Archi Forum

Archi => General Archi Discussion => Topic started by: bdendulk on April 20, 2016, 07:24:36 AM

Title: Issue with model managed using GRAFICO plugin and Git
Post by: bdendulk on April 20, 2016, 07:24:36 AM
Hi Jean Baptiste,

I'm relying quite heavilly on this very nice and promising plugin. For a while I did not receive the error but since last week, I'm experiencing the same error. In the meantime I also have problems with orphaned relations. When I reset to a certain commit, the problem with orphaned relations disappear.

Kind regards,

Bart den Dulk
Title: Re: Issue with model managed using GRAFICO plugin and Git
Post by: bdendulk on April 20, 2016, 07:31:53 AM
Allright, I just found the beta 0.2 version. Somehow, I got the old version of the plugin on my laptop (whilst I had the 0.2 beta version on my homecomputer). I will investigate further.
Title: Re: Issue with model managed using GRAFICO plugin and Git
Post by: bdendulk on April 20, 2016, 08:44:11 AM
Hi,

I finally got my GIT repo in working order again. After doing some edits on the import of the most recent commit, I was able to save the model again as an archi file. No more messages about orphaned diagrams.

kind regards,

Bart
Title: Re: Issue with model managed using GRAFICO plugin and Git
Post by: bdendulk on April 26, 2016, 12:56:16 PM
Hi,

The error mentioned before has reappeared. Strangely, it is now persistent on 2 different PC's I use (one is a laptop for on prmise edits and one is a desktop with a large monitor @ home) whereas before it was not. Even more strange is the fact that when a collegue imports the same GIT version, he does not have the error. Attached is a screenshot. The GIT version is on public GIT and can be found here: https://github.com/bdendulk/NVWA_CA_BLIK

This leads me to believe it is a local problem. Is there some kind of caching along the way?

Please advice since it prohibits a broader use of the GIT export on a client project.

Kind regards, Bart den Dulk
Title: Re: Issue with model managed using GRAFICO plugin and Git
Post by: prgee on April 26, 2016, 21:41:44 PM
Hi Bart,

This may not be much help but I was able to download your GRAFICO elements  from GITHUB and successfully import them into Archi (ver 3.3.1 with GRAFICO ver 0.2 plugin).  My system is Windows 7 (64 bit).  This supports your theory that it is some local problem.

Cheers,
Peter
Title: Re: Issue with model managed using GRAFICO plugin and Git
Post by: Jean-Baptiste Sarrodie on April 27, 2016, 06:44:48 AM
Quote from: bdendulk on April 26, 2016, 12:56:16 PM
Hi,
[...]
This leads me to believe it is a local problem. Is there some kind of caching along the way?

Please advice since it prohibits a broader use of the GIT export on a client project.

Kind regards, Bart den Dulk

Hi,

First I'm somewhat happy to see that you now use this plugin a lot. It's always good to have some feedbacks to find bug but also to better understand how use cases could evolve.

I haven't tested it myself but as Peter said, if it is possible to import you model elsewhere this seems to mean that it's a local problem. In this case you should have a look at the real error output (Help > About Archi > Installation Details Button > Configuration Tab > View Error Log Button) and maybe post it in a dedicated forum message.

Re Caching, there is no caching at all in Grafico plugin, we only use some temporary files that should automatically be removed when you close Archi (this is managed through standard Java internals, so nothing special).

Regards,

JB
Title: Re: Issue with model managed using GRAFICO plugin and Git
Post by: bdendulk on April 28, 2016, 09:33:33 AM
Hi JB an Peter,

Thanx for your support. I have attached the error log. I will try to update Java and see what happens. I'm on Windows10 64 bit but using 32 bit version of Archi (i think).

kind regards, Bart
Title: Re: Issue with model managed using GRAFICO plugin and Git
Post by: prgee on April 28, 2016, 19:08:30 PM
Hi Guys,

I need to amend my previous reply. Although I was able to import the model with the GRAFICO plugin, I got a bunch of errors when I tried to save the model as a *.archimate file. However, I was able to export the model using the Open Group exchange plugin and noticed a lot of entries like this:

      <connection identifier="id-99c37d6b" relationshipref="id-null" source="id-ca6be9c7" target="id-9c722181">
        <style>
          <lineColor r="0" g="0" b="0" />
        </style>
      </connection>

The value "id-null" seems to indicate that there is no actual corresponding relationship defined in the model. I am now thoroughly puzzled ???

