[Enterprise Architect] #14. Trace and Navigation, Relation, composition

Trace and Navigation and Relation, Composition

In this post, we will learn about Enterprise Architect (EA)’s Trace and Navigation, Relation, composition together with Traceability, Relation window, Navigation Cell, and Composition Diagram.

Trace and Navigation : Traceability

Traceability is an important feature in Enterprise Architect (EA) for identifying relationships and interactions between elements in a model. Here’s how to use this feature and its main features:

1. Open the Traceability window:

Open the Traceability window by following the path ‘Start → All Windows → Design → Trace’.

2. Check the traces of all elements in the diagram:

In the Traceability window, you can check the traces of all elements used in the diagram. This helps you understand how each element is connected.

3. Check trace of specific element:

You can check the trace of a specific element by clicking on it. This feature helps you understand the relationships between other elements associated with that element.

4. Find elements in the diagram:

You can search which diagram the element is in by right-clicking on a specific element and selecting the ‘Find in Diagrams..’ option. This is useful for quickly finding that element.

5. Add elements to the diagram:

Elements that have connections but are not currently displayed in the diagram can be added to the diagram using the ‘Place Element(s) in Diagram’ function. This feature helps improve the completeness of your diagrams.

By leveraging EA’s Traceability capabilities, you can gain a clearer understanding of the complex relationships and interactions in your project and gain deeper insights into the system structure.

Trace and Navigation : Relationships

In Enterprise Architect (EA), the Relationships window provides the ability to view and manage all relationships connected to a specific element. Here’s how to use this feature and its main features:

1. Open the Relationships window:

Open the Relationships window by following the path ‘Start → All Windows → Properties → Relationships’.

2. Check all Relationships of a specific element:

In the Relationships window, you can check all relationships connected to the specific selected element. This allows you to understand the relationship between that element and other elements.

3. Relationship Editing and Management:

In the Relationships window, you can change the style of a specific connector or hide or show the connector on the diagram (Hide Relation). You can use this feature to improve the readability of your diagram or to highlight important relationships.

4. Edit Relationship of Multiple Elements:

When multiple elements are selected at the same time, relationships connected to all selected elements appear in the Relationships window. This allows you to view and edit multiple relationships at once, saving time and working efficiently.

The Relationships window allows users to more easily manage complex relationships within an EA and better understand the interactions between elements within a project. This understanding clarifies the structure of the system and contributes to effective modeling.

Trace and Navigation : Navigation Cell

Navigation Cell is a useful tool for efficient navigation within Enterprise Architect (EA). This allows users to easily navigate the repository by creating hyperlinks to other diagrams within the repository. Navigation Cell usage and features are as follows:

1. How to create Navigation Cell:

Create a diagram. For the purposes of Navigation Cell, the Package diagram is the most appropriate choice.
Drag and drop another desired diagram onto the canvas of the created Package diagram.
When the ‘Select Type’ menu appears, select ‘Navigation Cell’.
Create a Navigation Cell by selecting the desired icon.

2. Use Navigation Cell:

Double-clicking the Navigation Cell moves to the corresponding diagram.
When you select a navigation cell, an eye icon appears on the right. Clicking this icon will display the diagram pointed to by the Navigation Cell in a small window. Double-clicking on this window will open the diagram in a new tab.

This Image show 2 of Navigation Cells on Package Diagram in order to explain Trace and Navigation

For reference, you can also insert a hyperlink that can take you to a specific diagram by selecting ‘Hyperlink’ in ‘Select Type’. This feature allows users to quickly move between diagrams and explore information.

Navigation Cell is a useful tool for improving the quality of modeling in EA. In particular, it allows users to easily navigate between various diagrams and models and quickly obtain linked information.

Trace and Navigation : Composition Diagram

Composite Diagram is an important feature used in Enterprise Architect (EA) to describe specific elements in detail. This allows you to connect one element to another diagram to express the detailed information or structure of that element more clearly. Here’s how to use Composite Diagram:

1. Create or connect Composite Diagram:

After clicking on a specific element, right-click to open the ‘New Child Diagram’ menu.
Diagrams allowed for the element according to SysML grammar appear.
Here you can create a new Child Diagram or connect an already created diagram using the ‘Select Composite Diagram’ function.

2. Display of Composite Diagram:

After connecting the Composite Diagram to a specific element, a glasses-shaped symbol appears on the element. This mark indicates that a Composite Diagram is connected to the element.
By double-clicking the element, you can move directly to the connected Composite Diagram.

Composite diagrams are useful for separating the individual components of a complex system and expressing each in detail. This allows users to understand the internal structure or function of specific elements more clearly and improves the readability and understanding of the overall model.

In this post, we took a closer look at the important features of Enterprise Architect (EA): Traceability window, Relation window, Navigation Cell, and Composition Diagram. These functions are very important in clearly identifying relationships between elements during the modeling process and helping with efficient navigation and structural understanding.

Traceability window helps you see connections and dependencies between elements.
You can manage all relationships connected to a specific element through the Relation window.
Navigation Cell enables effective navigation and access to information within the model.
Composition Diagram is useful for expressing the internal structure of complex elements in detail.

In the next post, we will look at the function to output models as documents or HTML. This functionality is essential for documenting and sharing modeling results in a variety of formats and will be especially useful during project documentation or presentation preparation. These output capabilities of EA allow modeling results to be communicated to a wider audience and effectively convey project-related information. We ask for your interest and anticipation for the next post.

If you are interested in other articles about the basic usage of Enterprise Architect, please refer to the links below!

[Enterprise Architect] #15. Export Documents and HTML of EA

[Enterprise Architect] #13. Project Browser and Focus Window

[Enterprise Architect] #12. Useful functions creating diagrams with EA

[Enterprise Architect] #11. Diagram Filters and Layers of EA

[Enterprise Architect] #10. Diagram views of EA

[Enterprise Architect] #9. EA diagram practice

[Enterprise Architect] #8. EA basic usage

[Enterprise Architect] #7. EA Modeling Component

[Enterprise Architect] #6. Publish Ribbon of EA

[Enterprise Architect] #5. Layout Ribbon of EA

[Enterprise Architect] #4. Design Ribbon of EA