We have often to do with EA models we’ve never seen before. In such cases, you have either to click through the project tree (can be confusing and time-robbing) or you use some pre-defined Model Views.
The picture bellow shows how it could look like on your machine when you’ve read the article to the end.
The feature could be very helpful also in other situations and we wonder why it’s used so rarely. Using Model Views you can create access points to any elements you want independently from its position in the project browser. It can be compared with database views if you are familiar with databases.
The only thing which is a bit annoying while creating a view, you have to create a model search first. If you use the Query Builder, the created search can be used as a basis for a view without any problems. In case the functionality of the Query Builder is insufficient and you need to create an SQL query, it has to fulfill some criteria. Within your query, you need to define three fields: CLASSGUID, CLASSTABLE and CLASSTYPE, as shown in the following example:
SELECT ea_guid AS CLASSGUID, 't_diagram' as CLASSTABLE, Diagram_Type AS CLASSTYPE, Name, [Version], Author, Stereotype, CreatedDate, Diagram_Type, ModifiedDate
FROM t_diagram
WHERE t_diagram.Diagram_Type = 'Statechart'
ORDER BY ModifiedDate ASC
Diagram Views help a lot to explore unknown projects. Thus, we have created views for all common diagram types.
Feel free to download and to use them: Searches and Views
First step – open Model Search / Find in Project dialog and import the xml file that contains the definition of searches:
Second step – activate Model Views window and import the xml file that contains the definition of views:
Enjoy!
