eaUtils - Sparx Enterprise Architect add-in

Sparx EA native feature

Enterprise Architect built-in Find in All Diagrams feature displays the diagrams that contain a selected element e.g. a class or an actor, or an instance of that element.

• If the element is used in a single diagram, this diagram is opened.
• If the element is not used in any diagram, the list is empty:

eaUtils enhanced version

Pending a future enhancement in Sparx built-in EA Find in all Diagrams, an enhanced version has been implemented in eaUtils add-in:

• Display the package name for each diagram in the list, and the full path for the selected diagram.
  • This information can be essential when the diagram name is not sufficient to identify the model it belongs to.
  • The Full path can be disabled via eaUtils settings if it has an impact on the loading time due to a a very large, centralized EA repository/DB.
• Support the Image Asset usage from boundary diagram objects.
• Find information flows where the selected element is a conveyed item (e.g. an ArchiMate Data Object between ArchiMate Application Components).
• Support for connectors / relationships.
• Show the element or connector details (type, stereotype, guid).

The Find in All Diagrams is available via a right click on a element or a connector, Specialize > eaUtils > [Browser] Find in All Diagrams, or using the Alt + U keyboard shortcut (if enabled in the general settings).

The Alt+U shortcut also gives the advantage of making this feature available from Enterprise Architect "Find in Project" (Ctrl+F) result entries.

Find in all diagrams with elements

The screenshot below illustrates eaUtils Find in All Diagrams for a UML class:

• Details of the element are shown on top of the results (Results on Class "Class1" - GUID ....) : element type, stereotype and guid
• It is used in 3 diagrams (Link)
• An instance of this class is used in a single diagram (Classifier)

Selecting a diagram displays the full path, whilst double clicking on a diagram opens it.

The screenshot below illustrates eaUtils Find in All Diagrams for the instance of a class:

• The instance is used in 2 diagrams (Link)
• Its classifier is used in 3 diagrams (Instance Of): showing the class of an instance is an enhancement from EA built-in feature

Used with Image Asset elements, as an alternative to EA Image Library since version 13, I found that Sparx EA Find in all Diagrams does not support the diagram usage in the following scenario:

• Create an image or boundary from the Common toolbox on the diagram.
• Right click and select Appearance > Select Image Asset as Alternate Image.
• Select the image asset element to link.
• Result: the image is displayed and linked with this boundary element.

The following diagram illustrates a boundary element (left) and an image asset (right).

Running Sparx Find in All Diagrams on the Image Asset element only generates results when the element itself is used on diagrams (added as a Link). However this is not compliant with SparxSystems recommendations i.e. using a boundary instead of image asset elements on diagrams (see the above scenario). eaUtils "Find in all Diagrams" supports boundary elements linked with Image Assets:

• Used with a boundary, the same element used in other diagrams is identified with Usage Type = Link.
• The linked Image Asset used on diagrams is identified with Usage Type = Image Asset Classifier (not available with EA find in all diagrams).

• Used with an Image Asset, its usage in diagrams is identified with Usage Type = Link.
• The associated boundary elements on diagrams is identified with Usage Type = Image Asset.

Using Information Flows between elements such as Components is a useful feature in EA (see the illustration below).

Finding all diagrams with the information flow where a class, data object, or data type is conveyed can be useful. eaUtils Find in all diagrams supports information flows i.e. the following results are available for a class that is conveyed between UML components. Having selected a "Flow (Connector)" entry, the list of conveyed items is displayed (see DataType1). 

Find in all diagrams with connectors

eaUtils supports connectors to run find in all diagrams as illustrated on the following UML class diagram:

Results show the diagrams where the selected connector is visible. Note: diagrams where the connector has been hidden are not available in the list.

Columns description

• Usage Type
• Link is displayed when the element is found in the diagram (identical to EA built-in feature).
• Classifier is displayed when an instance of this element is found (identical to EA built-in feature).
  
• Instance Of is displayed when the 'classifier' of the selected 'instance' is found (added in eaUtils, this type is highlighted with a yellow background).
• Image Asset Classifier is displayed when the searched element is a boundary and its linked Image Asset is found (added in eaUtils, this type is highlighted with a green background).
• Image Aset is displayed when the searched element is an Image Asset and a boundary using it (alternate image set) is found (added in eaUtils, this type is highlighted with a light blue background).
• Flow is found when the selected element is found within the list of conveyed elements on an information flow (added in eaUtils, this type is highlighted with an orange background).
• Connector applies for a selected connector (added in eaUtils).
• Created Date, Modified Date: diagram created and modified date/time.
• Author: diagram author.
• Locked (true/false).
• Parent Package: name of the package that contains the diagram.
• Diagram Type and Name (identical to EA built-in feature).

Behaviour:

• When a diagram is selected from the list, the diagram full path i.e. the names of all parent packages is displayed above (note: it can be hidden via eaUtils settings).
• On top of the results table, details of the element or connector are displayed: element or connector type, stereotype, guid.
• Up and down arrows can be used as an alternative to the mouse to change the selected diagram.
• A click on a column header changes the sorting order e.g. display diagrams by modified date.
• A double click on a diagram opens this window and selects the element or connector. From EA 13 (build 1503 minimum), the diagram focus applies to the selected element.
• Click on CLOSE or press the Esc key to close the popup window. 
• When a single diagram is found, it is displayed (identical to EA built-in feature).
• When no diagram is found, the following result is displayed.

Video

Find in all diagram feature has been shared via the videos below.