Topics

1

General Board / Conveyed information in flows

« on: January 19, 2022, 08:33:30 pm »

Are there any simple way to find out if an (information) element in my browser is part of any (information) flow?

I want to clean up my model and there are a lot of information element orphans, but I cannot delete them without knowing if they are not included in some information flows.

If someone has an sql sccript to detect the flows, I would love to have a copy of it. Or any easy way!!

Thanks Mats

2

Bugs and Issues / v16 Archimate exchange file generation

« on: December 06, 2021, 02:28:19 am »

When I add a Grouping element to an Archimate model and then try to generate an Archimate exchange file, the generation fails. When I remove the grouping element and save everything it still fails. If I restart v16 and try to generate (without the grouping element), the exchange file generation works?

It that a feature??

When I xmi export the same model to v15.2 and add the grouping elements, and generates the exchange file,  it works ok!!!

3

General Board / Roles around a modelling tool - Product owner, toolsmith, CM

« on: October 13, 2021, 05:58:38 pm »

This is an attempt to describe a few roles around using Sparx EA as a modelling tool in an organization. The roles can be executed by one or more people. Hopefullt a version of this text can be used when hiring.
Product owner
The role that owns the implementation av SPARX EA within an organisation.
Stakeholders are: Architects, Designers, Developers, CIO, Purchasing, Finance
Tasks/Responsibities:
* Planning purchase
* Planning maintenance and improvements
* Tool budget
* Architecture of implementation (tool, repository, file shares, browser connection, security. backup systems, other connected system (e.g. Doors))
* Adding and removing users in EA, and access lists for reporsitory (e.g. SQL db) and file shares

Toolsmith
The role that configures SPARX EA to fit the organization.
Stakeholders: Modellers
Task/Responsibilities:
* Configure the tool
* Create and maintain metamodels (MDG's)
* Create and maintain documentation and HTML templates
* Create and maintain search scripts
* Create and maintain external SQL queries to the repository
* Create and maintain scripts to ease use
* Create and maintain users manuals

Configuration manager (CM)
The role that creates and maintains the the browser structure and the quality of the models.
Stakeholders are: Modellers, Quality
Task/Responsibilities:
* Set up and maintain repository structure
* Handle baselines and backups
* Handle versioning
* Make releases
* Ensure status of models (incl. review history etc)

Please improve this text with comments and new material 
/Mats

4

General Board / Generation of references and acronymns

« on: October 06, 2021, 07:28:53 pm »

We have created a package with all our references and acronymns. Maybe a 1000 of them. We are generating a number of documents from our model (200+). In each document we want to include relevant reference and acronymns. To do that we are planning to add one reference diagram och one acronymn diagram for each of the 200+ documents (i.e. a subpackage in each packages structure for each document) so we can reuse the references and acronymns and changes in the text needs only to be made in one place.

But when we generate the documents, we have not found any way to inlcude the reference and acrynomn elements (not the diagram) in the document. The diagrams can be included but that is not how we want the elements to show up in our documents. It should be in the old table style (e.g. a list of acronymns and their descriptions).

Does anyone know how to do this? Must be a pretty common problem people run into.

Thanks
Mats

5

General Board / Microsoft Cursor Engine - E_FAIL

« on: July 02, 2021, 06:49:03 pm »

Suddenly I get this error "Microsoft Cursor Engine - E_FAIL". I am using MS SQL Sever as repository. I happens when I move an element in a certain diagram or I hide a connector in the same diagram. EA then crashes with the error message, when I save the diagram.

Any ideas? Corrupted database?? Any way to recover?

6

General Board / Adding a TAG value with the name of an element

« on: June 17, 2021, 05:45:56 pm »

Hi
I want to add a add an identifier to the name of my elements when they are displayed in a diagram using a shape script. I have the identifier as a TAG. But I cannot find any way to do that. I can print the identifier on the element, but it should really be merged (in the display) with the name otherwise it will not stay in the same position when I enlarge or shrink the element. I do not want to show the TAG in a compartment since it increases the size of the element.

Can anyone show me how to do this? Must be a common way to handle identities.

