Home / Model Expert Help / Getting Started / An Introduction to Model Expert
An Introduction to Model Expert
Model Expert is the EA model quality toolkit for model managers and modellers, giving you the tools to analyze the content of your models, and identify and apply fixes where needed. You can build best practice reference models for quality checking, and deliver real-time modelling guidance – helping modellers get their models ‘right first time’.
Improve your EA model quality
Correct errors in your model
Model Expert gives you back control of your EA models. With Model Expert you can:
- Understand what’s in your EA Models. See what types and stereotypes your modelers have created, and what kinds of connectors they are using. Also see which of the EA standard fields they use, and which tagged values. And see all of this in a friendly summary dashboard.
- Fix the inconsistencies in your models, using a powerful set of tools to identify incorrect element types & stereotypes, bad connectors, duplicate elements and empty diagrams.
Model Governance simplified
Using Model Expert to make these changes saves you time and effort. But wouldn’t it be better to avoid having to make these changes at all? What we need is a way to stop errors from happening in future, by educating modellers to use our ‘best practice’ modelling style, and letting them check their own work. Model Expert can help with that too.
Train your modellers
With Model Expert you can:
- Create Reference Models which capture your best practice modeling style, including element types & stereotypes, connector and diagram types, and diagram contents. You can also create custom scripts which do detailed validation of models, for example, checking naming conventions. And use these to let modellers do their own governance checks before submitting their modelling to the model manager.
- Deliver guidance and enforce standards. Before modellers start work, apply a Reference Model to each new package, so that they get guidance on modelling in the right way, and enforce your local standards. Making their models right first time.
The Toolkit
Tool |
Description |
See Also |
|---|---|---|
| Package Dashboard | A single page view showing, for a selected package, the number and types of elements, the number and types of diagrams and the number and types of connectors. Plus key measures. | Package Dashboard |
| Package Meta-model | A meta-model snapshot is a UML class diagram which shows all the element types, stereotypes and connectors which are being used in a selected package. This is also accessible from the Model Expert Dashboard. | Creating a Meta-model Snapshot |
| Model Expert Browser | The Model Expert Browser gives you a set of alternative views of what’s happening in your model (by package, elements, authors and diagrams). It also provides additional model management options. | Model Expert Browser |
| Reference Model | A Model Expert “Reference Model” is a model of how you would like your own EA models to look. It is where you define your modelling standards or best practice.
Any EA Model can be checked for quality and completeness against any reference model. Reference model checking can be applied ‘real-time’ or after modelling has been completed. Models can contain multiple reference models, which can be applied to different packages or at different stages in your modelling life cycle. |
Reference Model |
| Reference Model Diagram | Reference Model Diagram types allow the model manager to specify the element types and connector types that are allowed or required in those types of diagrams. | Reference model diagram properties |
| Reference Model Element type | Reference Model Element types allow the model manager to specify the attributes and tagged values that must be populated when those element types are created. | Reference Model Element Type |
| Advanced Relationships | Advanced features and visualisations for EA relationships, including ways to specify, edit and show virtual relationships within an EA model, providing additional traceability insights. | Advanced Relationship Matrices |
| Model quality fixes | Model Expert reports and views provide the tools and guidance need for modellers and model managers to improve and maintain the quality of their EA models. |
System Requirements
See Frequently Asked Questions
Notes
- EA Version
All examples have been created with EA Version 14.1, 15, 15.1 and 15.2.
The example model is an EAPX file, not EAP. Model Expert addin will be found in the EA ‘Specialize’ menu. For previous versions of EA, addins are found in the ‘Extensions’ or ‘Addins’ menus - Performance
When you use Model Expert to analyze a model repository, Model Expert will make a large number of calls to that repository. We have tried to optimize this access, but it may still impact other users of the repository, so if you are experimenting with Model Expert, you might like to take a copy of your repository, and practice on that. - Security
Model Expert needs read-only access to the parts of the model you are analyzing, and write authority to some parts of the model to save the results. Once created, you may wish to keep Reference Models in a separate, read-only area.
Editions
There are two editions of Model Expert:
- The Standard edition is a free, perpetual Model Expert licence, which includes access to all Model Expert features. After 30 days, the premium features are disabled, but the analysis tools remain free to use. Features included in the Standard edition.
- The Premium edition, which is valid for 1 year from date of purchase, gives access to all Model Expert functions. After the license has expired, this reverts to the Standard edition features.
Licensing
Model Expert Premium edition is currently available to buy as
- a single-user license, which entitles one person to use the Model Expert application for one calendar year.
The License may be transferred to another user, and, according to the terms in the Model Expert license Agreement, you should contact us with the new user details when the license has been transferred. That way, we can provide support to that new user. You may not sell-on any Model Expert license, or copy the license code. other than for backup purposes.
- a group license, where a single key is shared by multiple users. Standard sizes are for 10 users, 30 users, or an Enterprise Licence, with unlimited users. Group licences are also valid for one year.