Enterprise Architect Newsletter: November 2004

In this Months Issue:


From the Desk of Geoffrey Sparks:

Hello everyone,

It is with pleasure Sparx Systems announce the release of Enterprise Architect 4.5

This new release builds on the very successful version 4.1 with UML 2.0 support, and adds some important new refinements. 4.5 continues the development of the MDG (Model Driven Generation) toolset, with the inclusion of MDG Link for Eclipse, Python and CORBA. New visual styles, multi-select project view, structured tagged values, native CVS support and other enhancements make this version of EA the most powerful and compelling yet.

Enterprise Architect has comprehensibly proven itself to be an extremely reliable and productive tool, in use in over 60 countries world wide, from small workgoups and independent consultants to some of the biggest companies in the world in very large and often distributed team environments.

It has been a great pleasure to see EA evolve over the last 8 years from humble beginnings to its current position as a leader in providing affordable, UML 2.0 based modeling for single professionals to large teams. With the enhancements to the MDG Technology and automation components in EA, it has now become an all purpose modeling platform into which a wide range of domain specific tools can be easily plugged.

I would also like to take the time to thank the very many people who have written in with suggestions, ideas, bug reports and kind comments. We are continually thrilled at the support and helpfulness of the EA user community, and it is this execellent feedback that has helped make EA the success that it is!

All the best, and Happy Modeling!

Geoffrey Sparks
CEO, Sparx Systems pl
November, 2004


Enterprise Architect Version 4.5

Sparx Systems are pleased to announce the release of Enterprise Architect 4.5 and an increased MDG Link range

Since the introduction of version 4.1 the functionality of EA has been significantly enhanced. Major improvements for Version 4.5 of EA include the direct support for CVS, the ability to edit element features directly from the diagram, a revamped Tagged Values window and the inclusion of the enhanced user friendly 2005 visual style.

The MDG Link range of EA Add-Ins has also been increased with the addition of the MDG Link for Eclipse lightweight bridge between EA and Eclipse, as well as the inclusion of MDG Technologies for CORBA and for CIM. Learn more about MDG Link Technologies visit: /mdg_technologies.htm.

EA v4.5 - New Features

2005 Visual Style

  • A toned down, subtle user interface
  • Improvements in the method used to dock and target widow items
  • Allows the user to see exactly where a dockable window is targeted or docked.

UML Technologies into the UML Toolbar

  • Capability to added profiles and MDG technology files directly to the UML toolbar
  • Allows for the rapid inclusion of stereotyped elements into the model
  • Provides a convenient access point supporting custom stereotyped profile elements

Direct Support for CVS

  • Support for direct connections to CVS, no other proprietary software is required
  • Multiple version control connections now can be assigned to a model

Revamped Tagged Values Window

  • New Tagged Values dockable window offers an enhanced mechanism for tagged values
  • Allows quick assignment and viewing of tagged values
  • Rapidly determine inheritance and ownership of tagged values.

Inplace Editing of Internal Elements

  • Allows the users of EA to rapidly create and edit element features from the diagram.
  • Edit and create attributes, operations, requirements and maintenance items
  • Test scripts directly from the diagram, no need to access the element dialog windows.

Automation Interface Enhancements

  • Add custom Active X controls and forms into the main window of EA
  • Allows the creation of Add-Ins with enhanced method navigation and customization
  • Increased functionality between Add-Ins and EA

Upgrade to version 4.5 visit: /registered/reg_ea_down.html

Purchase EA v4.5 visit: /products/ea/purchase.html

More information about EA visit: /products/ea/index.html

Download the EA v4.5 trial visit: /products/ea/trial/request.html

Release Notes for EA v4.5 published below.

Planned Developments for Future Builds

  • Additional MDG Technologies for CIM, MOF and EJB.
  • Major revision to the RTF template editor for increased enhancement
  • Further enhancements to the MDG Technology components to make creating and using technologies much easier for end users.

MDG Link for Eclipse and Visual Sudio .NET

Streamline your Visual Studio.NET or Eclipse project development today!

Combine the graphical modelling power of Enterprise Architect with Microsoft Visual Studio.NET or for Eclipse with the Model Driven Generation Link (MDG Link).