Regards,
Peter
Title: Re: Issue with model managed using GRAFICO plugin and Git
Post by: bdendulk on April 28, 2016, 19:31:13 PM
Hi Peter,

Just a thought. Could it be that views which have "nested" artefacts (meaning: artefacts that are placed on top of each other) but have no defined relation are somehow interpreted as having a relation?

Others have worked on this model and I noticed that relations where not always made between artefacts. On the other hand, it does not explain the reason for these error messages appearing all of a sudden. The only reason could be the actual version of Java being used? I am on the very latest version.

Kind regards.

Bart
Title: Re: Issue with model managed using GRAFICO plugin and Git
Post by: Jean-Baptiste Sarrodie on April 28, 2016, 20:02:32 PM
Hi,

I've just had a look at your model and my conclusion is "simply" that some XML files related to some relationships have certainly been deleted...

Due to the way Grafico plugin works during import, it is possible that it doesn't raise any issues, but when saving back to a .archimate file (which is internally done by the plugin only if model contains some images) all controls are done to detect such abnormalities and you can then see the error message. So that's why my assumption is that at some point several files were lost.

I can see a way to solve this issue:

This should do the trick (I hope).

BTW - I can't understand your model (as I only understand french and english), but my obvious advice is to not publish anything sensible on a public git repository, use some private one (using GitHub or BitBucket for example) instead.

Regards,

JB
Title: Re: Issue with model managed using GRAFICO plugin and Git
Post by: bdendulk on April 28, 2016, 22:41:19 PM
Hi JB,

Thanx for your effort. I will try to apply the suggested method tomorrow.

With regards to using GitHub. We are indeed planning to move to a private Git server (which is actually available within the client ICT infrastructure but a suitable client is not .. ?!). Using GitHub was for shortterm practical use. Nevertheless, the information is not sensitive and the resulting architecture will at one point be made public since it is meant to be used as a reference architecture for similar governmental organisations.

Kind regards, Bart
Title: Re: Issue with model managed using GRAFICO plugin and Git
Post by: bdendulk on April 29, 2016, 10:55:39 AM
Hi JP,

I started working on the bypass you suggested. However, I soon realised this will keep me busy for a couple of hours since the number of missing relations count into hundreds :o. Without knowing why al these files where deleted, I'm not sure if this is a viable way of resolving this.

I'm now looking at the various commits since I can co back to a commit where the problem of orphaned relations is non existing. Maybe GIT functionality will help me to restore these relations.

Kind regards, Bart
Title: Re: Issue with model managed using GRAFICO plugin and Git
Post by: Jean-Baptiste Sarrodie on April 29, 2016, 11:04:19 AM
Hi,

You're right, that's the whole point of using Git ;-)

FYI, I've split this forum thread to make it dedicated to your issue.

Regards

JB
Title: Re: Issue with model managed using GRAFICO plugin and Git
Post by: bdendulk on April 29, 2016, 11:37:18 AM
Hi JP,

OK. Now the most strangest thing: the problem dissappeared again ..........  :o ??? ::)

After resetting to a previous commit (the one before a commit which saw a lot of relation files deleted). And subsequently moving forward several commits, I was able everyone and each time to save the Archi file. Even the last commit can now be saved as an Archi file.

I believe it has something to do with file synchronization with SourceTree (the Git client I am using).

Kind regards, Bart
Title: Re: Issue with model managed using GRAFICO plugin and Git
Post by: bdendulk on April 29, 2016, 19:11:05 PM
I have been able to reproduce the procedure to get to a working archimate save file:
1- go back to a commit which can be saved
2- import into Archi (check save by changing something: in my case it is commit 1caa7b2, one but last on 18th of april)
3- close model
4- go back to latest commit
5- import into Archi
6- edit model
7- save model
Title: Re: Issue with model managed using GRAFICO plugin and Git
Post by: bdendulk on April 30, 2016, 14:48:50 PM
Today, I got the error again but I was also able to get rid of the error by means of the above mentioned method.
Title: Re: Issue with model managed using GRAFICO plugin and Git
Post by: bdendulk on May 03, 2016, 14:35:22 PM
Hi,

Once again the problem reappeared. Following the steps I performed just prior to the error message:
- I was able to save various times
- Next, I did an export with Grafico
- I succesfully did an extra save (after a very minor update)
- I then closed the model
- I reopened the archimate file containing the same model
- When I tried to save again, the error reappeared

Kind regards,

Bart
Title: Re: Issue with model managed using GRAFICO plugin and Git
Post by: Jean-Baptiste Sarrodie on May 03, 2016, 17:12:43 PM
Hi,

That's very strange as I've never had such troubles. Would it be possible to have more details about your setup (git client, git hosting...) and your workflow.

