Messages

16

Suggestions and Requests / XML Schema - schema import / include relationships

« on: October 17, 2008, 06:14:02 am »

When you impot 2 schemas, where schema A imports (or includes) schema B - no dependency relationship is created

Can EA XML import be extended to create some sort of relationship between included / imported schemas?

PS: I imported both A and B in the same operation

Thanks,
DAvid.

17

Suggestions and Requests / Re: Hide Start Page

« on: October 15, 2008, 08:32:41 am »

It's not the same, but a workaround you might already know is you can set the default diagram to open when you open your model.

To do this, open up your diagram you want as your start page - then from the diagram menu select "open as user default" or "open as model default" as appropriate.

Cheers,
David.

18

Suggestions and Requests / Re: Statically named HTML pages

« on: October 15, 2008, 08:30:38 am »

Thanks for your reply Simon. [smiley=dankk2.gif]

Roll on version 8!

19

Suggestions and Requests / Re: Statically named HTML pages

« on: October 15, 2008, 06:55:03 am »

Hi Stan,

I know what you mean, but unfortunately, those links can change when your model structure changes.

Here is an example:

Say I have a published model and a package at this path:
Deployment model / Nodes / External Systems
The above package contains a deployment diagram:

The URL's of both the above pages are:
Package:      file:///D:/temp/rons_model/EARoot/EA1/EA14.htm
Diagram:      file:///D:/temp/rons_model/EARoot/EA1/EA1/EA21.png

Now say I insert a sibling package called "test" at the same level as the External Systems package - but just above it in the project browser.

When I regenerate my HTML, the above links for the External systems package and diagram CHANGE to:

Package:      file:///D:/temp/rons_model/EARoot/EA1/EA15.htm
Diagram:      file:///D:/temp/rons_model/EARoot/EA1/EA2/EA24.png

As you can see - if I want to link to the External Systems package (or diagram) from an external source - the links will change if I reorder / structure my model.

I'd like static links to a package and diagram, regardless of where it might be in the project browser hierarchy.

Cheers,
David.

20

Suggestions and Requests / Statically named HTML pages

« on: October 14, 2008, 01:58:52 pm »

When generating the HTML for a model, I'd like to be able to get EA to consistently use the same URL for certain packages and diagrams.  The reason is I would like to be able to have a static URL is it allows a link from another website.

For example, our Helpdesk maintains their own list of applications.  It would be nice to place a link to an EA diagram of that application on the Helpdesk page.  Problem is, everytime I regenerate the HTML, the page name (ie. URL) could change, breaking the link.

What do you guys think?

A possible solution is just to generate folder/filenames to follow the project browser hierarchy.  Possibly using an 8.3 convention when File systems and tools that are Windows based have a hernia with long paths.

Thanks,
David.

21

Suggestions and Requests / Re: Shape scripts for non-stereotyped items

« on: September 03, 2008, 07:49:01 am »

absolute power completes absolutely!  

Would you have one default shapescript across the model (for any element without a stereotype) or by object type? (ie. by class, node, package, component etc...)

If by object type - then we should also request / ask for shapescript "modules" - so common code can be shared across scripts.

Another issue is the diagram.type property in shapescript only checks the base type (ie. logical, deployment etc...) - not the custom diagram type you might create (ie. SolutionArchitectDeployment, InfrastructureArchitectDeployment etc...).  This would be much more useful for having per role rendering via shapescript.

David.

22

Suggestions and Requests / Re: RTF for <memo> type tagged value notes

« on: April 07, 2008, 07:22:52 am »

Hi Dermot,

Thanks - but I was not talking about the RTF template editor... I was talking about extending the new functionality 7.1 supports for rich text notes to tagged values of <memo> type (or any type for that matter).

David.

23

Suggestions and Requests / RTF for <memo> type tagged value notes

« on: March 20, 2008, 08:17:11 am »

I have some <principle> requirements, where I have tagged values for implications and rationale for the principle.

The above tagged values have a bit of text and it would be useful to be able to use RTF.

Can Sparx please enable RTF on tagged values? - at least memo ones?

Thanks,
David.

24

Suggestions and Requests / Diagram - Show element list enhancements

« on: March 14, 2008, 09:18:59 am »

Show element list seems to exist to make reporting better only.  It could really make diagraming better if it did 3 things:

1. If you filter the show element list then show as diagram - actually only show on the diagram what is in the filtered list

2. Allow filtering on the element list on any property or tagged value rather than the crude filtering based only on element type.  Much more complex combinations of elements can then be selected.  ie. filter on status = approved and elements modified > dd/mm/yyyy, then right click and filter the diagram showing only those elements that meet that criteria (as per my 1. above).

3. Being able to create a new diagram either from the filtered elements in the list - or even better by the user selected elements.  You can right click and copy to keyboard but that only does the text representation of the elements.  Why not allow these objects to be pasted into a new diagram?

Plus one more new feature -

4.  What about "show connector list" to allow tabular editing of connector details.

David.

25

Suggestions and Requests / Re: Reports for the whole repository

« on: March 14, 2008, 09:23:03 am »

Agreed.

Martin / David - on another note - have you found IE performance really slow when you publish a large HTML model with a really large project browser tree?

For example - I reverse engineered an org structure with >2600 elements in a composite actor hierarchy.  On IE 7the javascript that builds the tree took > 5 minutes to complete.  On Firefox 2 it only took 20 seconds (not great - but much better).  Safari even quicker.

David.

26

Suggestions and Requests / Re: XML schema import - merge option

« on: January 21, 2008, 03:09:42 pm »

7.1 will include a model merge - is that what you mean?  I suppose you could import the new version of the schema into a new empty model - then merge that in with the old package containing the old schema from the existing project.... I'll give that a try when a 7.1 beta is avail.

27

Suggestions and Requests / Re: XML schema import - merge option

« on: January 16, 2008, 12:21:48 pm »

Sparx / anyone? Is this going to be supported in 7.1?

Is there a workaround I can use?

Thanks,
David.

28

Suggestions and Requests / XML schema import - merge option

« on: October 24, 2006, 03:57:30 pm »

I would like EA to have an option to either "merge" or "import as new" when you do an XML schema import.

This would allow me to refresh schemas updated outside the EA model without breaking linkages I might have created within EA to other UML elements.

Currently I have to import the updated schema - and recreate linkages by hand (ie. WSDL dependencies, package diagrams showing overviews of complex types and schemas etc...)

A simple checkbox on the XML schema import window (if EA detects a the schema already exists within the package being imported into) would be great.  This would give the user the option of a fresh (and duplicated) schema (current functionality) or a merge.

The merge should make the EA modeled schema identical with the XSD from which it was imported.  In other words - new elements and complex types get added, removed elements and complex types get removed.

What do you think?

Thanks,
David.

29

Suggestions and Requests / Display tagged values on connectors and elements

« on: November 15, 2007, 05:23:42 pm »

I would like to be able to print / display a tagged value on a connector or element.

For example - I have a stereotyped dependency called <<interface>>.  I have added the tagged value "Transmission protocol".  I would like the value of this tagged value to appear on the connector (dependency) on the diagram.

Same should apply to elements.

I know you can do print() and println() in shapescript, but this is limited to pre-defined EA properties for elements and connectors.  I want to print tagged values of an element / connector on a diagram and also allow the user to reposition it like any other label.

Thanks,
David.

30

Suggestions and Requests / Re: Database Sub-Models

« on: November 08, 2006, 02:38:38 pm »

That would be very useful.  You have my vote.

David.