Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect is a visual modeling and design tool based on the OMGUML. The platform supports: the design and construction of software systems; modeling business processes; and modeling industry based domains. It is used by businesses and organizations to not only model the architecture of their systems, but to process the implementation of these models across the full application development life-cycle.
Systems modeling using UML provides a basis for modeling all aspects of organizational architecture, along with the ability to provide a foundation for designing and implementing new systems or changing existing systems. The aspects that can be covered by this type of modeling range from laying out organizational or systems architectures, business process reengineering, business analysis, and service-oriented architectures and web modeling,[2][3] through to application and database design and re-engineering, and development of embedded systems.[4] Along with system modeling, Enterprise Architect covers the core aspects of the application development life-cycle, from requirements management through to design, construction, testing and maintenance phases, with support for traceability, project management and change control of these processes, as well as, facilities for model driven development of application code using an internal integrated-development platform.
The user base ranges from programmers and business analysts through to enterprise architects, in organizations ranging from small developer companies, multi-national corporations and government organizations through to international industry standards bodies.[5][6][7] Sparx Systems initially released Enterprise Architect in 2000. Originally designed as a UML modeling tool for modeling UML 1.1, the product has evolved to include other OMG UML specifications 1.3, 2.0, 2.1, 2.3, 2.4.1 and 2.5.
Standards
Enterprise Architect supports a range of open industry standards for designing and modeling software and business systems. The following are the core standards supported:
Underlying UML modeling are the key aspects that most modeling tools support. The core aspects supported by Enterprise Architect include: profiles, patterns, MOF, OCL, MDA[32][33] transforms, and CORBA IDL.[34] UML validation can be run against the model.[35]
General features
Requirements management
The common features of requirements management supported by Enterprise Architect include customization of how requirements are documented, linking requirements to the design and implementation details, and providing requirements traceability through the design and construction phases.[36] These requirements can be subject to change management, workflow processing,[36] baseline comparison and auditing.[36]
Business modeling and analysis
Enterprise Architect supports a number of methods of modeling business processes using UML as the foundation modeling language. The core languages for business modeling and analysis include BPMN, BMM and VDML, along with various historic profiles.[36]
BPMN can be integrated with DMN models for simulation. This includes the ability to generate executable code from these business rules.[36] Business modeling can be combined with Gap analysis to view potential gaps in proposed solutions.
Model simulation is supported for behavioral diagrams including: state machines, interaction (sequence diagrams) and activity diagrams. For state machine and activity diagrams the execution flow is defined using triggers, guards and effects. The simulation supports re-runs with alteration to the triggered events and supports viewing variables, the call stack and setting debug markers. Simulation can interact with emulated user-interface screens containing common UI fields. Graphical Plots of the simulation can be generated.
There is also support for generating executable code from State Machines for both simulation, as well for use in applications.
BPMN models (using BPSim), can be simulated creating tabulated results for analysis. BPSim also supports Monte Carlo probability-based simulations.
SysML simulation is supported for IBD and Parametric models using Open Modelica or Matlab (using Simulink and Simscape). Mathematical formulas in SysML's Internal Block diagrams and Parametric models can be simulated for plotting graphs used in the analysis.
Simulation is also supported for DMN (Decision Model and Notation). The simulation involves generating code usable in applications and supports interaction between DMN models and BPMN models using BPSim.
In line with the model-driven design principles Enterprise Architect supports MDA transforms of PIM class structures to PSM class structures, round-trip engineering of code for ten software languages and several key embedded HDL systems languages (Ada, VHDL and Verilog). It also supports code generation from behavioral models.
In accordance with model-driven development principles, Enterprise Architect provides an integrated development environment that supports code editing (with syntax highlighting and Intellisense), for building, debugging and code testing all from within the model.
Compilers and interpreters supported: Microsoft Windows Native C, C++, Visual Basic, .NET family (C#, VB); Java, PHP, and GNU compilers for C++, C and Ada (GCC and GDB). Includes features for importing MS Visual Studio and Eclipse projects.
Wireframe modeling supports using templates for modeling the appearance of dialogs presented to users when interacting with an application. The supported device dialogs include: Screen Dialogs, Webpages, Android, Apple, and Windows 8.1 phones and Tablets.
Test management
For code based testing there is support for both xUnit Testing (This involves MDA transformation of Classes to NUnit or Junit Classes with the ability to generate unit tests from the model and automatically record the results against the tested Classes).[36] and Testpoint testing ( a model based code testing. It is parallel to test contracts defined in ‘Design by Contract’ and it runs using debug definitions.[36] Both methods support the test definitions and test results being logged against related Classes in the model.
Visual execution analysis
Integrated with building and debugging code Enterprise Architect allows the developer to perform abstract analysis of the software using profiling and sequence diagram generation: Sequence diagram generation provides a means to analyze the general process flow and iron out inconsistencies,[36] and Profiling summarizes, by thread and routine, the code's general efficiency [36]
System engineering
System Engineering is supported with SysML 1.4 modeling which can be coupled with executable code generation. SysML supports modeling from requirement definition and system composition using SysML Blocks and Parts, through to parametric model simulation.[36] The executable code generation supports embedded HDL system languages (Ada, VHDL and Verilog), or it can be coupled with behavioral code generation of the standard code languages defined above.
Data modeling
Enterprise Architect supports data modeling from the conceptual to physical levels, forward and reverse engineering of database schemas,[36] and MDA transformation of the logical (platform independent) to physical DBMS (platform dependent).[36]
Features supporting project management include: Resource allocation and tracking using Gantt charts, Kanban diagrams, event logging using model calendars, Workflow scripting for setting workflow processes, security, and model metrics.[36]
The key facilities supporting change management are: auditing, baseline difference and merge, and version control.[36] The version control interface supports the major version control applications: Subversion, CVS, Team Foundation Server, and SCC interface to any SCC compatible version control system.