Regards,

JB
Title: Re: Issue with model managed using GRAFICO plugin and Git
Post by: bdendulk on May 03, 2016, 21:51:57 PM
Hi JB,

I'm using the latest Archi version, Sourcetree 1.8.3.0 and GITHUB (the link I provided earlier). On both working stations (company laptop and private Desktop) I'm running the latest Java environment and Windows 10 64 bit. The workflow is quite simple and similar to the steps I posted in my previous post. Since I'm still in trial mode, I've not introduced the GITHUB to the other architects involved. Hence, I'm the only one working on the model.

Kind regards,

Bart
Title: Re: Issue with model managed using GRAFICO plugin and Git
Post by: bdendulk on May 11, 2016, 12:30:16 PM
Hi JB,

Just now I found something very strange within my model which might be very related to the issues I'm experiencing with the Grafico plugin.

When I tried to delete a relationship, I discovered that there are 2 views which do show up on the analysis tab (beneath the view) but are not present in the tree on the left of the view. WHen I open the view via the analysis tab, I can edit the view. However, as soon as I want to save the model, I get the same error but only for the relationships I've just deleted.

I suspect that at one time, I was to quick to update GIT after I did an export via the plugin. I've noticed that Sourcetree does take some time to process the files being watched.

I have absolutely no clue how to delete the 'ghost' views. I will give it a try via the GIT repo using Sourcetree.

Update:
When I do search in the diagrams folder in the GIT repo, the ghost-views cannot be found ...

Kind regards, Bart
Title: Re: Issue with model managed using GRAFICO plugin and Git
Post by: Jean-Baptiste Sarrodie on May 11, 2016, 14:04:35 PM
Hi,

I don't have too much time now to fully test, but I've seen someting strange on the xml files on GitHub...

When exporting with Grafico, some Eclipse mecanisms are used to serialize parts of the model to XML. When doing this, references to elements (for example source/targets of relationships or elements related to diagram figures) are saved:

This basically means that asof today moving an element in another folder in the model tree can impact the serialized xml file of views and relationships using it. That being said, because of the way Grafico works the relative path is not used (only the ID), so it doesn't have to be present nor real.

In some or your files (https://github.com/bdendulk/NVWA_CA_BLIK/blob/b48673fd6fa555feb8a596948c09157b5eff10a7/model/diagrams/b5610b3d/10382d60/218d425a.xml) I've seen something strange: in some cases the reference points to another (temporary!) model file:


<sourceConnections
        xsi:type="archimate:DiagramModelArchimateConnection"
        id="0aacdbc7"
        source="#78da38b3"
        target="#8a33cd7a"
        relationship="archimate:TriggeringRelationship ../../../../../../Google%20Drive/ArchiXL/Projecten/NVWA/Archi/archi-4617337259308681392.tmp#62ea0b9f"/>


This is clearly abnormal because there are no ways to do this I can see... But if this temporary file (archi-4617337259308681392.tmp) exists there might be some Eclipse (black) magic that actually load information from it, leading to the bugs you experience.

I would suggest to save your model in .archimate format, unzip it and look deeply at the model.xml file to see if you still refers to this temporary file.

BTW, this could explain why you can save the model on one PC (the one with the .tmp file) but not on the other (the one without).

Regards,

JB
Title: Re: Issue with model managed using GRAFICO plugin and Git
Post by: bdendulk on May 12, 2016, 08:40:56 AM
Hi JB,

Problem solved!!!!!! :D :D :D

I found out that various relations did exist in the view pane but when I looked on the analysis tab, there was no reference to a view. After deleting the relation in the view and then recreate the relation, the error messages disappeared. It was about 3 hours of work but the error messages are now gone.

My only concern is how these errors did appear in the first place.

Kind regards, Bart den Dulk