Is it possible to have more than one EA installation in a Windows instance?

[PeterHeintz]

For some reasons I had to go back to our official company deployed EA version (V12).
However I also want to continue with V13. Is it possible to install both versions on one client without a VM?

(Maybe asked already, but I did not fined anything)

[Geert Bellekens]

Yes, but not really

What I do is rename the program files folder and then install a newer version of EA.
Whenever I want tot switch I can either rename the folder again, or just execute the ea.exe in the folder of the version I need.

Most things work perfectly fine like that. Only workspace configurations seem to be problematic.

Geert

[qwerty]

You can install them side by side. Rename the current EA folder in Programs to e.g. EA12 and the install V13. So you can have as many EA versions as you like.

q.

[Uffe]

... except they're not separate installations because they all use the same section of the registry (HKCU\Software\Sparx Systems\EA400\EA).

While certain values are per-version and stored in the subkeys \EA1000Workspace, \EA1100Workspace and so on, others are global -- such as the (the) install path and all the stuff stored in \OPTIONS.

So no, copying file directories does not create independent installations. Possibly you could do it if you had separate users for each version you want, and installed each version only for that user, but I'm not sure if the EA installer allows you that option.

That said, faking separate installations by copying the directories probably won't cause EA any problems, because each copy of EA will only read and write those registry values it cares about. There should only be a clash if the interpretation of a value has changed between versions, which isn't likely. But there will be registry crosstalk between the copies, which might cause confusion to the user.

The other potential issue is with the EA database schema, but that changes only rarely so again, not likely to be a concern.


/Uffe

[Eve]

... except they're not separate installations because they all use the same section of the registry (HKCU\Software\Sparx Systems\EA400\EA).

You can avoid that by creating a shortcut to one that uses /regkey:EA13 (or any variation)

See the tiny mention in http://sparxsystems.com/enterprise_architect_user_guide/12.1/the_user_interface/defaultsandusersettings.html

Then they will only share the data in %appdata%\Sparx Systems\EA

[Uffe]

Well I never! 

I can confirm that this feature exists in 11.1 as well in case anyone is wondering.

Also for future searches, %appdata%\Sparx Systems\EA holds stuff like search definitions, user views, user perspectives (command sets), user dictionaries and local paths.

There'll still be crosstalk there, but you can at least run the different copies off different registry sections. Neat!


/U

[Nairam Serball]

Hi, thanks for these great tips.

Does anyone know if it's also possible to install both 12.1 and 13 LOCAL user guides and still being able to directly reach the appropriate local help from each EA instance ?

I need this because, in my company, we don't have access to the web (for security reasons) on our development network.

I have searched for keys to tweak in Windows Registry but didn't find anything... 

Thank you for any help

[qwerty]

I think they dropped support for .chm. V12 is obviously the last one that came with this help file format. I seem to remember someone talking about a downloadable local help, though. But I can't recall zhe details.

I tried this: http://www.sparxsystems.com.au/enterprise_architect_user_guide/11/introduction/availablehelpfileformats.html but for me it did not work at all. The PDF is copyright 2014, so most likely not covering V13 (could not find a version reference at once; well...).

I just noticed the 11 in the URL. Can be replaced with 12 (not checked the referenced files there), but not with 13.

q.

[Nairam Serball]

Hi & thanks Q,

I was talking about the .msi files that where created when V12.1 came out, not the good old .chm files.
They let you install a local copy of all the web help pages and make the "Help" menu item point to this local copy instead of the online version.

I managed to download both files at the web adresses below :
http://www.sparxsystems.com/bin/12.1/EAUserGuide.msi
http://www.sparxsystems.com/bin/13.0/EAUserGuide.msi

But, as far as I install the second one (even after having renamed the install path of the first one in "EA12UG") the V12.1 instance can't find its help files anymore and points to the V13 help.
Only the V13 can access its help files directly. #SAD

So I'm just looking for a tip that let me say to V12.1 instance where it can find its local help pages copy.

Hope all this is clear enough...

[qwerty]

V13 does no longer have that local .chm. So you can't refer it any more. You could however use a copy of the V12 .chm for a local help in V13. But not from any EA-menu. You need to open it manually or with a smart (?)  script.

q.

[skiwi]

See Run Version 8 and Beta 9 on same machine

See also
http://www.sparxsystems.com/resources/webinar/release/ea13/enterprise-architect-13-overview-part-2.html


Can you install Enterprise Architect 13 alongside an older version?


Yes. You can simply rename your current installation subfolder from "EA" to "EA-Previous" for example, and then install the new version. (Your installation path by default is "C:\Program Files (x86)\Sparx Systems" and the "EA" subfolder resides under that.) You'll then have two subfolders that contain a file named EA.exe, which represent the different versions Enterprise Architect.

To run your previous version, run the EA.exe file from your renamed installation folder.