The Pro Cloud Server Integration supports integrating data from external providers including Application Lifecycle Management, Jazz (DOORS, Rhapsody DM, Team Concert CCM & QM), Jira, Confluence, TFS, Wrike, ServiceNow, Autodesk, Bugzilla, Salesforce and SharePoint.
The Data Miner provides a means of extracting data from a range of external data sources including: databases (ODBC, ADO, OLEDB, JET), text files (XML, JSON, plain text), Excel (xls, CSV), and online files or URLs.
The Automation interface – supports a comprehensive API for use with any COM based language (and Java). This supports defining internal scripts, as well as accessibility for writing external add-ins. There is also support for model based event driven add-ins using Javascript.
Among the Add-ins available are interfaces to Microsoft Office and DOORS, along with third party add-ins.
A modeling language is any artificial language that can be used to express data, information or knowledge or systems in a structure that is defined by a consistent set of rules. The rules are used for interpretation of the meaning of components in the structure of a programing language.
Model Driven Architecture (MDA) is a software design approach for the development of software systems. It provides a set of guidelines for the structuring of specifications, which are expressed as models. Model Driven Architecture is a kind of domain engineering, and supports model-driven engineering of software systems. It was launched by the Object Management Group (OMG) in 2001.
Round-trip engineering (RTE) in the context of model-driven architecture is a functionality of software development tools that synchronizes two or more related software artifacts, such as, source code, models, configuration files, documentation, etc. between each other. The need for round-trip engineering arises when the same information is present in multiple artifacts and when an inconsistency may arise in case some artifacts are updated. For example, some piece of information was added to/changed in only one artifact and, as a result, it became missing in/inconsistent with the other artifacts.
Objecteering is a UML and MDA CASE tool edited by Objecteering Software, a subsidiary of Softeam.
VIATRA is an open-source model transformation framework based on the Eclipse Modeling Framework (EMF) and hosted by the Eclipse Foundation.
Unicom System Architect is an enterprise architecture tool that is used by the business and technology departments of corporations and government agencies to model their business operations and the systems, applications, and databases that support them. System Architect is used to build architectures using various frameworks including TOGAF, ArchiMate, DoDAF, MODAF, NAF and standard method notations such as sysML, UML, BPMN, and relational data modeling. System Architect is developed by UNICOM Systems, a division of UNICOM Global, a United States-based company.
The British Ministry of Defence Architecture Framework (MODAF) was an architecture framework which defined a standardised way of conducting enterprise architecture, originally developed by the UK Ministry of Defence. It has since been replaced with the NATO Architecture Framework.
SAP PowerDesigner is a collaborative enterprise modelling tool produced by Sybase, currently owned by SAP. It can run either under Microsoft Windows as a native application or in an Eclipse environment through a plugin. It supports model-driven architecture software design, and stores models using a variety of file extensions, such as .bpm, .cdm and .pdm. The internal file structure can be either XML or a compressed binary file format. It can also store models in a database repository.
Model-driven engineering (MDE) is a software development methodology that focuses on creating and exploiting domain models, which are conceptual models of all the topics related to a specific problem. Hence, it highlights and aims at abstract representations of the knowledge and activities that govern a particular application domain, rather than the computing concepts.
The systems modeling language (SysML) is a general-purpose modeling language for systems engineering applications. It supports the specification, analysis, design, verification and validation of a broad range of systems and systems-of-systems.
MagicDraw is a proprietary visual UML, SysML, BPMN, and UPDM modeling tool with team collaboration support.
EAST-ADL is an Architecture Description Language (ADL) for automotive embedded systems, developed in several European research projects. It is designed to complement AUTOSAR with descriptions at higher level of abstractions. Aspects covered by EAST-ADL include vehicle features, functions, requirements, variability, software components, hardware components and communication. Currently, it is maintained by the EAST-ADL Association in cooperation with the European FP7 MAENAD project.
TRAK is a general enterprise architecture framework aimed at systems engineers. It is based on MODAF 1.2.
UModel is a UML software modeling tool from Altova, the creator of XMLSpy. UModel supports all 14 UML 2 diagram types and adds a unique diagram for modeling XML Schemas in UML. UModel also supports SysML for embedded system developers, and business process modeling for enterprise analysts. UModel includes code engineering functionality including code generation in Java, C#, and Visual Basic, reverse engineering of existing applications, and round-trip engineering.
Modelio is an open-source UML tool developed by Modeliosoft, based in Paris, France. It supports the UML2, BPMN and ArchiMate standards.
Sparx Systems is an Australian software company founded by Geoffrey Sparks in 1996 in Creswick, Victoria in Australia, known for the development of the Unified Modeling Language tool Enterprise Architect.
Michael B.T. Bell is an American novelist, artist, producer, and enterprise software architect, chiefly recognized for developing the Incremental Software Architecture methodology, service-oriented modeling framework (SOMF), multidimensional software architecture construction (MSAC), and the cloud computing modeling notation (CCMN). His innovative research and publications in the fields of software architecture, artificial intelligence, service-oriented architecture, Microservices, model-driven engineering, cloud computing, and big data are recognized internationally for their contribution to the software design and development communities.
In business analysis, the Decision Model and Notation (DMN) is a standard published by the Object Management Group. It is a standard approach for describing and modeling repeatable decisions within organizations to ensure that decision models are interchangeable across organizations.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply. Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.
