Messages

1

General Board / Re: Experiences of a newbie

« on: July 16, 2008, 12:46:13 am »

I'm using EA 8.01 to meet similar requirements, and am also relatively new to EA.  Here's what I've found:

If you want to build a very pretty, functional logical diagram of your SQL Server Database that is easy to keep current with database changes. EA is worlds better than MS Visio.

On the other hand, if you want to do true model driven development, where you build the model and generate the database, you need to spend a LOT more money (e.g. Oracle & Rational Rose or ERWin)

You get what you pay for, and EA is a good value for the money.  But it's not a $10,000 a seat model driven design tool -- so don't expect it to act like one  

2

General Board / Generated Image / Diagram Sizing

« on: July 08, 2008, 04:33:24 am »

Greetings
I'm new to EA but have used modeling tools before.

Using version 6.5 build 801 because that's whats "approved" by Corporate...

I'm having trouble controling the drawing size and page size.  Our usual practice here is to generate drawings for Arch E paper, generate a jpg file, run it over to the local print shop (FedX/Kinkos) and have it printed.  In other words, we don't have a plotter.

After a morning's futzing with it, I finally got it to show me an Arch E page layout by installing a plotter driver, setting it to the default printer (critical!), and setting Arch E sized paper (EA insists I have A3 paper every time I start it up) but I keep telling it "Hey stupid it's a plotter it has a roll of paper..." and I understand that Windows Printer Drivers are notoriously buggy and cantankerous...

If you choose diagram / save as image you don't get an image that size unless you place an object at the lower right of the page.

There's no relationship between page size and image size and drawing size.  Visio may be junk but it does do that well... But I digress...

If I do a Diagram / Layout Diagram IT RESETS THE SAVE AS IMAGE SIZE AND THE DIAGRAM SIZE.

So basically I can get:
  A diagram I can print.
  Unless I do layout diagram.
  In which case I get something that is useless.

For example, I reverse engineered our main database, selected all the tables, did auto layout... And I got a diagram that was 145 inches wide and 11 inches high -- on Arch E paper that's 38 inches by 44 inches.  How's that supposed to work?

It can't be this bad... can it?  Is there some other way to contol page size, image size?  Is there a "please don't change the size of the paper in my printer option?"

Would very much appreciate any advice...

Thanks in Advance

3

General Board / Re: More Wizardly Behaviour I want to turn off

« on: July 16, 2008, 04:58:54 am »

I have 6.5.801 -- The problem, Midnight, is that I resize them all (using grab handles in my case) and they keep reverting to the default size.  Can't figure out what's causing them to revert, and loose thier custom size...  So I get it all nice and pretty... and it turns itself back to ugly.  Now some might say I'm being "anal" or "picky" but I really like the ERD's EA is drawing, and I really like the way I can update the model from the database....

4

General Board / Re: More Wizardly Behaviour I want to turn off

« on: July 16, 2008, 04:45:01 am »

You must have a different version than I do -- no help hits on wrap, or feature visibility.  I'm stuck with build 801 due to our corporate overlords, this must be for a new version.

Thanks for trying to help anyway :-)

5

General Board / More Wizardly Behaviour I want to turn off

« on: July 16, 2008, 12:50:31 am »

I find when I re-open my data models the line labels have been reformatted and retruncated in a most ugly way.

It's as if EA has decided that line labels can only be so many pixels wide, and even though I painstakingly manually reformatted each and every one not to cut off, it's determined to force them all back to the same short length.  In my case I get labels that look like this:

TableX_ID
=ID

or TabY_ID=I
D

And it's not terribly professional.  Seems to me if I manually resize a label, it should stay this size forever and ever.

Is there a way to stop this? I'm using 8.01 (forced to)

6

General Board / Re: Really Confused about foriegn keys

« on: July 11, 2008, 11:04:48 pm »

HD / Roy -- Thank you Thank you.

I knew the answer was easy -- and now I know what that little arrow next to the tables means  

7

General Board / Really Confused about foriegn keys

« on: July 11, 2008, 05:40:54 am »

I'm trying to rescue the ERD drawings that I apparently destroyed by importing table defs from the database a second time and am going in circles trying to add the Foriegn Keys back to the model.

