Topics

1

Automation Interface, Add-Ins and Tools / MDG tagged value boolean vs Boolean

« on: December 06, 2022, 02:42:38 am »

Hi,

When I have a boolean tagged value to add to an MDG stereotype, I create a predefined tagged value with the Boolean type.
As a result the tagged value is rendered with a drop down list to select between True and False.

I noticed from an older MDG that it is also possible to define a boolean tagged value by applying the boolean data type on the stereotype Class' attribute (as explained on qwerty site here: http://tvandesijpe.blogspot.com/2011/04/creating-mdgpart-1-create-uml-profile.html)
The difference is that the values are lowercase i.e. true, false.

Are these just 2 alternatives with a different result (True/False vs true/false) ?

Thanks
Guillaume

2

General Board / Change the browser for EA OpenID (Azure AD) auth

« on: December 02, 2022, 10:08:51 pm »

Hello,

I have an EA repository configured with OpenID (Azure AD) to authenticate users (see https://prolaborate.sparxsystems.com/resources/articles/enable-openid-sso-in-sparx-ea).
When users click on Login with OpenID, it opens their default browser which can either be Edge or Chrome.

We found that Chrome has an issue as the session is lost when the browser is closed, so users must use Edge. Is there a way to force OpenID to open Edge when clicked from EA ?
Has anyone come across the issue?

3

PCS General Board / Upgrade PCS for EA16.1"load balancing and connection management" improvements

« on: November 25, 2022, 01:25:36 am »

Hi,

I read the following in Sparx newsletter about the release of EA 16.1

Load balancing and connection management to Pro Cloud Server
Enhanced load balancing and optimization of communications between Enterprise Architect and Pro Cloud Server.
Version 16.1 of Enterprise Architect includes many changes to improve and manage communication with Pro Cloud Server instances.
•   Load balancing and intelligent client throttling ensure optimal individual connectivity while supporting large teams of concurrent modelers
•   New strategies to enhance the modeling experience when using Enterprise Architect over high latency (slow) networks
•   New approaches to handling error conditions and disruptions
•   Restructuring memory usage in Pro Cloud Server and Enterprise Architect to provide less load during high usage scenarios such as XMI model import

A number of clients have reported performance issues working on EA via the PCS when working from home via the VPN. So any improvement in this area is worth trying.
It is not clear from the above whether the improvement requires an update on the PCS when using EA 16.1. I saw a new 5.1 PCS version is available (5.1.121) ; is an upgrade to this version required?
Last time I tried the PCS 5, I experienced some issues e.g. the multiplicity drop down values in the properties of a selected connector in EA was empty.

4

Bugs and Issues / V16.1 Diagram legend connectors colours not visible

« on: November 17, 2022, 11:34:25 pm »

I opened a diagram with a diagram legend showing colours for different types of connectors.
With EA16.1 (build 1621), the legend only shows the values but no coloured lines. It works fine for elements or with a previous build of EA.

5

Bugs and Issues / Cannot change the PK selection columns in a table when FK exist

« on: November 07, 2022, 08:09:29 pm »

Hi,

I have a data model generated via a DB reverse that is updated in EA in order to provide details of the changes to be made by the DBA for the next release.
I have a table with 2 columns selected as PK (e.g. table1 with id1 [PK], id2 [PK], name), and tables linked to this table via foreign keys (e.g. table2 with id [PK], tbl1id1 [FK], tbl1id2 [FK]).
I need to add a new column in the primary keys selection (e.g. id3), however this generates the following error: Cannot change the involved columns of a constraint that is part of a foreign key relationship.

I tried to change the existing PK constraint or add one with the new column, but it's not possible.
The only solution involves deleting the FK associations to this table, set the new column as a PK, and recreate the associations. This method requires deleting and generating new operations which is not ideal.

Is there a workaround ? A script could probably help to automatically update all FK operations and avoid deleting anything, but it won't be an easy one.
Note that I found a thread on this topic here, but the link to another thread doesn't work: https://sparxsystems.com/forums/smf/index.php?topic=8302.0

6

Suggestions and Requests / Hide metamodel views with perspectives

« on: October 07, 2022, 09:21:35 pm »

Hi,

I have a SysML based MDG with custom metamodels views to create bdd and idb diagrams.
Using perspectives, I can disable diagrams so users only end up for instance with activity, bdd, and ibd. Yet when then select BlockDefinition, I would like to only provide the custom MDG view and not the built-in ones such as SysML 1.4::BlockDefinition, SysML 1.4 Views: Basic Blocks, etc.
This doesn't seem to be supported. Could it be integrated in a future build ?

7

Bugs and Issues / V1605 copy /paste note size bug

« on: September 30, 2022, 11:24:27 pm »

Hi,

I found a bug in EA16 that I believe was fixed in EA15.2 i.e. if you copy and paste as new a Note element on a diagram, the original note height is increased.

