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: help section

eaUtils sorting features act on the elements from a package or an element within an Enterprise Architect project. Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect applies a default alphabetical sorting order based on the type and name of the elements. However in order to achieve a better management and more efficient use of the elements from within the Enterprise Architect project browser, it can be useful to have the choice between a number of alternative sorting options.

Extended eaUtils sorting features and settings provide the option to sort elements based on various fields (e.g. stereotype), 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 the Tagged Value “BrowserOrder", or a custom one
• 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 object id (creation order) (eaUtils 1.14)
• Sort diagrams by the modified or created date and time 
• Sort elements or diagrams within a Package Tree 
• 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

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 collection of elements based on the order displayed from top to bottom, or from left to right, in a diagram selected from the project browser.

eaUtils also provides a feature that clears the alias from all package elements displayed in a diagram, selected from the project browser.

This feature runs on a diagram selected from the Project Browser or from the active diagram.

Note: prior to version 1.15, this feature only worked on the selected diagram from the Project Browser which could be different from the displayed diagram. This has now be resolved to make it easier to use.

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 on a diagram selected from the Project Browser or from the active diagram.

Note: prior to version 1.15, this feature only worked on the selected diagram from the Project Browser which could be different from the displayed diagram. This has now be resolved to make it easier to use.

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
• Diagram full path
• Connectors support
• Element or connector details (type, stereotype, guid)

SysML helpers: help section

eaUtils provides a helping feature when using the systems engineering SysML modelling language in Enterprise Architect. 

• 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 introduced in Enterprise Architect version 13 via the following features:

• 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 obtain the expected result.

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

Update EA notes: help section

Have you ever run a search on your diagram notes or constraints in Enterprise Architect? If your answer is yes, you may have noticed that Notes and Constraints have an empty Name as per the search results list. To cater for this specific situation, I added to eaUtils a feature that 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

When eaUtils is installed on your computer, its embedded MDG Technology is available. It includes custom model searches to run in Enterprise Architect.

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 call 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