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:

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

Section 1. Sort elements from a Package or an Element: introduction, tree position information, settings

eaUtils add-in lets you sort elements from a package or an element based on the value from the selected field amongst the available options: Alias, Stereotype, Name, Tagged Value, or Object ID (creation). This feature can be executed by selecting the package or element to process from the project browser.

This help page covers the following topics:

Tree position update
Illustration with a simple example
eaUtils Sort By settings
Combination of sorting settings
Example used in the associated subsections covering each feature (except from the Object ID)

Additional sorting elements help pages:

Section 2. Sort elements from a Package or an Element by Alias

This help article explains how to use eaUtils Sort By Alias feature on elements within a package or an element.

This feature runs from a package or an element, selected from the Project Browser (it can also be executed against a package tree, click here for more information).

Section 3. Sort elements from a Package or an Element by Tagged Value

This help article explains how to use eaUtils Sort By Tagged Value feature. By default, eaUtils sorts elements according to the "BrowserOrder" Tagged Value. A different Tagged Value name can be used by updating the settings, e.g. "element id".

This feature runs on a package or an element selected from the Project Browser (it can also be run on a package tree, click here for more information).

Section 4. Sort elements from a Package or an Element by Stereotype

This help article explains how to use eaUtils Sort By Stereotype feature on elements contained within a package or element.

This feature runs on a package or an element selected from the Project Browser (it can also be run on a package tree, click here for more information).

Section 5. Sort elements from a Package or an Element by Name

This help article explains how to use eaUtils Sort By Name feature on the elements within a package or element.

This feature runs on a package or an element selected from the Project Browser (it can also be run on a package tree, click here for more information).

Enterprise Architect already sorts elements by their name, however this feature has been implemented so that elements can be sorted by taking into account integer values within a string value. Hence this feature only makes sense when the option "Identify and sort integers within string values" is set (default setting).

To illustrate the purpose, the following list is sorted by EA when running Contents > Reset Sort Order:

Class03, Class1, Class10, Class15, Class2, Class3, Class32, Class35, Class39, Class5, Class9.

eaUtils Sort By Name will update the list with the following order:

Class1, Class2, Class03, Class3, Class5, Class9, Class10, Class15, Class32, Class35, Class39.

Section 6. Sort elements from a Package or an Element by Object Id

sort by object id - creation order

This help article explains how to use eaUtils Sort By Object ID feature on the elements within a package or element. Object ID refers to one of the unique identifiers for any element created in EA, with an incremented value matching the creation order e.g. 1, 2, 3... Note: Object ID values are specific to an element within an EA project, whereas GUID values are specific to an element and remain the same whatever the EA project is used (in case a model is imported within several EA projects).

This feature runs on a package or an element selected from the Project Browser (it can also be run on a package tree, click here for more information).

Section 7. Apply the default sorting order

This help article explains how to use eaUtils Apply Default sorting Order feature on the elements that are contained within a package or element.

This feature runs on a package or an element selected from the Project Browser.

Enterprise Architect already lets you reset the elements sorting order with a right click > Contents > Reset Sort Order, however this is only available for a package. Hence this feature makes it possible to run or process composite elements e.g. a use case, class, activity.

The other advantage is to prevent users from looking for Enterprise Architect built-in Reset Sort Order.

Section 8. Sort elements from a package according to their layout in a diagram

This help article explains how to use eaUtils to sort elements within a package according to their position in a diagram.

This feature runs from the active diagram.

Section 9. Sort elements or diagrams in a package tree

This help article describes the use of eaUtils sorting features on a package tree to sort diagrams, or elements within the selected packages by alias, stereotype, tagged value, name or object id.

This feature runs from a package selected in the Project Browser. Once launched, it displays the tree branch for the selected package, where each package can be selected so its diagrams or elements can be sorted . If the selected package doesn't contain any sub package, the standard sorting dialog window is displayed.