eaUtils - Sparx Enterprise Architect add-in

eaUtils installation: help section

The installation process for eaUtils add-in is described in this section.

• Install eaUtils addin for Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect

eaUtils settings: help section

eaUtils settings are described in this section.

• eaUtils settings: help section

Model locking control: help section

Most eaUtils features need to update a package, element or diagram. Prior to carry any update, eaUtils checks if there is any lock.

• Version Control locks: eaUtils looks up for any Version Control lock on a parent package e.g. stored in a Subversion repository.
• EA User Security locks: eaUtils also checks if the EA Security is enabled, in which case it looks for any existing lock.

Sorting elements or diagrams: help section

eaUtils sorting features act on the elements or diagrams within a package, and/or within an element of the active project. Enterprise Architect applies a default alphabetical sorting order based on the type and name of the elements. To achieve a better management and more efficient use of the EA project content in the project browser, there is sometimes a need to define a custom sorting order.

Extended eaUtils sorting features and settings provide alternatives to sort elements by choosing the value field (e.g. alias, stereotype, tagged value), an integer value which may be surrounded by a prefix and/or suffix (e.g. REQ-1-PERF), having case sensitivity enabled, etc.

eaUtils sorting features include:

• Sort elements from a selected package or element by Alias
• Sort elements from a selected package or element by Tagged Value
• Sort elements from a selected package or element by Stereotype
• Sort elements from a selected package or element by Name
• Sort elements from a selected package or element by creation order (object id)
• Revert, apply the default sorting order
• Sort a package elements by the order displayed from top to bottom, or from left to right, on the active diagram
• Sort elements or diagrams within a Package Tree 
• Sort diagrams by modified or created date and time 

Important - this feature can modify the elements or diagrams "Tree Position" hidden field value.

Generate elements alias values: help section

eaUtils provides a feature that generates the alias on a set of elements based on their position in the active diagram from top to bottom, or from left to right.

eaUtils also provides a feature that clears the alias from all package elements displayed in the active diagram to easily revert the initial state.

This feature runs from an opened diagram.

Important - this feature can modify elements Alias field.

Diagram Breadcrumb Trail: help section

eaUtils Breadcrumb Trail navigation feature generates hyperlinks on a diagram to navigate back to linking diagrams. A linking diagram has at least one element that opens the current diagram i.e. a composite element (business process, activity, use case, class, SysML block...), hyperlink, package, or navigation cell.

This feature runs from the active diagram.

Important - this feature can create hyperlinks objects on the diagram.

Find in All Diagrams: help section

eaUtils Find in All Diagrams is an enhanced version of Enterprise Architect's matching feature i.e. it displays the list of diagrams that use the selected element with additional information:

• Modified and created date and time
• Author
• Locked status
• Parent package name
• Selected diagram full path
• Connectors and Image Asset support
• Element or connector details (type, stereotype, guid)

SysML helpers: help section

eaUtils provides a feature dedicated to the systems engineering SysML modelling language: 

• Synchronize SysML parts stereotype in Internal Block Diagrams according to the associated SysML blocks stereotype.

eaUtils SysML features can be disabled via eaUtils general settings.

A training on SysML with Sparx Enterprise Architect tool is available in France: please click on this link for further information in french.

Image Asset support: help section

eaUtils supports image asset elements, available since Enterprise Architect version 13, with the following:

• Create a boundary element from an Image Asset.
• Select the Image Asset in the Browser from a boundary.
• Image asset support in eaUtils Find in All Diagrams.

Manage Visible Relations: help section

Set Visible Relations is a useful diagram feature in Enterprise Architect to set/unset visible links. When a diagram contains many relations of different type and/or stereotype, it can take some time to achieve the expected result.

eaUtils provides an enhanced version of EA built-in feature by organizing the relations by type and stereotype, e.g. to hide all dependencies.

Update EA notes: help section

Ever run a model search on your diagram notes or constraints in Enterprise Architect to find unnamed elements, making it difficult to use the search results ?

To cater for this situation, eaUtils Update Notes replicates the notes description to the name so it's visible in EA model search. 

The purpose is illustrated below.

eaUtils MDG Custom Model Searches: help section

Once eaUtils is installed on your computer, its embedded MDG Technology is available. It includes custom model searches.

Compare Diagrams: help section

eaUtils Compare Diagrams aim is to run a comparison between two diagrams and generate results within a new view showing any difference in terms of elements and connectors.

Click here to open this help in French (aide en ligne).

eaUtils keyboard shortcuts: help section

eaUtils keyboard shortcuts are useful to quickly run a feature. Since Enterprise Architect doesn't yet support a reserved list of shortcuts for add-ins, eaUtils keyboard shortcuts must be enabled should any conflict with EA or another third-party add-in occurs.

All existing shortcuts used in EA (see link here) have been excluded from the list of eaUtils hotkey candidates.

To enable eaUtils shortcuts, open eaUtils settings and select the option from the main tab (general settings).

eaUtils keyboard shortcuts:

• Find in All Diagrams: Alt + U
  • Note: this is the improved version of EA feature available via Ctrl + U
• Find the Image Asset for a Boundary: Alt + I
• Manage Visible Relations: Alt + V
  • Note: this is the improved version of EA feature available via Ctrl + Shift + I