Adrian Support

[Adrian Support]

Hi

Looks like you found a case that slipped our list when we expanded the output of attributes/operations from just single elements to elements within a package tree.

Will submit the changes for inclusion in a maintenance release.

Regards

eaDocX support

[Adrian Support]

Agree – but like many things it comes down to how complex we want the interface to be. The more complex, the greater the chance the user makes errors that cause other problems in their models.

For example when we added importing of relationships we were very prescriptive about the format, otherwise the interpretation of the input could cause lots of problems!

I’ll discuss here and we will no doubt end up with a better solution in time.

BR

Adrian

[Adrian Support]

Hi Guillaume

I am sorry to say that the way that eaXL works means that what you seek is not currently possible. When importing a package eaXL will add the package as the child of either:
– the package if defined in the preceding row
or
– the parent package of the element in the preceding row

As the worksheet is effectively stateless there is no information (as present) that would indicate that a package needs to added as a peer rather than as a child.

I can see solutions that would provide this as an option but that is subject to a review and decision by our design authority!

BR

Adrian

[Adrian Support]

Hi Phil,

Just checked and all works fine for me on export, updates and additions when outputting from a package (package tree) / diagram. However I did note that if you do the update/input for a single element then this may not be the case.

Can you confirm if you are outputting using “Open in Excel” or the “Open ALL in Excel” / “Open in Excel | Element”?

FYI: there have been no changes in this area for a while so can’t imagine it’s anything to do with versions.

[Adrian Support]

Hi

Looks like versions of windows and Excel the same as one of test systems.

Let me know if the same issue exists when you try on another system – if it does please confirm the installations on that system.

I am looking into these issues again – to see if I can replicate.

Regards

[Adrian Support]

Hi,

The only difference between our test environment appears to be you have you have German as your language. We do tests with different languages.

We had an issues some time ago with regional settings – there is a problem with Excel when the language of the windows machine is different from the language of the Excel installer i.e. if you had a German machine but did an installation using an English version of Excel.

Then although you have your regional settings set to German the underlying “culture” of Excel remains English. We did a workaround for this so this should not be an issues.

However, you have an issue. Before we start exploring further can you advise:

• Is your basic windows install english
• 32-bit or 64-bit
• Was the Office install an English installer
• What version of Excel – this is under Help – something like Version: 14:0.7116.5000 (32-bit)

With this information I can explore further and try to emulate your setup so I can to check for issues.

Thanks

[Adrian Support]

Hi,

First time I’ve heard this so I’ve just checked and see no issues with outputting the dates created or last updated – which should output a string to Excel such as “19/05/2014 16:14:08”.

Can you advise:

• version of EA
• version of eaDocX
• version of windows

Also is this issue only limited to requirements or does it occur when outputting anything?

Let us know and we will try and help.

Regards

eaDocX support

[Adrian Support]

Hi Michel

My guess is this is the same issue – in that the regional settings are different from the install.
Although when the issues was raised we were still using Excel 2010.
I’ll need to take a look and see if I can replicate somehow, and see if there are any changes.
May not be a quick response this time :unsure:

regards

[Adrian Support]

Hi Michel

Not sure I have the answer off the top of my head – we have tested with several different languages and work fine, although we did have an issue about 18 months ago.

There is an issue with Excel when the language of the windows machine is different from the language of the Excel installer i.e. if you had a French machine but did an installation using an English version of Excel. You can change the language used in the UI but the underlying “culture” of Excel remains English. We did a fix for this but were limited by the languages we tested.

In the 1st instance can you advise:

• What version of windows you have installed
• What you language you have configured for your machine (and I assume Excel)
• What version of Excel
• If at all possible what version of the installer was used

Not sure I have the answer but it sounds very similar to this other issue.

Regards

eaDocX support

[Adrian Support]

Hi Michel,

You can do a lot without impacting the Re-Import.

If I explain what content we rely on and then I’ll outline some rules below:

We rely on:

Row 1 – (and apart from A,B,C) it stores the internal name for the element attribute, or existing tagged value name

Row 2 – (and apart from A,B,C) it stores the user name for the column whether an element attribute or tagged value. Note that if this is a value is placed in a column in Row 2 and the corresponding cell in Row 1 is blank we assume it is a new tagged value

Row 3 – is reserved for value typing

Column A stores the GUID for existing items – for new items on import this would be blank until the element has been created

Column B stores the Parent ID – once again if/when the element exists

Column C contains the Element Type – this must be set for new elements, otherwise reflects the current type

So at present this means:

* Don’t move columns A,B,C
* Don’t move rows 1,2,3

So in turns of your points:

1. Changing cellattributes (color, aligment, border) –> Don’t see any issues with this
2. Data Validation List for columns –> no problem excepting they should not comprise the values in Rows 1,2,3
3. Reorder columns –> yes APART from A,B,C
4. Conditional formatting –> no problem

I hope the explanation helps you understand the rules.

