Messages

1

Bugs and Issues / Re: EA16 JavaScript DLGInputBox bug

« on: August 02, 2022, 08:38:09 pm »

Hello all,
Could this issue be that the current EA configuration is calling a 32-bit "ActiveX" object which is why the 64-bit version comes back with an error?

I am not sure but it sort of looks like it.

Thanks, Adam

I was having similar issues, and found that if you look at the code in the include file you will see:

Code: [Select]

function DLGInputBox( promptText /* : String */, title /* : String */, defaultText /* : String */ ) /* : String */
{
// JavaScript has no intrinsic InputBox method, therefore we have to steal VBs
var vbe = new COMObject("ScriptControl");
vbe.Language = "VBScript";

return vbe.eval( "InputBox(\"" + promptText + "\",\"" + title + "\",\"" + defaultText + "\")");
}

After some experimentation with the Javascript interpreters COMObject( ) method, i started looking at the Javascript EA-Addin functionality.

The JS-Addin feature claims to have EA UI integration for menu items, dialog boxes and such, but I have not yet been able to get it working in EA 16. note the EA16 plugin examples in the example repository seem to be broken (reported).

If you do manage to get the add-in route working, please post..

Update:
After some digging in the JS-Addin documentation, the dialog box i can find is the JavaScript implementation of Session.Input.
Try this in the JavaScript console:

Code: [Select]

Session.Input("Hello")
It may be that any JS-Addin with a UI more complex than a simple dialog-box, requires a diagram with elements and uses the element properties for inputs.

2

General Board / Re: Migration from EA15 to EA16; What do we lose?

« on: July 22, 2022, 08:17:27 pm »

In my experience, EA 16 performs a conversion. If you want to be able to use an EAP file between users with EA15 and EA16 i suggest installing Pro cloud server, and setting the EAP file up as a shared repository. Its pretty simple to share a model from a desktop system using this.
If you go this route, make sure to limit access to the EAP file, so that only PCS can access it.

3

General Board / How do i enable the Ultimate edition "Instant Integration" feature?

« on: July 21, 2022, 06:56:32 pm »

Hi,

As an Ultimate user, I have some questions about the Ultimate Edition "Instant Integration" feature. According to the blurb:

Get instant access to the Pro Cloud Server external data integration capabilities. No additional client fees - just install and connect. In addition you get the MDG Integration for MS Office product ( separate download ) for working with MS Office tools and Enterprise Architect models.

How do i turn this feature on in PCS?
If so, how? I cannot find any reference on how to enable this feature using the Ultimate license in the documentation. For example WebEA seems to require an explicit license token.

Does it cover custom Integration Plugins?
The last conversation i saw mentioned that you need an explicit license to develop your own integration plugins.

How does Sharepoint Integration differ from the MS Office MDG sharepoint sync integration?
There does not seem to be any overlap.

4

Bugs and Issues / Behavior != 'Internal Code' + broken JS Model add-in examples in V16.0.1605

« on: July 15, 2022, 01:26:20 am »

Hi,

I had the bright idea of porting some of my scripts to a model based plugin, starting with the instructions here:
https://community.sparxsystems.com/component/k2/1277-enterprise-architect-15-model-based-javascript-addin

As it seems, ironically, that "behavior", as described for V15 above does something else now in V16. It may be that there is an error in the article, as when i used the 'Edit internal code' option instead, it seemed to do something. Edit 'Internal Code', or the definition of 'Internal Code' is also something that i can find no documentation on.

Then i started looking into the Example QEA model supplied with v16, referenced by the add-in documentation, where i found that the examples look to be broken. I have not checked, because that is as far as i went before i dropped the idea as to much effort.

5

General Board / Re: HTML Exports from Enterprise Architect

« on: March 31, 2022, 10:05:23 pm »

Will the EA16 HTML export work on Sharepoint?

6

General Board / Re: Sequence diagrams

« on: March 31, 2022, 09:54:50 pm »

I feel your pain. This was a serious enough frustration and time sink with our people for us to consider PlantML for speeding things up. Sketching out SD's, and batch add to the model later.

7

Automation Interface, Add-Ins and Tools / Re: [EA 16] - work in team cababilities

« on: February 26, 2022, 01:45:52 am »

I thought the EAP and EAPX repositories are essentially single-user reps, which happen to support multiple users - sometimes, and with risks attached? I never recommend shared EAPX - to much risk of bad things happening. And why would you, given that there are free, proper multi-user DBMSs.

In larger organisations, getting a proper database for EA can be quite a hassle, in my experience, especially if EA is used only as a project tool and not a strategic tool. I have in many cases been denied dedicated EA model databases, since there is no EA product owner and strategy for EA use in the organisation. Installing your own database in these scenarios, is a no-go too.