8

General Board / BPMN Data input/output roles

« on: September 28, 2022, 08:13:42 pm »

Hi,

In BPMN2, I have activities with linked Data Objects using the Data Input or Output associations which are stereotyped dependencies.
When a user opens the Traceability view and selects the Activity, the input Data Objects are grouped under "needed by", whereas the output are grouped under "depends on"
This doesn't sound right e.g. Activity needed by an Input data object, and since this is a built-in MDG, I think the terms can be changed e.g. to Data Inputs and Data Outputs.

Could this be changed ?

9

Bugs and Issues / EA16 HTML Export Browser

« on: September 28, 2022, 07:53:36 pm »

Hello,

I tried the HTML export available with EA 16. As pointed out by a user, the major change involves the Browser which has been replaced with the content of the active package or element.
Many users require a browser matching EA Browser (tree view) so they can browse in the repository (limited to the exported package branch if applicable) as they would do in EA.

Whilst the navigation bar at the top is interesting, the tree style browser is a must have in my opinion. Can it be restored as it was available with previous versions ?

10

Bugs and Issues / PCS WAIT_TIMEOUT 0x000007d9 error when duplicating a package branch

« on: September 27, 2022, 08:13:30 pm »

Hello,

I have a large shared EA database on Postgres which I open via the Pro Cloud Server (tested with 4.1.44 and 5.0.104).
I ran a copy/paste of a package branch to duplicate a data model.

I'm getting multiple errors with repeating popup windows:
Sparx Systems Pro Cloud Server [0x000007d9] Error retrieving results: WAIT_TIMEOUT

I didn't find anything in the PCS logs.

I managed getting it to work with the equivalent method of running an XMI Export followed by an XMI Import with the strip guid option enabled (via the PCS).
I also ran a test to copy/paste the package with a direct ODBC link and it worked.

11

Bugs and Issues / Microsoft Cursor Engine [0x80040e21] Multiple-step operation generated errors. C

« on: September 22, 2022, 07:42:13 pm »

Hello,

I found a similar thread here but the issue seems to be different: https://www.sparxsystems.com/forums/smf/index.php/topic,43280.0.html
I have an EA project running on Postgres via the Pro Cloud Server, and when I duplicate a package structure, I get the following error message on a popup: Microsoft Cursor Engine [0x80040e21] Multiple-step operation generated errors. Check each status value.
Note: the duplicated package has classes with connectors to external classes (not in the same package).

Looking at the DBErrors.txt file, I can see the related query.

   select * from t_connector where 1 = 0
   GetLongVal( "Connector_ID" )

I can't see GetLongVal in Sparx SQL scripts so I wonder if this is a built-in PG function.
I'm using EA 15.1 build 1529.


Guillaume

12

General Board / Tagged values bulk update on all selected elements ?

« on: September 02, 2022, 11:39:31 pm »

Hi,

I seem to remember a hint that allows to change the tagged value of all selected elements within a diagram (bulk update).
Does it exist in EA (without a script) ?

13

Automation Interface, Add-Ins and Tools / MDG - ShapeScript AND/OR operators

« on: September 02, 2022, 08:02:13 pm »

Hello,

Is there a way to combine conditions within an if statement in ShapeScript ?
The following doesn't work so I have to repeat if.. else statements for each condition and duplicate the code.

Code: [Select]

if (HasTag('Type','A') AND HasTag('Type','A'))
{
   // ...
}

14

Bugs and Issues / v16 - hidden popup window (multi screen), unable to close

« on: September 02, 2022, 07:36:09 pm »

Hi,

I'm using EA 16 64 bits to work on an MDG. When I edit the tagged values and open the ShapeScript editor, the popup window is nowhere to be seen.
This is due to the use of 2 screens. Moving EA to a different screen sorts the issue as I properly get the popup window.

With EA15, such situation can be fixed as a transparent window matching the hidden popup is visible. With EA16, there's nothing.
This issue is not limited to the ShapeScript editor, however with this windows the Esc key doesn't close it (as it does for others) so I have to kill EA process to restart.

I also had the issue when creating a diagram.

15

Suggestions and Requests / MDG - Linked enum tagged values

« on: September 02, 2022, 06:56:22 pm »

It would be nice to define linked enumeration tagged values within a stereotype for a custom MDG to be built.
Let's say you have a stereotype for an ArchiMate Component with 2 levels of categories.
I'd like to have a way in the stereotype definition to tell EA that if Level 1 Category tagged value = val1, it must select a specific enumeration to populate the drop down list. If the user selects val2, a different drop down list is displayed.
Of course selected values won't change, but the drop down values will.

So we would end up defining the following Enums
Level 1 Category = val1, val2, val3
Level 2(1) Category [linked with val1] = val1.1, val1.2, val1.3
Level 2(2) Category [linked with val2] = val2.1, val2.2
Level 2(3) Category [linked with val3] = val3.1, val3.2, val3.3, val 3.4

I guess this would have a large impact on EA (and Prolaborate to process it).