Just so you are aware we are looking at some enhancements which may involve modifying these rules, if some additional, special cases are used. We do not anticipate any changes for current functionality.

If in doubt or you experience any issues do let us know.

BR

eaDocX Support

[Adrian Support]

Hi Guillaume,

I think what you are asking for already exists.
Within the eaXL menu “Tools | Options” and select “Enable display of information”

This will present a small window with data relating to the comparison.
There are also other options to provide other information.

I hope this is what you are looking for.

BR
Adrian

[Adrian Support]

Hi Guillame,

You can already do that in that row 2 is the “User name” row compared to the “EA name” which we store in row 1.

Row 2 is ignored by eaXL on import and we use the contents of row 1.
Of course, if you create a worksheet which has additional columns and the appropriate cell in row 1 doesn’t have a known EA name then we assume that it is a tagged value that has been added and import this as a tagged value.

So the approach is to:

• Export the worksheet that you want completing with the relevant columns defined.
• Change the contents of the cells in row 2 Column D onwards as required
• Provide to your customers to add their information[.li]

import

I would suggest you double check with a sample of your own to confirm you get the expected behaviour.

Hope that provides what you need.

BR

Adrian

[Adrian Support]

Hi

What you seek is not yet possible.

When we looked at including the ability to add attributes/operations to classes the concern we had was that class names were not necessarily unique and there was a risk that of them being assigned to the wrong class. OK – a low risk but then trying to be cautious here, so our decision was to ensure we had a reference point and hence the need to use an initial export of an attribute from the relevant classes.

We are currently looking at a range of additions to eaXL including the ability to imported attributes/operations etc which would not require the initial export. The challenge for us is to select the most representative use cases. In your case, you state that you have the element ID as well as the name and that would work fine, for others this may not be the case.

We are consolidating feedback and hope to come up with a workable solution(s) for all.

Adrian
eaDocX support

[Adrian Support]

Hi Guillaume

Further to my previous I’ve just done a quick check and produced a small VBA function that may be a temporary workaround to address the issue with Excel stripping the CR from CRLF which EA needs.

The approach is to enter your data into a dummy column and using a VBA function modify the string that will be in the description field for import.

So –

• Add a VBA module to the workbook – see code below {/li]

Create another column BUT DO NOT NAME IT – otherwise it will be recognised as a tagged value!

• Put your notes into the relevant cell
• In the Description put the function =addCR(Cell where the notes are) e.g. =addCR(F5) – this should created a copy of the notes that you have in that cell and you want to import – you won’t see any visual difference as the function just inserts control characters

You should then be able to import and get the CRLF as you expected.

Here is the code – I suggest you inspect and test as this is a 10min job – but thought you’d like the potential workaround quickly.

[code]
Function addCR(a As String)
Dim L As Integer
L = Len(a)
Dim sout As String
Dim s2 As String
For i = 1 To L
s2 = Mid(a, i, 1)
If Asc(s2) = 10 Then
sout = sout + Chr(13)
End If
sout = sout + s2
Next
addCR = sout
End Function
[/code]

Any issues let me know.

we will look into a longer term solution – but hope this helps today.

BR

Adrian

• This reply was modified 10 years, 9 months ago by Adrian Support.

[Adrian Support]

Hi Guillaume,

I have checked your scenarios, and what you describe does happen. In looking at the code we get the cell back from Excel complete with CR/LF’s that we may have put in e.g. on export. However, I noticed that if I did a cut and paste from a document to a cell it looks like Excel removes the CR, and it looks like this is an issue for EA. I did some further digging and indeed Excel will on data entry substitute LF to replace CR + LF!!

To verify I did a test by checking for LF’s and adding a CR, if not present. and that seemed to do the trick.

Before making any changes I’ll have to work through other scenarios and do some checking but looks like there may be a solution in the future.

But back to the now – not sure how to force Excel to include both CR/LF in the cell.

I’ll take a look and see whether i can find a way in Excel e.g. a macro that could be run to reintroduce the CR as it looks that we have no issues with exporting CR LF into a cell – it seems to be the cut and paste of data into the cells.

Regards

Adrian

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