In these cases our only option was using an EAPX model on a fileshare and doing versioning and baselining by simply making a copy of the EAPX file with the baseline/version date.

Henrik

This is the kind of setup that made me look at PCS server in the first place. Running PCS to serve locally (from a my desktop) and using it as the single point of access to manage the teams access to EAPs, rather than relying on fileshare. Sharepoint for example has a horrible habit of forking the eap files if it gets confused for any reason, littering the model folder with "model-hostname" versions of the model file.

8

Automation Interface, Add-Ins and Tools / Re: [EA 16] - work in team cababilities

« on: February 23, 2022, 07:52:04 pm »

...
Use a terminal solution (citrix, WVD, RDS) if the performance of connecting the EA client to the database is an issue
...

We switched from direct database access to the Pro Cloud Server connection and remote connections performance (for example from home) increased dramatically. I can highly recommend it.
This also allowed us to limit database access to only the PCS service account, which increases security considerably.

I recommend the free PCS too. Its fiddly to setup, but once done, the PCS can be used to serve EAP and EAPX files to a team. This is also how i get around the problems with giving multiple users access to EAP files stored on sharepoint, NFS or similar.

9

Automation Interface, Add-Ins and Tools / Re: Add-In in net core 6.0?

« on: January 25, 2022, 07:10:36 pm »

If i had a feature request, it would be to add Javascript support for external support scripts by packaging the SpiderMonkey JavaScript Shell that is part of the SpiderMonkey library, as a separate command line binary with EA.

10

Bugs and Issues / Re: EA randomly freezes, possibly waiting for some directory/domain access

« on: January 25, 2022, 06:44:46 pm »

I think Andreas explicitly stated he is working on an .eap file on a local drive.

No sharepoint or synchronizations or anyhting like that.

@Andreas, please post back here if you hear from Sparx support. I'm interested in the solution they will hopefully provide.

Geert

I also use PCS for local files too. At least model files that i constantly use.

11

Bugs and Issues / Re: EA randomly freezes, possibly waiting for some directory/domain access

« on: January 18, 2022, 08:39:01 pm »

I have come across this situation too, especially when it comes to storing large models in an EAP file on infrastructure like sharepoint.

My solution is to keep the model on sharepoint, but to setup a PCS server on my local Desktop to provide access it. It has mitigated most of the 'freeze and blur' issues i have had. Unsecure PCS pretty easy to setup if you are keeping access to localhost. 

I also found that a PCS server (with secure setup) has helped me avoid sharepoint sync issues when trying to edit the same model from a my office desktop and a my home office laptop. Setting up a secure PCS is much trickier though, so make sure to set time aside for it if you want to go this route.

12

PCS Frequently Asked Questions / Tokens, renewal and expiry - what exactly happens after 1 year?

« on: January 13, 2022, 08:57:59 pm »

Hi,

I am considering creating an integration plugin to pull information into a cloud hosted model. To do that, i understand that i need to buy a token.

Reading up on tokens, it seems that they expire after one year, but I have not been able to find any clear information on what that means in practical terms. On the face of it, it looks like i have to pay a yearly fee or risk the loss of my own integration plugin.

Is this true? or is it similar to the EA yearly renewal approach. That the token gives access to new versions, and only works with certain versions of the PCS server?



 

13

Automation Interface, Add-Ins and Tools / Re: Inspecting QEA databases - Information only.

« on: January 11, 2022, 08:04:09 pm »

When working with SQLite, a tool worth considering, created by the author of SQLite, is jsish.

Jsish is a single binary CLI Javascript shell. It is available on most platforms, including on embedded, and has out of the box capabilities such as SQLite, MySQL, Websockets/Web server, including an SQLite Database Browser (SQLiteUI).

I have been experimenting with jsish as a way to mine data from various SQLite databases,  over REST/JSON, using the EA 'Data Miner Diagram' feature.

14

General Board / Re: Model Integration for Microsoft® Office beta questions.

« on: November 16, 2021, 10:39:32 pm »

Thanks for the feedback.

....

It's mentioned in the Install and Configure plugins page, but if that's not what you're looking for I can't help.

https://sparxsystems.com/enterprise_architect_user_guide/15.2/pro_cloud_server/pcs_plugins_config.html

Your surmise was correct, I was looking for specifics on what it does. 

15

General Board / Re: Model Integration for Microsoft® Office beta questions.

« on: November 12, 2021, 08:30:42 pm »

1. 32 and 64 bit relate to your office installation, not your EA installation. You can use either with any 32 bit edition of EA. We have an update hopefully not too far away that will add support for a 64 bit EA.

Now we have EA16 versions to confuse the issue, can you make this office dependency clear in the documentation please?

2. There will be more updates, I don't know what those updates will be yet.

Any ideas when this will be known? Also i cannot find any specific documentation on the Sharepoint PCS integration plugin, is that available somewhere?