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Import an MDG to create a Reference Model
Importing and exporting Reference Models
Editing RM Connector type properties
Stereotypes inheriting from other Element Types
Customizing Reference Model Properties
Customizing Reference Model Element Properties
An Introduction to Model Expert
Model Expert is the EA model quality toolkit for model managers and modelers, 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 modeling guidance – helping modelers 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 modelers to use our ‘best practice’ modeling 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 modeling 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 modeling has been completed. Models can contain multiple reference models, which can be applied to different packages or at different stages in your modeling 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 visualizations 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 modelers and model managers to improve and maintain the quality of their EA models. | |
Make a package ‘managed’ | This tags a package with the identity of the Reference Model which should be used to check it. This just saves time when re-checking a model, or opening it in a sheet. | Making a package Managed |
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.
Licensing
All Model Expert licenses are valid for one year. They are available as:
- single-user licenses, which entitle one person to use the Model Expert features of eaTeamWorks application for one calendar year. Single User licenses may be transferred between users. Just contact us with the new user details and we will register the license key to their eaTeamWorks registered account, so we can provide them with product support. You may not sell-on any Model Expert license, or copy the license code. other than for backup purposes.
- Small teams, Growing teams or Enterprise group licenses, where a single key is shared by multiple users. For more information see https://www.eateamworks.com/pricing/