Messages

1

Automation Interface, Add-Ins and Tools / Re: SQL - query within a given large hierarchy (or namespace)?

« on: December 19, 2019, 11:01:27 pm »

Thanks, Gert.

It's mainly for SQL statements in:

• EA's search
  
  • OK, so I can use #Branch# in this - I actually had not seen that - Thanks
• Our home-build website's Java backend
  
  • Your getPackageTreeIDString(package) is exactly what I use in some scenarios

I'm considering to implement a kind of mark on every kind of node in a given branch in the model (what I hoped EA's namespace system would do for me).
- perhaps, simply adding a delimetered path string (a path with names and/or a path with IDs or guids)
- probably by db triggers (I'm sure I need to do this asynchronously)
- ... and perhaps pushing it into an indexing system - I tried pushing the EA database into Solr, and it's blazingly fast - and gives me best-match rankings etc.
- ... ... or into a no-sql db (e.g. MongoDB) tree structure ...

2

Automation Interface, Add-Ins and Tools / SQL - query within a given large hierarchy (or namespace)?

« on: December 19, 2019, 01:19:41 am »

How do I SQL-query items within a large hierarchy of nodes (or namespace)?
Of course, I can use joins (recursive in programming or through unions in a single SQL statement) - BUT that is not performance-friendly.
I thought (hoped) that EA would recursively mark all items down through the tree structure in a given namespace - but I haven't found any table column (neither in t_xref) for that.

I still hope that there is a perforamnce-friendly way search with SQL within a large hierarchy of nodes.

Any suggestions?

3

Suggestions and Requests / Feature-level connectors: relationships/traceability, Insert ..., Hide on dgms

« on: September 09, 2019, 03:40:29 am »

Now, in EA 15, it has become easier to link to attributes (as well as other element features).
However, we really need important support for these feature-level connectors in more ways, e.g.

• Show relationships for a given attribute
• Show traceability for a given attribute
• Insert related elements for a given attribute
• Show traceability for a given attribute
• Option on diagrams to hide all feature-level connectors - without this option, diagrams are really easily becoming cluttered with a mess of connectors - and it is not realistic to manually hide these  --  (possible criteria nuance: one or both ends at feature-level)

4

Automation Interface, Add-Ins and Tools / Re: Creating triggers on Sparx' tables …?

« on: July 14, 2019, 05:49:31 am »

Thanks Geert.

I hoped and waited for some more experiences - but at least now I know, it has been done.

@Sparx: do you have any input on this?

5

Automation Interface, Add-Ins and Tools / Creating triggers on Sparx' tables …?

« on: July 09, 2019, 12:22:29 am »

I have often considered creating triggers on Sparx' tables.
Has anyone tried that?
Is there any official policy on that?
(Of course, I may have to recreate them when upgrading EA versions, but that is alright)

6

Automation Interface, Add-Ins and Tools / Re: How to make references between attributes?

« on: February 01, 2019, 01:39:16 am »

Thanks a lot, you guys, for a lot of response.

Somehow, I had erroneous concluded that I could only create RefGuid tags that referred to objects (not to attributes).
Paolo's and Geert's response made me check up on that - and happy news (for me :-) ) - it was actually possible (not DOA).

Like Geert, we will reference from messages to our conceptual model (in our case we have one conceptual which also makes up for the logical data model).

However we will not map only messages - we will map any implementation model (including DB schema, APIs, GUIs etc) to the concept model (where relevant).
In that regard, I have a challenge when using other MDGs like datmodel MDG with table column stereotypes. These are great for reverse engineering - but I cannot expand these existing MDGs (e.g. table column) to include the new RefGuid tag (or ...?).
I guess it would be possible to modify the relevant MDG XML file (and remember to re-modify them when we receive new MDG versions - but arrgghhh - right?)

@Geert, the plugin that you made, does that support adding such RefGuid tags to e.g. table column? - for instance by letting the plugin itself add such tags when needed?

7

Automation Interface, Add-Ins and Tools / How to make references between attributes?

« on: January 31, 2019, 05:47:33 am »

Any good tips on how to make references between attributes (across) elements?

One option, of course, would be to create connectors between them ('link to feature') - but that will totally clutter our model - so that option is out (unless I have missed some way to filter them out from diagrams and miscellaneous windows (relationships, insert related …)

Another option would be to create shadow elements for all the attributes that I want to link to and then choose such an element in the type property for the referring attribute - but again clutter …  - so that one is out too.

