New beta for the GRAFICO plugin

Started by Jean-Baptiste Sarrodie, September 09, 2015, 20:33:14 PM

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Jean-Baptiste Sarrodie

Hi,

The bug that most user faced with GRAFICO (unable to save back a model to a .archimate file) is now fixed. I've just published a new 0.2beta version to github. You just have to remove the previous version (org.archicontribs.grafico_0.1.0.jar) from you plugin directory, put the new one and (re)start Archi. All should then be OK.

As a bonus, you'll see that generated XML files are much easier to read and modify, thanks to some fine tuning done by Quentin Varquet who has worked with me on it.

I'm waiting for your feedback.

Regards,

JB
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Maxim Kapteijns

This is great Jean-Baptiste!

One thing I have noticed, is that a model doesn't load if the images folder is not present on the filesystem. The challenge is that git does not add a folder to your repository when it is empty. And if I add a document to the folder, perform an import and and export to another directory, the contents of the images folder is not included.

We export to another temp directory in order to ensure we do not have any unused files in our model directory as a result of deleting objects from within Archi. We manually delete the contents of the original directory and copy the contents of the temp directory so we can commit all changes including the deletes.

Would you be able to provide a fix for the images folder? Two possible suggestions:
1. Do not check for the directory. I do not know why the model does not load when the folder is not available. Perhaps there is a valid reason and this fix is not an option.
2. Always include a .gitignore file with the export to ensure the images folder gets checked in. Since an export using GRAFICO is always used in combination with git, this might be a nice solution.

Thanks again for your great work!

Jean-Baptiste Sarrodie

Hi,

Good spot. I'm gonna fix it and publish another beta soon.

Thank you.

JB
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prgee

Hi JB,

I've been doing some tests with your updated plugin to import/export from a Mercurial repository (using tortoiseHG workbench) with good results. I just have a couple of "usability" suggestions:

1. Display a progress message for import and export operations. I've been testing with a large Archi model which takes 4-5 mins to load from the .archimate model file and about half that time to import from the Mercurial working folder.

2. Save the relevant repository parameters as user properties in Archi, similar to how the CymaLtd/ArchiGITPlugin does, for reference when exporting the model back to the working directory.

Your plugin is shaping up to be a very useful addition to Archi - Thanks!!

Regards,
Peter

Jean-Baptiste Sarrodie

Hi,

Quote
1. Display a progress message for import and export operations. I've been testing with a large Archi model which takes 4-5 mins to load from the .archimate model file and about half that time to import from the Mercurial working folder.

That's a good idea, I'm adding it on my todo list. I also need to add a message when import or export fails. It's interresting to read that (as me) you confirm that loading a Grafico directory takes less time that loading an .archimate file (and I really don't understand how this can happen).

Quote
2. Save the relevant repository parameters as user properties in Archi, similar to how the CymaLtd/ArchiGITPlugin does, for reference when exporting the model back to the working directory.

That's a quite challenging issue. It's easy to add repo parameters as properties/metadata (hidden properties in Archi) but these are not related to your model but to your local copy, so they are likely to be screwed by other users of your model (same repository but local copy saved elsewhere). I would be best to store this information on Archi user properties, but this requires to better integrate Grafico inside Archi.

Quote
Your plugin is shaping up to be a very useful addition to Archi - Thanks!!

Thank you for your enthusiam!

Regards,

JB
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prgee

During my testing of the GRAFICO plugin I have found it a bit difficult to relate the individual XML files to their corresponding model concepts. The problem is that the GRAFICO filenames are based on the Archi "id" value so you end up with names like "b001efc.xml".

A suggested "cure" for this is to prepend the Archi "type" value to the "id" value during export so that the XML filename becomes "BusinessProcess-b001efc.xml". Since you are storing the original Archi id in the XML file it can be used during the import process.

Just a thought,
Peter

Jean-Baptiste Sarrodie

Hi,

At the begining, when designing GRAFICO I was mainly focused on making it Git friendly, not especially human friendly. But as time passes, some new way of using it happear and as in the beta 2 we added a more human readable XML formatting, I think that your idea shares the same spirit.

I have some enhancements on my todo list, so I think I have to re open Eclipse and code a little bit ;-)

Thank you for this idea.

Regards,

JB
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prgee

Just another quick question - have you ever considered using the existing Eclipse Egit plugin as part of the GRAFICO functionality??

Regards,
Peter

Phil Beauvoir

#8
Quote from: prgee on November 04, 2015, 01:01:29 AM
Just another quick question - have you ever considered using the existing Eclipse Egit plugin as part of the GRAFICO functionality??

Regards,
Peter

The problem with any Eclipse-based framework or plug-in is the amount of dependencies it may have. The EGit plug-in depends on the Eclipse SDK which depends on the Java plugin which depends on the Team provider plugin, which depends on....and so on. So if you were to do this, you would have to ship nearly the whole of the Eclipse SDK. And then Archi users would be asking why there are things like "Refactor Java class" menu items...

TL;DR - Eclipse is a nightmare.
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prgee

Understood, one of Archi's best features is being so lightweight and simple to use ;D

Jean-Baptiste Sarrodie

Hi,

One addition. As Phil explained, EGit is a too much bloated plugin. But I could be possible to use the JGit Java library to add Git features to the heart of Grafico. I've even thought about the best way to integrate them and how to propose a good workflow... but... BUT... this would require some funding, and as you should know, too few people are making donations to Archi :-(

Regards,

JB
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jarojetu

Hi,

one question: There is no possibility to use GRAFICO for commercial use? For example after some donation or "license fee"?

Regards Jan

PS: Thank you for your work...

Jean-Baptiste Sarrodie

Hi,

Yes, you can use it for commercial needs. There is no "officially defined" licence fee, but I provided some guidance in this post.

Basically (copy/past from the post):

If GRAFICO plugin is used purely for internal purposes (for example, to develop an information system architecture for use within your own organization). The proposed minimal donation is:

  • 1-5 users: 100€
  • 5-10 users: 200€
  • 10-50 users: 500€
  • 50+ users: 1000€

If used outside your own organization (if your are a consultant selling services or trainings for example) you have to double those minimal donations.

How to proceed: make a donation to Archi and use the "add special instruction to the seller" option to specify that your donation is related to the usage of the Grafico plugin (please provide your number of users and context), we'll then send you a license document to the email address associated to the paypal account.

Regards,

JB
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jarojetu


yvain

Hi Jean-Baptiste,

Thanks for this...

Have you noticed any instability or data  corruption/loss?

I'd really like to deploy with my team so that we don't end up with a million *.archimate files.


Quote from: Jean-Baptiste Sarrodie on September 09, 2015, 20:33:14 PM
Hi,

The bug that most user faced with GRAFICO (unable to save back a model to a .archimate file) is now fixed. I've just published a new 0.2beta version to github. You just have to remove the previous version (org.archicontribs.grafico_0.1.0.jar) from you plugin directory, put the new one and (re)start Archi. All should then be OK.

As a bonus, you'll see that generated XML files are much easier to read and modify, thanks to some fine tuning done by Quentin Varquet who has worked with me on it.

I'm waiting for your feedback.

Regards,

JB