Just to be clear, Aljaz, are you asking for the ability to hyperlink to objects/diagrams from within the Element Notes?
That is exactly what I meant. To me, the biggest problem of documentation is the ability to reference. In my ideal solution I'd be able to link anything from anywhere - like OneNote or already mentioned Mindmanager or even better - like object programming using intellisense.
This is a good idea, but you do need to think about what is at the other end of the link? Because the functionality would be even more useful outside RTF than inside.
I agree. It could be a universal behaviour. Although it's not a code I tend to see every analytical item as an object that I can refer to.
For example let's say I write steps in a scenario and would describe it like:
1. Open input window
2. Input dates from and to (use BR1) -> this is link to business rule 1, which is the object Requirement/Type Business Rule/alias BR1 that declares the rules on what dates are allowed to be entered and let's say have a BR2 that says Date to >= Date From)
3. Enter the rest of data
4. Confirm. (BR3 - data consistency check)
5. User chooses either Option 1 (link to Use Case A) or Option 2 (link to Use Case B)
This is but one example of using links.
You could argument - do this in the GUI section, but then I'd have two problems:
- where to document nonGUI rules?
- drawing GUI is a somewhat time consuming process which is rather something that is not really required that much in documents
Nevertheless, If I'd have links already in the notes, when drawing GUI and realizing use-cases I'd inherently define business rules behind GUI.
It's pretty much like coding to me even though it's just documentation.
For example, say you decide to link an element to the hyperlink. What are you linking to? In the live model, it could be the properties dialog for the element (or, my favourite, the element object in a specific diagram). In an RTF, what are you linking to? What about Master documents - covering many subordinates? The same element might appear in many sections (I think).
Well I think it would suffice to just refer to an existing element. To what you are referring to in an element, you can still describe in the text. To just have a link option to an element which either takes you to it in project browser (ALT-G) or shows you the list where it appears on diagrams (CTRL-U) would be a feature enough. Within a document (RTF) I'd refer links to the original definition of an element.
I think the idea is a good one, we just need to think it through better as a group so that we can present a good feature request to Sparx.
In the meantime, (if you haven't already) formally report it as a feature request using the links below. It is a good idea to reference this topic so that Sparx can see any ongoing discussion...
Ok I'll do that. Thanks for the interest. It's good to know I'm not the only one.
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