Thanks
Mats

7

PCS Bugs and Issues / Adding run-time state instances variables to an Object not working

« on: May 25, 2021, 08:16:38 pm »

Add run-time state instances variables to an Object not working according to the manual
https://sparxsystems.com/enterprise_architect_user_guide/15.1/model_domains/runtimestate.html

Cannot edit the operator (step 2)

Cheers
Mats

8

Bugs and Issues / Tried searching for the word time

« on: April 27, 2021, 02:03:31 am »

And the SPARX Systems Forum site crashed

9

Bugs and Issues / Possible to connect to locked element?

« on: February 21, 2020, 02:26:23 am »

Hi
Is it a feature or a bug that your can create a connector from an unlocked element to a locked element, but not the other way? In both cases the locked element is updated in some way!

Cheers
Mats

10

General Board / Using SYSML to do enterprise architecture

« on: February 13, 2020, 08:16:45 pm »

Hi all,
We have some people in my organization that wants to use SYSML to do enterprise (high level) architecture. But SYSML is often way to complicated and detailed to architecture at that level.  We can tailor SYSML, but there still are some stuff in SYSML that causes problems. One of them is Ports which to me really is a very complicated way to show flow between systems and you loose some nice functionality in SPARX EA with Ports, instead of using different kinds of flow connectors. It is e.g. complicated to see what other systems a given system has relations using Ports, you have to use the Traceability window to do that instead of just looking at the Links properties.

Have I misunderstood something around Ports that you can advice me about or should we use flow connectors instead?

Thanks Mats

11

General Board / Tailor SYSML

« on: February 13, 2020, 08:07:26 pm »

Hi all
I want to tailor SYSML by removing lots of the elements and connectors, but I have not been successful creating an MDG doing this. Does anyone have any good advice on how I could do this and maybe an example?

Thanks
Mats

12

General Board / Length of traceability

« on: January 09, 2020, 09:27:10 pm »

Hi
We have done a large activity model with activities and information. Activities create or use information. We would like to be able to generate some kind of report showing the all paths (traceability) through the model from start to finish. I am pretty sure it would become a very large document. An simpler alternative would be to get a metric showing the length of the longest chains and a report of that chain. I assume we could possibly get an infinite length chain, which would be an interesting result as well.

Any ideas of how to do this?

Thanks in advance
Mats

13

General Board / Create informationflows automatically

« on: November 07, 2019, 02:55:00 am »

Hi
I have a simple process modelling MDG with two elements, Activity and Information. An Activity can create and use Information. It will give me indirectly related Activities, i.e. Activity1->Information<-Activity2

Would it be possible to create InformationFlows automatically from this? And use the Information for the Conveyed Information?

Using SQL, scripts or some easier way? I want to be able to create a matrix with Activities on both axis and a mark where they interact using the Relationship matrix

Thanks
Mats

14

Suggestions and Requests / Show all feature requests

« on: March 26, 2019, 02:37:26 am »

It would be very interesting to see all feature requests submitted and the status of them (e.g. in progress, rejected, being analysed, impossible, to expensive,...)

And maybe include a possibility to vote (and amend, comment) on a feature to give SPARX some insentive to prioritise a certain feature !

What do you think? Today we have no idea what happens with our feature requests. 

/Mats

15

Automation Interface, Add-Ins and Tools / Product architecture divided into "components#

« on: March 19, 2019, 07:12:30 pm »

Hi all,
We like to divide our Product architecture in a set of sub architectures (Components) that are freestanding. When a customer ask for a variant of our Product we want to be able to merge these Components into an specific Project architecture for that customer.

In a perfect world we also would like that all users of a component are notified when a "Component" is updated in some way and then update the Component in the customer Product architecture.

In the same perfect world there are relations between the Components that magically are maintained and reintroducted when the Components are merged into a new customer Product architecture.

We tried the patterns function in EA, but it is very hard to use and it does not keep the notes pages on elements between releases of a pattern.

We could have one main standard Component that maintains the relations between Components??

Any ideas?

Thanks 
Mats