Adding elements to a managed diagram

Once the user has created their new diagram, they can start to add elements to it. Model Expert helps in a number of ways.

MDG

If you have chosen to create an MDG for your diagram type, then the user will see a customized toolbox for the diagram, for example:

This is the toolbox created by the example model ‘Stakeholders and Requirements’ Reference Model, for the “Stakeholder diagram”. See Generating MDGs

Modellers can now choose elements and connectors from the list.

Notes: Quick Linker options are not controlled by these generated MDGs, because Quick Linker definitions apply to the whole repository, not just the managed packages.

Editing elements using Custom Properties

When the Reference Model is defined, there is an option to ‘Use Custom UI for elements of this type’

If this is checked, then when the modeller opens the element, they will see a simplified view of the element. Customizing the EA properties UI

Adding multiple elements

See Adding multiple new elements

Preventing Duplicate elements

‘Re-use only’ element types

When creating EA diagrams, you will use some new elements, and some existing ones. Sometimes, you want to make sure to NOT create new elements when there are already elements to re-use. For example, you may have a standard set of project Stakeholders, which you’d like all modellers to re-use. Or a set of existing architecture components which most modellers can’t add-to.

Model Expert allows you to enforce this idea of ‘re-use only’ element types, when users add elements to a diagram. See Making a package Managed or Un-managed for more options.

Example

If your model manager has chosen to allow only existing element types for some of the diagram contents, then you may see (for example, when you try to add a Stakeholder to the ‘My Stakeholder diagram’ in the Requirements with more RM properties package:

This package is not only managed by the ‘Stakeholders and Requirements’ RM, but has customization options, so that modellers in this package can only choose ‘Stakeholders’ from a specific package of existing ones.

When you try to add Stakeholders from outside this package, you will see:

These are the only Stakeholders that can be added.