Export / import part of Archi model?

[TarjaR]

Hi you proficient Archi users!

How can I export part of my Archi model for my customer to import it into their Archi model (to merge)?

I did not find a way to tell which diagrams/views I want to export into XML format (and of course their elements and relationships).

Hoping to get an answer,
TarjaR

[Jean-Baptiste Sarrodie]

Hi,

Well, this is not really possible: the whole point of ArchiMate is to create models, so the model is the unit, not the view.

The model repository & Collaboration plugin has been created to allow such offline contribution (with full support for merging), but as you haven't used it right from the begining this is difficult to merge "after the fact".

This topic has been discussed in the forum and some manual ways to do it has been exposed, but none is perfect :-(

Regards,

JB

[TarjaR]

Thanks for the answer!

I was afraid of that...
So as I am working as a consultant and creating only parts of the final model and having no access to their model, I have to create each view as a separate model that they can open with their Archi. But they cannot merge them into theirs - if I understood correctly.

They are total beginners with modeling tools.
I have used various for decades... but I'm new with Archi.

Actually I tried to export the whole model and import it into another model to test the whole thing so I can make a guide how to do it.
When importing I got an error message: Key 'viewRef' with value '<value>' not found for identity constraint of element 'views'.
Do you know what this refers to?

I did drag views from the model tree to the default view of the model to show a sort of front page. Might this be the cause of the error?

The import did not do anything after that, so nothing was imported.

BR, TarjaR

[Jean-Baptiste Sarrodie]

Hi,

There are different strategies to adopt depending on maturity level. Basically, for people new to moddeling I would suggest to split the whole knowledge across several models. This request to define a logic to split this knowledge. Typical ways of doing it are: per project, per application, per business domain... Doing this would allow you to work on a model without the need to merge it.

When maturity reach some higher level, people work on one single (and big) model. This requires before all a good understanding of what a model is and a good governance in place to avoid people changing things outside of their own scope. For this I would recommend the model repository & collaboration plugin. This is very simple to put in place (basically only requires a Git server) and will support several workflows, one of interrest being you having a copy of the whole model and doing changes on it offline, then merging them back to the original model when your clients are ok with the result.

Regards,

JB

[Hervé]

Hi TarjaR,

Your aim is guite the same as mine.

My database plugin (https://github.com/archi-contribs/database-plugin/tree/master/v2) allows you to do what you wish:

• Create your different models with their own views
• Export those models in a database (Oracle, MySQL, PostGreSQL, SQLite, ...)
• Create an empty model and import the views of your others models

To import those views, right click on your model's tree (on the left handside of the archi graphical interface), then select "import individual component", then select "views" on the import popup.

You have two import modes:

• Copy mode : you'll import a copy of the views, meaning that the updates done on those new views will not be synced back to the original ones
• Shared mode: you'll import the real views of the others models. All the updates done will be sync'ed back to the original views when you export them back to the database

Best regards
Hervé

[TarjaR]

Thank you, JB and Hervé!
Let's see what my customer decides - it is their model, but of course I try to help.

Best regards,
TarjaR

[Jean-Baptiste Sarrodie]

Hi,

interesting, this is related to this discussion I've just opened.

I'm adding it to the list of use-cases.

JB