SpearFish Plugin

[alext]

I've been working on a Plugin for EA for some time now...it has a lot of features (some of them are not finished yet).

http://code.google.com/p/spearfish/

The source code is not up there yet (will be if there's enough intrest) ... I'm hoping this project will grow into something bigger!

Let me know what you think!!

[salayande]

I've been on the web site.
Could you provide more details like:
What is the value of the product to non-Azure users of EA
The site page says it enhances Use Case definitions, but in what ways? How does it improve the combination of EA UC forms and word documents?
Detailed product description is invaluable.

Segun

[alext]

Sorry...haven't had the time to compile a documentation for all of the features... hopefully I'll get to it pretty soon.

You don't have to be using Axure to benefit from the Plugin... every so many days (manual setting) it will as you if you want to make a backup of the project (creates a folderstructer where it stores everything).
As far as the Use case editor goes... it has a couple of extra functionalities (compared to the one from EA) that I find very usefull.
For example the steps in a UC are numbered, and the plugin keeps track of these steps... so if you reference a step in some UC and then later change the step order in that UC ... it will automatically update the links so your reference is still valid.
For a future release I'm planning on implementing an automated Activity Diagram generator (since I can programatically sort each step hierarchically...this should be possible)

You can also define rules for a use case... for example every use case needs to have a Note, has to have at least 2 steps, each step needs to have at least 2 words...and so on. Also, depending on the phase that your project is in, you can validate agains different rule sets.

It will identify if selected UC is Extended, Included... and provide default steps based on the type. (I want to get to where a user can specify the default steps...but that's for a later phase )

If you have multiple projects in one repository... you can't really keep an issues list per project...it's always for the entire repository.
SpearFish allows you to define a Issues List or a Glossary List per project. (Creation of such an item is done through SF and not EA)

I'm still working on a Meeting Report Manager where you can register you meeting minutes and link them automatically to a EA object.
I find it very usefull when you need to know anything that was said about a particullar Screen, Use Case, Requirement...


As you can see it has a few functionalities... and unfortunatly I haven't had any time to document all of them extensively.
Hopefully I'll get to it pretty soon!!

[alext]

The sources and binaries are now available on SourceForge... The project name is SpearFishPlugin

[peppermint-bunny]

Alex,

What language have you written your plugin in?  I like the sound of your use case functionality.

Cheers

[alext]

The plugin has been written in C#

[alext]

Here is list of features this plugin is able to do:

    * Template based project creation
          o You can create a project in EA based on a template of models (Requirements Model, UC Model, UI Model). In this version the template is hardcoded and only one template is available. In the future this will be customizable.
    * Integration between EA and Axure
          o For now some limited functionalities is in place to link a Axure project to a EA project. You can open the Axure project file directly from EA and you can also open the generated Axure files directly from EA.
          o A very limited bridge exists to synchronize an Axure UI wireframe with EA's UI Model. Basically you create a prototype in Axure and you can import it (along with all anotations, notes, documentation from Axure) in EA. Only one way synchronisation is possible (Axure -> EA)
    * Enhanced Use Case Editor
          o Autonumbered steps
          o Step manipulation (indentation, move up/down)
          o Step reference update: If you reference one UC from another (somethink like 'See Step 2.3 in Use Case BlaBla) and you then change that step 2.3 to 2.4, the reference is automatically updated.
          o Creation of default steps: Use Case starts, Use Case Ends, Includes & Extending steps (based on the type of relation with other UC's)
          o Rule based Use Case validation: You can validate a UC based on a set of rules. Things like minimum words per step, steps per UC... Different sets can be created based on the phase of a project.
          o Shortcut keys for adding, moving, deleting, linking steps
    * Glossary Item list
          o If you have multiple projects in one repository you cannot have a list per project, EA can only create a list per repository. The plugin will allow to create list per project and synchronize a lists (in case there is a common list where general glossary items are beeing stored.
    * Issues list
          o Same as the Glossary Item List... but with issues. Issues do not synchronized though.
    * Backup manager
          o The plugin will keep track of when the last backup (XMI export) was made and reminds you every so many days (custom setting) to make another backup. Automatic export to versioning repository is planned.
    * Easy Keyword linker
          o Tool to manage and link keywords to EA objects. Works with a DB so keywords can be standardized.
    * Meeting Reporter (still in development)
          o With this functionality you can register meeting reports and link EA objects to the report. In this way if you need to know everything that was discussed during meetings about a specific object, you can get all reports. Also works with a DB to store the reports.

[alext]

Screenshots and full sourcecode is available at https://sourceforge.net/projects/spearfishplugin/