The MDG Link is designed to allow users to work simultaneously with both Enterprise Architect and Visual Studio.NET or Eclipse and merge the changes with minimal effort.

The MDG Link provides:

  • Tight integration between Enterprise Architect and your coding application, allowing you to:
    • Create UML 2.0 in Enterprise Architect
    • Generate UML 2.0 from your coding application.
  • Simple, easy to use connection between Enterprise Architect models to Visual Studio.NET or Eclipse projects.  
  • The ability to merge an entire project with an intuitive streamlined process.
  • Model and code synchronisation.
  • Seamless movement between the two work environments
  • A flexible interface for controlling the import and export of code.
  • The user with forward and reverse engineering of an entire project with one simple process.

MDG Link is an automation interface, which allows integrated tools to interrupt and direct basic generation and reverse engineering tasks within EA. It is also a protocol for specifying technology files, which allow complete code targets to be added to EA with a minimum of fuss. Over time the MDG Link interface will grow to include an increasing number of standard hooks that 3rd party tool developers can interface with and build model driven generation for.

 

MDG Link for Eclipse

Simple, Easy to use integration between Enterprise Architect and Eclipse

The Model Driven Generation (MDG) Link for Eclipse provides an integrated solution for users of the Professional and Corporate versions of Enterprise Architect and Eclipse. With a host of new features the MDG Link for Eclipse enhances user productivity.

Simple, Efficient Navigation between EA and Eclipse

With the MDG Link for Eclipse, navigating between EA and Eclipse is greatly enhanced. Simple key combinations take the user directly from the EA model to the specific location in the code in Eclipse.

Flexible control over import and export of code.

The MDG Link for Eclipse provides a flexible interface for controlling the import and export of code.The MDG Link for Eclipse allows the user to forward and reverse engineer an entire project with one simple process. With the MDG Link the user has the power to choose which classes are included for both import and export, the ability to choose the file location for newly created classes and more.

To purchase MDG Link for Eclipse or for more information visit:

/products/mdg/link/eclipse/index.html

 

MDG Link for Visual Studio.NET

MDG Link for Visual Studio.NET creates a close coupling between EA and Visual Studio.NET. Now it is possible to generate and reverse engineer .Net classes and see the results within Visual Studio .Net immediately. As MDG Link takes over the standard generate, reverse and view functions within EA, these functions become more tightly coupled with Visual Studio .Net making it possible to build, reverse and explore your .NET code with increased simplicity and power. For more information visit: /products/mdg/link/vs/index.html

To purchase MDG Link for Visual Studio .NET visit:

/products/mdg/link/vs/purchase.html

 

MDG Technologies for CORBA and Python

MDG Technology for CORBA is designed to generate CORBA IDL stubs from existing diagrams, as well as adding IDL support to EA. With MDG Technology for CORBA support for forward and reverse engineering of IDL is added to EA.

The MDG Technology file for Python is designed to allow the inclusion of the Python grammar, code template and MDG Technology file into EA.

For more information visit: /products/mdg_technologies.html

 

Other MDG Technologies Being Developed MDG Technologies for CIM

The MDG Technology for CIM gives EA the ability to generate and reverse engineer CIM (Common Information Model). With MDG Technology for CIM users can create their own CIM reference models as well as user defined CIM models.

For more information visit: /products/mdg_technologies.html


The Sparx Systems Forum

The many vibrant and enthusiastic discussion threads found within the Sparx Systems Forum often end up as design strategies in the development process of Enterprise Architect. The Forum community consists of many individuals who are passionate toward the ongoing evolution of EA.

The Forum is a great place to have your questions answered by many experienced people across the globe. Members of the Sparx Systems research and development team are regularly involved in the discussion threads thus making the Forum a great resource for all involved.


Sparx Systems Global Partners

Sparx Systems operates globally via our association of dedicated partners who not only sell Enterprise Architect, but also offer a full range of products and services to support you in your activities. The range of services include specialist sales advice, language services to cater for regional requirements and a full range of training packages for the beginner to advanced users. Other Sparx Systems Global Partners offer services such as project management, implementation services and many other consultancy activities.

