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Saturday, 16 January 2021 19:05

Manage Visible Relations in your diagram and custom searches with eaUtils 1.19

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eaUtils 1.19 addin for sparx enterprise archirect

eaUtils 1.19 is available to download with a new feature to manage the visible relations from your diagram. Based on the built-in Set Visible Relations in Enterprise Architect, it is an enhanced version to help with diagrams with several relations of different type and/or stereotype.

EA searches have also been added in eaUtils embedded MDG: search elements (e.g. classes, use cases, components, etc.) by GUID, Object ID, Stereotype, or Alias.

This article illustrates this feature with a UML class diagram and an Archimate view.

Manage Visible Relations

Example with a Data Model (UML class diagram)

The class diagram below is a data model with different types of relations: stereotyped dependencies, associations, a composition, and an agregation.

enterprise architect class diagram data model sample

Using EA menu (Layout > Appearance > Set Visible Relationships with EA 15.2) or Ctrl + Shift + I keyboard shortcut opens the following popup:

sparxsystems enterprise architect set visible relations

Hiding all the "mapping" stereotyped dependencies is not straightforward as the stereotype is not shown. Furthermore there isn't any easy way to hide all dependencies in a single or few clicks.

Note: relations can also be hidden from the diagram by using the Delete key from a connector and select hide the connector (see below). As regards, EA Set Visible Relations is useful to undo this action by reviewing hidden connectors.

sparxsystems enterprise architect hide connector

To use eaUtils, right click in the diagram and select [Diagram] Manage Visible Relations from eaUtils menu. Alternatively use the Alt + V keyboard shortcut.

manage visible relations initial context sparxsystems enterprise architect addin

Tree structure content:

  • Root node: type and name of the diagram.
  • Level 1: each connector type e.g. association, aggregation, dependency, etc.
  • Level 2: each connector stereotype.
  • Level 3: each connector with the current visibility (enabled: visible, disabled: hidden). The package and element name are given for the source and target element. When the Link to Element Feature is enabled on the connector, the attribute name is also available.

In the example below, the "Test" stereotyped associations and all dependencies have been disabled to hide them from the diagram.

manage visible relations selection sparxsystems enterprise architect addin

Note: selecting a connector shows its details in the header (GUID + Direction).

Confirming with OK leads to the following result:

class diagram data model result set visible relationships with sparxsystems enterprise architect addin

Example with an Archimate view (Enterprise Architecture model)

Below is a view from my Prolaborate Archimate demonstration involving business, application and technical elements.

archimate enterprise architecture set visible relations initial

Archimate uses stereotyped connectors as per Enterprise Architect built-in profile, hence running eaUtils Manage Visible Relations (Alt + V or via a right click on the diagram to show eaUtils menu) leads to the following.

archimate enterprise architecture set visible relations details

Below is a selection of links to hide i.e. all assignment, serving, association connectors and one triggering link. 

archimate enterprise architecture set visible relations selection

Result:

archimate enterprise architecture set visible relations result

Search by GUID, Object ID, stereotype, or alias in Enterprise Architect

Having installed eaUtils, an embedded MDG is available. You can check it by opening the installed MDG Technologies (Specialize > Manage Tech in EA 15.2):

eaUtils MDG Technology

Open EA model search, you can use eaUtils search by GUID, Object ID, Stereotype or Alias:

MDG Technology EA custom search by guid, object id

The latest version of eaUtils addin is available from the following link : www.eautils.com/download.

Click here for a demonstration video of this feature.