In the help it says:

Create a Foriegn Key:
  1. Locate the required tables in a diagram
  2. Select an association link in the Class Toolbar

Okay, on the View Menu under Tool bars I don't see a class toolbar.

I found a toolbar with a Link drop down menu but that doesn't seem to be it.

A Foriegn Key seems to be an operation.  So I right click the table, pick operations, click new, enter a name, set the Stereotype to FK.. and it says "Creating foriegn key operations here could cause inconsistencies.  Use the Foriegn Key Dialog to create foriegn key operations.  Right click on the Association Link and select Foreigh Keys  What the )(*$)_@$ is the "Association Link"?  On the regular toolbar there are several association types but none of them have menu choices for Foriegn Keys.

Which is probably good advice, because in the operations menu whereas I can define the FK, and the column in the source table, I cannot for the life of me figure out how to tell it what table the relationship goes to.

I'm sure this is ridiculously easy...

8

General Board / Re: Having trouble updating model from database

« on: July 11, 2008, 05:09:17 am »

Update EA is slowly eating my model.

If I re-import a table to get changes, I get two of them in Project Browser.

Some tables now when put on a diagram refuse to display any of thier Foriegn keys.

Diagrams I haven't touched are missing things.

Is this normal?

9

General Board / Having trouble updating model from database

« on: July 11, 2008, 04:32:10 am »

I'm running into challenges keeping the model in synch with the database.  Database is SQL Server 2005, EA 6.5...

Sometimes I have to re-import a table three or four times to get all the FK's to show up.  Or delete the table, and re-import it, requiring me to update numerous drawings.

What's the best practice here?  Keep re-importing over and over until it works?  

Thanks

10

General Board / Re: Mouse Move Threshold

« on: July 09, 2008, 02:56:50 am »

Good Info, thanks.  Would LOVE to have a new build, but am sitting in a branch office for a large corporation, and our benevolent corporate overlords have dictated that 6.5.801 is the build thou shalt use.  

Still a huge improvement over the Visio 2007 I was using for database diagramming.

11

General Board / Mouse Move Threshold

« on: July 09, 2008, 02:23:07 am »

Is there any way to set the number of twips the mouse moves before EA decides it's really moving?  

Reason I ask is that on a modern high resolution monitor and a fast developer class machine it is darn near impossible to click on an object on the drawing surface without inadvertantly moving it.

I know about lock drawing once the drawing is done... But I find myself spending a lot of time doing this:

1> Click
2> Curse
3> Shift arrow, arrow, arrow OK it's back where it was
4> Repeat

With some drawing tools you can lock objects one at a time, is that possible with 6.5?

Thanks in advance!!

12

General Board / Re: Whoa!! Stop second guessing me!!!

« on: July 08, 2008, 10:53:26 pm »

Sweet -- Thanks!!

13

General Board / Whoa!! Stop second guessing me!!!

« on: July 08, 2008, 06:51:52 am »

I confess. I hate/despise wizardly tools that second guess my intentions.   I curse at MS Office constantly for this...

So I'm whizzing along with EA now, and starting to like it a little... And I notice a mistake in my data model OMG a typo... So I go to the real DDL and change it, and update the database... drop the table from the class diagram... re-import it...

EA, DID I TELL YOU TO AUTOLAYOUT MY DIAGRAM?

NOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Thank goodness for Edit/Undo.  I knew I was in trouble when THE VIEWPORT JUMPED, THE ZOOM RESET, AND SUDDENLY EVERYTHING LOOKED ALL WRONG.

What are you developers thinking?  Do you like it when the compiler changes your code on you?  I think not

Now how do I turn "Auto Layout" or whatever it's called OFF??  And while your at it how do I turn off ALL AUTOMATIC WIZARDLY behavior?

Looked in Tools/Options can't find it.

Thanks!!!!

14

General Board / Re: Generate DDL script option

« on: July 08, 2008, 05:47:19 am »

I'm using the corporate edition and the DDL it writes is very, very generic -- as a DBA I'm horrified but I'm sure the architect types think it's grand  

I'd be curious what other DBA's are doing -- there doesn't seem to be a way to set file groups, partions, index fill, or any other tuning option for that matter.  There's a lot more to a database than CREATE TABLE, FK CONSTRAINTS and CK Constraints you know...