Are you using "RefGUID" custom tagged value types? It appears that if you use one of those then the value is cleared if you delete the element that it references. (I just tried it)

[edit]This is how EA has worked since at least build 801. However, it probably shouldn't work that way. If you are referencing an element in a controlled package and you delete the element, the deleted element can be restored. When that happens, you would want all the referencing tagged values to still be referencing the element. We should probably fix this.[/edit]

[trickster60]

Are you using "RefGUID" custom tagged value types? It appears that if you use one of those then the value is cleared if you delete the element that it references. (I just tried it)

[edit]This is how EA has worked since at least build 801. However, it probably shouldn't work that way. If you are referencing an element in a controlled package and you delete the element, the deleted element can be restored. When that happens, you would want all the referencing tagged values to still be referencing the element. We should probably fix this.[/edit]

I haven't used the refGUID predefined tagged value type. I was simply creating (in code) a tagged value (via AddNew() ) and setting the Value to the guid of the element I wanted to reference.

How would I add to TaggedValues a new TaggedValue of type refGUID (via code)?

I didn't know you could restore an element that had been deleted from the model.

Thanks

[KP]

How would I add to TaggedValues a new TaggedValue of type refGUID (via code)?

The easiest way would be to define a stereotype that applies the tagged value (this will have to be done in a profile). Then via code you just create a stereotyped element and it will be created with the tagged value.

I didn't know you could restore an element that had been deleted from the model.

Export a package to XMI, delete the package, re-import the XMI

[trickster60]

How would I add to TaggedValues a new TaggedValue of type refGUID (via code)?

The easiest way would be to define a stereotype that applies the tagged value (this will have to be done in a profile). Then via code you just create a stereotyped element and it will be created with the tagged value.

I didn't know you could restore an element that had been deleted from the model.

Export a package to XMI, delete the package, re-import the XMI

Well I have runs some experiments and discovered that when I set the value of a regular string type TaggedValue to the GUID of an element and then I delete the element lo and behold the value of the taggedvalue automatically becomes "".

I conclude then that when an element is deleted from the model EA does simple trawl through the model looking for any TaggedValue with the element's GUID and wipes them. Brilliant! Nice (undocumented) feature  

[bsd103]

Is there a way to define a tagged value with a tagged value type without defining the TV in a stereotype via UML profile?  I have elements already using a UML profile with defined tagged values, but there are special cases where I want one or two to have a tagged value specific to that element.

How would I add to TaggedValues a new TaggedValue of type refGUID (via code)?

The easiest way would be to define a stereotype that applies the tagged value (this will have to be done in a profile). Then via code you just create a stereotyped element and it will be created with the tagged value.

I didn't know you could restore an element that had been deleted from the model.

Export a package to XMI, delete the package, re-import the XMI

[KP]

Is there a way to define a tagged value with a tagged value type without defining the TV in a stereotype via UML profile?  

Sure. Go Settings > UML Types > Tagged Value Types to define your tagged value types, then select an element and Ctrl+Shift+T and choose your tagged value type from the list.

[bsd103]

Sorry, I should have been more specific.  I am trying to do this in C# as part of an add-in.

[Geert Bellekens]

Once you define the tagged value type you can just use its name when adding a new tagged value.

Geert