[Enterprise Architect] #3. Start Ribbon of EA

Table of Contents

Explore the Start Ribbon of EA

In this post, I would like to explain the options in Start Ribbon.

This image shows the Start Ribbon of EA in Enterprise Architect. — Spark also provides documentation, “The Ribbon Menu” to help you understand all the functions of Ribbons

Start Ribbon provides a variety of functions to explore, check, and view information in the repository. This ribbon contains tools to navigate to items, view important events, messages, discussions, and tasks the modeler needs on a particular day.

It also provides the ability to view and change style and preferences, including workspace settings. The ‘Start’ ribbon also provides access to help features, including registering license keys and checking for updates.

Start Ribbon consists of All Windows, Appearance, Collaborate, Personal, and Help panels.

Here’s a summary of the main features of each panel:

Panel Name	Main Functions and Features
All Windows	– Various ‘WindowSelectors’ approach – Select and open windows and workspaces – Save role-specific window combinations and arrangements
Appearance	– Defines the appearance of the application – Interface style change settings – Preferences for colors, fonts, diagram styles, etc.
Collaborate	– Collaboration Platform Features – Reviews, discussions, model library – Collaboration tools such as project calendar and ‘journal’
Personal	– Daily diary and memo function – Access to ‘Worksets’ tab – Manage user default diagrams and work packages
Help	– Access the help system – License key management – Access to the Learning Center library

Now, let’s take a closer look at the options each panel provides.

All Windows

The All Windows panel provides access to a variety of Window Selectors to select and open windows or workspaces.

And you can customize your workspace by saving the placement and combination of windows specific to your modeler role. It also helps you select and set a global ‘Perspective’ for your model.

Function	Detail of Function
Design	The Design Window Selector provides access to windows for finding and creating objects within a model and working within a diagram. You can open the required window immediately by clicking on its name.
Properties	The Properties Window Selector provides access to a window for editing an element’s properties, functions, structural elements, and internal structure. You can instantly open the required window or tab by clicking on it. Visible in both the ‘Start > All Windows’ panel and the ‘Design > Element’ panel.
Collaborate	The Collaborate Window Selector provides access to collaboration features including discussions, reviews, journal entries, private conversations, and information about the model as a whole.
Execute	Execute Window Selector provides access to simulation, source code, visual analysis, and process execution windows and tabs.
Construct	Access resource management, change management, testing, and project metrics tools through the Construct Window Selector.
Publish	Publish Window Selector provides access to features for generating static and dynamic reports, exchanging parts or entire models, and maintaining model data accuracy and up-to-date.
Workspace	Displays the Workspace window, allowing selection from a list of system-defined and user-defined (‘User Layouts’) workspaces. Each workspace opens a set of related windows that support a specific task or work area in Enterprise Architect.
Perspective	Displays a list of options to select and set the model’s global ‘Perspective’. Includes ‘All’ Perspectives configuration options, model-defined Perspectives, personally defined Perspectives, and Perspectives in the ‘Specialized’ group provided by MDGTechnologies. The ‘Perspective Sets’ dialog box also includes options to define personal and model-based Perspective Sets and to set up security group-linked Perspectives.

Appearance

The Appearance panel provides options to define the appearance of Enterprise Architect. You can configure the interface style to match the job role you perform and customize how the application behaves when the user is logged in, including setting colors, fonts, and diagram styles.

It also provides options to display the interface in full-screen mode and in different visual styles, as well as the ability to temporarily hide or show selected sections.

Function/Description	Key Contents
Preferences	– Set general options in Enterprise Architect via the ‘Preferences’ dialog. – Control how the system behaves when opening a project, set the home directory and web page, and set the response of the browser window. – Display diagram toolbar at the top of all diagrams – Resize toolbar icons to be larger and more visible – Set toolbars to display automatically through the ‘Toolbars’ tab in the ‘Customize’ dialog box. – Additional user control settings via the ‘Customization’ dialog (‘Other Options’)
Full Screen	Icon to switch to ‘Full Screen’ mode
Visual Style	– Choose from a variety of visual styles, themes and accent colors via the ‘Application Look’ dialog – Option to display window tabs at the top or bottom, and display element properties in tree or list style.
View	– Menu for managing specific segments of the screen and setting how they are displayed – ‘Manage Views’ sub-options include ‘Float View’, ‘Focus View’, ‘Reload View’, ‘Close View’, ‘Close All Except Current’, ‘Close All’, ‘Save All Modified Views’, and ‘Auto Hide’. Includes ‘Active Window’, ‘Auto Hide All Docked Windows’, ‘Close Active Window’, etc. – Set to show/hide the start page with the ‘Show Start Page’ option – Show all ribbons with ‘Show All Ribbons’ option and reveal ribbons hidden by custom ribbon sets – ‘Always on Top’ option keeps the main window on top of all other windows

Collaborate

The Collaborate panel is a collaboration and teamwork-focused platform that allows multiple people to work on models and diagrams simultaneously. Reviews and discussions of elements, a model library, a ‘model mail’ with messages from other modelers, a ‘project calendar’ to list important events, a ‘journal’ to record informal comments, and a Gantt chart to list work assignments. , Kanban diagrams with tasks displayed, and more. And information about elements, diagrams, lists, and matrices is available within the model, and links to these items can be created in collaboration tools. Additionally, these tools are conveniently integrated to provide the information and features needed for collaboration.