A third option is DOA: Creating special reference tags that refer to attributes in stead of to classes - is not possible anyway.

The fourth option - which I'm considering - is creating an attribute tag, that holds ea_guid of the referred attribute -  but that will not be user-friendly in the EA gui, since it will only show a guid. I would probably create an accompanying tag that shows fx the name of the referred tag, and its parent element - and then keep that synchronized. I would also have to create a GUI to maintain such references.

hmmm - it would be great to hear tips from you on a better solution …

8

Automation Interface, Add-Ins and Tools / Re: Developing a web component for EA cloud?

« on: January 17, 2019, 04:52:12 am »

... might be 'in the cloud', i.e. outside your corporate network if you choose to host your database on say Azure.
... ProCloud also gives you additional access options, ie a REST interface which your web component could use

Thanks a lot for your answer,  OpenIT Solutions.

I'm really thin on this topic - and find it difficult to find the answer(s) to this wuestion on Sparx' site.

Many of our queries involve joins with 50+ joins - I expect the REST interface to be a problem here (?). In fact, it seems to me, that the REST API largely only offers calls to query a given object and the features of a given type of a given object. - is that also yopur understanding?

But another point may be interesting. From your "say Azure" I gather, ok Sparx does not offer a 'closed cloud'. Any pro cloud installation outside of a corporate network will be on one of the 'open cloud' providers. In that case any customer could choose to install another website of their own (or from a third party) 'side-by-side' with the EA database on that cloud - and let that website access the EA database via SQL. - Is that correctly understood?

9

Automation Interface, Add-Ins and Tools / Developing a web component for EA cloud?

« on: January 15, 2019, 09:12:08 am »

We have our own web components on top of a local EA repository, where we extract information via SQL. In fact we have a complete website with lots of views for different stakeholders.

Can we do this, if we move EA to sparx' EA cloud solution (with the EA cloud repository being actually in the cloud, not on our own network)?

Anyone having experience with this?

10

Automation Interface, Add-Ins and Tools / Re: How to open webpage in a browser from an EA JavaScript

« on: January 04, 2019, 05:34:38 am »

Yep, it works fine - thanks again :-)

11

Automation Interface, Add-Ins and Tools / Re: How to open webpage in a browser from an EA JavaScript

« on: December 28, 2018, 06:16:37 am »

Great.
Thanks a lot, Arshad.
I'll try that as the first thing in the new year (I hope

12

Automation Interface, Add-Ins and Tools / SOLVED: How to open webpage in a browser from an EA JavaScript

« on: December 23, 2018, 02:12:30 am »

How do I open webpage in a browser from an EA JScript.
E.g. I want to add a script to an element's context menu that opens a webpage with specialized documentation views on that element.

13

General Board / Re: No dockable window with table columns?

« on: December 11, 2018, 09:53:51 pm »

The Database Builder...

Thanks, but  the Database Builder does not react to select a column on a diagram "like the docked window with class attributes, which synchronizes itself to selecting an attribute in a diagram or in the project browser".
… at least, I haven't managed to get it to do that.
With the Database Builder, I have to select Database + select table + select column each time - this is prohibitively tedious and disturbing for the meeting partiipants, when I'm sitting with business people (data stewards, BI analytics, etc.) mapping their implementation views (DB,...) to the conceptual/logical model which carries all the business definitions)
Besides that, the Database Builder takes up an awful lot of screen real estate for that purpose - when the meetings 'fix point' is a diagram.
Then I'm better off using the columns and constraints window - it's just not dockable, which makes it very disturbing in the meeting context, having to pop it up each time.

 

14

General Board / No dockable window with table columns?

« on: December 11, 2018, 12:19:39 am »

I want to have a docked window with table columns - just like the docked window with class attributes, which synchronizes itself to selecting an attribute in a diagram or in the project browser.
Is that not possible? (EA 14, 1427)
…
Also: in a class on a diagram I can add an attribute with shift+cntrl+F9  - is there no similar function for table columns?

15

Automation Interface, Add-Ins and Tools / CONFIRMED: No GetSearchSelectedElements?

« on: October 30, 2018, 06:40:51 am »

Just to make sure, that I haven't missed the feature:

Is it correct, that there is no method in the object model telling which elements (plural) have been selected in the search result?