Sister Companies:

Our Sparx Systems Sister Companies are heavily involved in the ongoing development of EA to cater to end-users in specific regions around the globe. Each Sister Company has performed translations of the most up to date EA builds as well as supporting help documentation and the Sparx Systems website.

For more information visit: /partners/sistercompanies.html.

Training Consultants:

Our Global partner training consultants offer a full range of training services to cater for various levels of knowledge. Most Training Consultants not only offer packages in how to get the most out of Enterprise Architect, but also can offer training in UML modeling as well as other domains. You can also register your interest in future training events around the globe by visiting: /partners/trainers/index.html

Value Added Resellers (VARs):

Our VARs usually offer a collection of services available that will accentuate your ability to fully leverage the power of Enterprise Architect. Many VARs offer a variety of high-level consultancy activities including project management, implementation and business process management.

For more information visit: /partners/vars.html

Sparx Systems Resellers:

We have over 100 resellers who operate in most countries across the globe. Our Resellers are independent businesses that will provide you with all the answers to your questions. Many Resellers are happy to demonstrate the features and benefits of Enterprise Architect, thus making your purchase decision easier.

For more information visit: /partners/resellers.html


Other News

New Plug-in for EA: RaQuest

RaQuest is a Requirements Management Tool and is highly integrated with plug-in used with Enterprise Architect.

Although Enterprise Architect has already some features to manage Requirements, RaQuest enables you to manage requirements more effectively. RaQuest provides a lot of lists of requirements under various conditions and prints out the lists. RaQuest can also generate Word or HTML documents.

RaQuest enhances EA features and provides more effective management of requirements.

For more information visit: https://www.sparxsystems.jp/RaQuest/

What's New from  ICONIX

1) New Multimedia Tutorial - EA for Power Users

We'll be shooting video shortly for our new multimedia tutorial:  Enterprise Architect for Power Users.

This new tutorial extends the content covered in our first collaborative effort with Sparx, (Mastering UML with Enterprise Architect and the ICONIX Process) to cover the latest new power user features in Enterprise Architect. The tutorial will include advanced topics such as details of EA's code engineering framework, how to set up a multi-user repository with EA, how to allocate and trace requirements to and from EA models, import/export options, and a variety of other topics.

The CD will be priced at $149 (US) and will be available early next year from both Sparx and ICONIX. You can pre-order a copy by sending EMAIL to [email protected].

 

2) Public Classes - Hands on EA for Power Users

Our open-enrollment public training workshop, Hands-on Enterprise Architect for Power Users will be coming soon to a city near you. ICONIX and Sparx are in the process of finalizing the initial list of (approximately 15) cities worldwide.  These hands-on workshops will be personally taught by ICONIX President and noted author Doug Rosenberg.

Students will work on the design for the Internet Bookstore example featured in Mr. Rosenberg's book: Applying Use Case Driven Object Modeling in a lab-intensive workshop, starting from requirements and use cases, and following the various steps in ICONIX Process, all the way down to generation of code headers using Enterprise Architect. ICONIX Process is a minimalist, streamlined approach to use case driven UML modeling which uses a core subset of UML diagrams and techniques to provide thorough coverage of object-oriented analysis and design while avoiding analysis paralysis.

Register your interest without obligation at /partners/iconix/#publicClasses.  These registrations will determine which cities are scheduled, and in what order.

 

3) New Book Featuring EA: Agile Development with ICONIX Process -- People, Process, and Pragmatism

ICONIX President Doug Rosenberg, along with co-authors Matt Stephens and Mark Collins-Cope explain how to follow a use case driven modeling process within an agile approach, hitting the sweet spot between agility and discipline. The book features a running C# / .Net example that was modeled with EA and leveraged EA's reverse engineering capability to help close the gap between models and as-built code as the project evolved over multiple releases. Scheduled publication date is Feb. 2005.