Function/Description	Key Contents
Journal	– Display Discuss & Review window in ‘Journal’ tab – Maintain a daily log of actions performed or to be performed on selected elements or diagrams by developers. – Review journal entries through Journal History – Display Journal Help topics
Discuss	– Manage discussions about the current element and diagram in the Discuss & Review window – Individual discussion history can be reviewed through Discussion History – Recently Discussed allows you to create discussion reports for the last 7 days – Display Discussions Help topic
Review	– Set up and manage element or diagram reviews in the Discuss & Review window – Review elements included in selected reviews can be reviewed through Review History – Display a list of current and recent reviews with Manage Reviews – Show Reviews Help topic
Chat	– Start and join chats from the Chat & Mail window – Review individual chats recorded in the model through Chat History – Recent Chats allows you to create a chat report for the last 3 days – Display Model Chat Help topic
Mail	– Access the model mail function through the ‘Mail’ tab in the Chat & Mail window – Display a list of sent emails in the Sent Messages tab – Create and send emails to team members via the Model Message dialog box
Model Home	– Open model diagram by default for all users – Set the currently open diagram as the model default, search for and select a different diagram, or deselect the current default.
Model Library	Open the model library, review and add comments, reports, reviews, and documentation about the structure, functionality, and aspects of a project or related projects.
Calendar	Displays a project calendar set to today’s date, sees reminders of upcoming meetings and events, and can add items for today or in the future.

Personal

The Personal panel provides the option to maintain workspace settings specific to personal logins, manages daily diaries and work sets (groups of windows, diagrams, and views) so you can easily return to them in subsequent work sessions, sets user default diagrams and default work packages, and personal tasks. Includes Gantt chart listing assignments and Kanban diagram management features that you can set as your personal defaults.

Please note that the ‘Set Current as Default’ and ‘Choose Default’ options are available in EA Corporate, Unified and Ultimate Editions. You must also enable user security.

Additionally, the user base diagram (set in the Personal panel) overrides the model base diagram (set in the Collaborate panel). User preferences are themselves overridden by project shortcuts, which define what display to show when opening a project.

Function	Detail of Function
My Diary	Maintain a daily diary, recording activities within your model including ideas, comments, notes, suggestions, events, to-do lists, etc.
Working Sets	Access the ‘Working Sets’ tab to review, edit, select, create and delete collections of Working Sets windows and diagrams
My Diagram	Provides options to open, set, change, or turn off the user’s default diagram
My Package	Finds and opens the default package, or provides the option to select a package to open by default when logging in.
My Kanban	Displays Kanban diagrams set as personal defaults
My Gantt	Displays a Gantt chart listing assigned and unfinished tasks.

Help Panel

The Help panel provides an extensive help system and online support facilities, includes license key management, provides an overview of application functional areas and detailed information on how to use specific tools; It is accessible as a web-based system, with the option to download a file-based version for a local help system and a learning center that provides user-oriented general operating instructions.

Function/Description	Key Contents
Open Help	Opens a help page in HTML format, launched from the web or local system
Search Help	Search for text strings using the ‘Find in Files’ search function
Go to Topic	Open a specific help topic by identifying it by name
Explore Online Resources	Provides submenu options to access resources on the Sparx Systems website.
Open Keyboard Accelerator Map	Opens the ‘Help Keyboard’ dialog, which displays keyboard keys mapped to commands.
Open the Example Model	Opens the EAExample model within the current Enterprise Architect instance.
Configure On-line Help Translate	Displays a dialog box that specifies the language into which the online help should be translated.
Register and Manage Your License Key(s)	Configure and manage license keys used in Enterprise Architect and its Add-Ins.
Check for Updates	Opens the Sparx Systems webpage, which displays the latest builds and release notes.
View the License Agreement	View End User License Agreement
Ordering Information	Show purchasing information
Pro Cloud Server Connection	Displays version details, ping responses, and simple query timing for Pro Cloud server repositories
Read Me	Displays a Readme.txt file containing changes and improvements in Enterprise Architect by build.
About EA	Show installation details, program version, registration key, repository connection, Enterprise Architect edition, user ID
Home Page	Open Sparx Systems website homepage
Libraries	Provides Learning Center information, options for downloading Learning Center libraries, and installing and managing library files.
Register	Open the ‘License Management’ dialog and register your new Enterprise Architect license key