Is it possible to do "document based artifact creation" from a PDF file in Enterprise Architect?

2
votes

Enterprise Architect offers a handy feature to generate UML artifacts (or glossary entries) from external sources that can be imported into the project as RTF files.

These RTF can be attached to an existing project as a "linked document" or "UML document artifact" (using the << document >> stereotype for an "artifact" model entity). This is described here on page 36: http://www.sparxsystems.com/downloads/whitepapers/Requirements_Management_in_Enterprise_Architect.pdf

Is the same possible with a file that is formatted as PDF? For example using an add-in?

I tried to drag-and-drop it or import PDFs the same way as an RTF but this failed.

Rationale: Most customer input comes in PDF format.

.doc or .docx may also be of some help.

I know it could all be copy-pasted into an RTF but that is quite error-prone.

Thanks in advance

1
pdfimportenterprise-architect

1 Answers

0
votes

The only external artifacts that can be stored and edited inside EA are RTFs. You can also store, but not edit, bitmaps (under Settings - Images).

There is a third-party Add-In for MS Word and Excel documents called EADocx. This integrates EA and Word/Excel, but AFAIK the documents are never stored in the EA model.

If you just want to refer to files stored in the file system, there are two ways of going about it.

The Common toolbox allows you to create hyperlinks, which can refer to (among other things) external files. Double-clicking the hyperlink will cause EA to open the file, in its built-in editor or hypertext browser if it can, otherwise with the associated Windows program.

You can also add File properties to just about any element, eg classes, requirements or use cases. Open the element properties, select the Related - Files tab and add the file path.

Disadvantage with the hyperlink is that it is a diagram object, and as such is only visible in the diagram where it was created (does not appear in the project browser).

A File property, on the other hand, cannot be opened with a simple double-click; you have to go to the Related - Files tab and Launch the file from there. Also, the element does not indicate visually that it has a File property. However, creating an Add-In which launches a file on double-click is a simple job.