Learn more and find links to pre-order pages on Amazon, etc. at https://www.softwarereality.com/AgileDevelopment.jsp


Release Notes for EA 4.50 Build 740

For previous version updates visit: /products/ea/history.html

  • Updated application "look and feel" UI components.
  • Added "2005" Visual Style (from View Menu)
  • Added a number of additional default hot-key combinations for commonly used functions
  • Added ability to multi-select elements within the project view for dragging and dropping and/or deleting
  • Added option (Tools/Options dialog)to place diagram "tabs" at top instead of bottom of main view (requires restart)
  • Added support for vertically aligning moveable element labels (eg. Port name).
  • Added ability to show UML Technologies and UML Profiles in the UML Toolbox as new pages. Set by right clicking on Technology or Profile in resource View
  • Fixed issue where UML Toolbox scroll buttons may not activate when changing between diagram types
  • Added ability to have multiple Version Control configurations in the same model.
  • Added direct support for CVS in addition to existing SCC support.
  • Modified Interaction fragment dialog to allow larger drop list under Windows 2000/NT
  • Modified Sequence message to include "Set Label Visibility" context menu option
  • Extended Object Search on MySQL repository to include attributetags and operationtags.
  • Connection to repository dialog - replaced unused radio buttons with DBMS text information.
  • Correction to the Roles dialog to save changes to the Note and Description fields when modified
  • Corrected behavior where the notes docked window would lose its contents if an element, feature or connector is modified by one of the properties dialogs
  • Fixed problem with Connector when setting Source and Target thru the Connector Detail menu function. End point offsets are now set to zero when re-assigning source or target to ensure new end point is centred
  • Added ability to synchronise new class members with package visibility into a C++ class (with public visibility).
  • Fixed importing of inner interfaces in C#.
  • Modified Activity drawing to hide stereotype when Diagram "Hide Element Stereotype" option checked
  • Modified Attribute dialog to pick up default type on first entry
  • Fixed display of use case metrics, ecf and tcf values on Oracle, PostgreSQL and ASA repositories.
  • Added ability to "Set Font" on multiple selected elements in diagrams (element context menu)
  • Fixed issues with unwanted whitespace when importing C# comments.
  • Fixed bug with attProperty field substitution macro.
  • Allowed for unit qualified parameter types in Delphi import.
  • Fixed problem with java import when an empty comment (/**/) appears in the source.
  • Handle the declaration of multiple attribute in a single statement better in the Java parser.
  • Added support for tagged values on operation parameters
  • Updated dockable tag window to display tags for connector ends and operation parameters
  • Removed "Tagged Value" tab pages from Attribute, Operation, Connector, Object and Requirement dialogs
  • Added <memo> Tagged Value type - used for storing large and complex data in a tagged value.
  • Corrected behavior in EA where text on printed or clipboard-copied diagrams were incorrectly overlapped.
  • Modified drawing behavior to prevent element names overlapping the stereotype icons in Artifacts and Class Elements.
  • Fixed issue with using cursor keys to resize selected elements.
  • Fixed issue with attribute losing constraints when dragged and dropped between classes in the Project Browser
  • Fixed issue with dragging and dropping a parent element onto its child within a diagram causing a circular reference.
  • Added Requirements #TYPE# tag & updated default HTML templates to show Object requirements type in HTML documentation
  • Updated RTF document generator to include Diagram Note elements when the "Document All Elements" option is turned on
  • Data Modelling:
  • Generate DDL - fixed bug where cascade constraints not generating for MySQL foreign key relationships.
  • Added NOT FOR REPLICATION option to SQL Server data model table columns.
  • Fixed setting of focus back to column name after saving column.
  • Added option to generate a single DDL script for tables selected on a diagram.
  • Fixed bug that truncated long check constraints.
  • Added support for import of Adaptive Server Anywhere 7 schemas.
  • Fixed bug where non-foreign key associations between tables were generated as foreign keys.
  • Added support for MySQL ENUM and SET datatypes for generating DDL.
  • Modified Foreign Key Dialog to sort foreign key parameters to match datatypes of primary key.
  • Modified Foreign Key Dialog to allow moving position of foreign key and primary key columns.
  • Code Template Updates:
    • Added checks for package visibility class members in the C++ Class Body template.

For previous version updates visit: /products/ea/history.html