CODEWITHSUNDEEP
enterprise-architect
Frank Endriss
Frank Endriss

Reputation: 140

Enterprise Architect composite diagram link not displayed with ArchiMate

We use elements with composite diagrams in our models. Usually if such a composite diagram exists, then the element shows a link icon to indicate a double click will open/show the diagram.

But with ArchiMate elements the link icon is not shown unless using the rectangle notation. Is there some workarround or configuration to allways show the icon?

This screenshot illustrates the problem: enter image description here

Upvotes: 0

Views: 737

Answers (1)

Geert Bellekens
Geert Bellekens

Reputation: 13784

Out of the box, there is nothing you can do. There is no setting or configuration that will show the composite diagram indicator on the Archimate elements.

The reason is that the shapescript used for these elements simply doesn't include this indicator.

There are a few options to get this done anyway

1 Send a feature request to Sparx

You can use this link: https://www.sparxsystems.com/support/forms/feature_request.html to send an official feature request to Sparx Systems. They might one day implement this, but there are no guarantees at all.

2 Override the standard the ArchiMate MDG

Steps include

  • Create your own stereotypes in a profile, redefining the existing ArchiMate stereotypes. See the manual for more details
  • Include your profile into an MDG
  • Add your MDG to your model or environment
  • Set your MDG to Active to actually make the redefines happen.

This might be interesting if you want to add additional properties (tagged values) to the standard ArchiMate stereotypes as well. I'm not so sure if it's worth the trouble just to add the composite indicator.

3 Hack the existing Archimate MDG file

The Archimate MDG is defined in the file C:\Program Files (x86)\Sparx Systems\EA\MDGTechnologies\ArchiMate3.xml. This is an XML file that you can open with any text editor. The shapescripts are included in binary form like this

<Image type="EAShapeScript 1.0" xmlns:dt="urn:schemas-microsoft-com:datatypes" dt:dt="bin.base64">
          UEsDBBQAAAAIAGaEbU+CvMH4PQIAADAKAAAHABEAc3RyLmRhdFVUDQAH1zDMXdcwzF3XMMxd
          zVVJTsNAEOyrkfhDFC6OlAP7IsSRF/AAlMSJY5FNjgMKiL9T1Z3B9tiJAxKLLI9nqamumV68
          lLH0ZCFDackUvURmcigH8qZtIBPMrWUuK8nwrBV5J23pYy6VCKMUo9sNeobZpTJG6L0AmWF9
          BZRDWJvISELFLcGYAkveVC2E4EsxGmDUA2MMDUNl5jjD3jlGbeniPcbbwWOsTnOgukbgTuQV
          vVDO5AL4K+A7n0oCrJORVhfKPAayuD6E5Qk4FkCS5RT7u/pea3vm8VFltIVrBB6y8USRWuap
          n7CnHj/F6jNWM3xDqK+zR20zD+OfsYw5UQzbMqrO2m6mm72YzB75mpjKmPfNlx7g3Tf51zh8
          xdUoChWXK687AWOXHlohxi2WGZuMSnqKa1QfbyKQkbjf7hn6U/Rt30AYLZlY/hQZ3Dff3fIs
          O0R+H4FmEe+EfOxF2D0EPsY3Qx4ydnMb7n7rrTmldXbG8ohVejAGjpWgfJLcRqA1YgIl1Srg
          FPM8md7O0afVI+8+nFb7Wsu3qJh51RdGC1ec3u32GVOMPiqIVQU1LFGx6B2LEafBdvx0xdrv
          Nvw7YB4M9By5nRb6VMLZ4m3Yac1XOZoeZC7mnvuN8zbl91crMyuj+Y01oCvnXk7vqszfq8W+
          hf9fi+3vtbsW23+trhY3xRxnprg//v8TYTUgtjn2HuS+EHt/G3VN1hPMV89pFl2FKdotV04/
          Zl0UufbS80x1BxEO7f5f1V1lr1tm+F73/W5Z46PqKu8HUEsBAhcLFAAAAAgAZoRtT4K8wfg9
          AgAAMAoAAAcACQAAAAAAAAAAAACAAAAAAHN0ci5kYXRVVAUAB9cwzF1QSwUGAAAAAAEAAQA+
          AAAAcwIAAAAA
</Image>

If you replace that section with a shapescript of your own, it will happily accept that. You can create this format by creating your own profile in EA and then exporting the package as a UML profile. EA will then convert your shapescript into this binary format.

I one published the shapescript for most of the MDG's, including ArchiMate3 on github. That might give you a head start when developing your own.

Upvotes: 2

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