Enterprise Architect Version 16
Enterprise Architect (EA) Version 16 announced at the EA Global Summit
The keynote session at the recent EA Global Summit 2021 was delivered by Tom O’Reilly, Chief Operations Office at Sparx Systems where he highlighted the features of the upcoming release of Enterprise Architect (EA) version 16.
There are many new features, some of which are quite specialized, this article presents an overview of the most important new features of EA version 16.
If you wish to view Tom’s presentation, then please use the following link:
Before we introduce the new features and few facts and figures you may not be aware of regarding EA:
- There are now over 1,000,000 million registered users worldwide
- EA is designed, including code generation, collaboratively using EA
- EA has 6.7 million lines of code
The New Features
64-Bit Support
Probably the most significant feature is EA version 16 will be available in both 64-bit and 32-bit versions. This will provide support of larger document reports and more reliable export / import of large XMI files.
New Local File Based Repositories
As the current Access based .eap and eapx repositories are not supported in 64-bit, a new form for local repositories based upon SQL Lite will be used, these are:
- QEA files – the basic local repository designed for personal use
- QEAX files – same as for QEA files but provides file share facilities for small groups
The implication of the new local file based repositories and the 64-bit version of EA version 16, is EA version 16 64-bit will NOT support eap and eapx files. There is a built-in migration tool for converting eap / eapx files to qea / qeax files.
Native DBMS Connections
EA version 16 will no longer require specific ODBC drives and connections using DSNs to be created. Instead a simple dialog will be used to capture the DBMS, server url, default database and login credentials, then EA version 16 will configure the connection automatically.
Grid Style Diagrams
A new for of configurable diagrams where elements, navigation cells etc can be placed in a grid for a neat appearance. The diagram can have optional row and column headers and can be configured to represent a spreadsheet.
Scriptlets
These are Javascript based scripts that can customize or validate diagrams as they load. A scriptlet can affect the appearance of elements, connectors including properties and tagged values.
There is a many-to-many relationship between scriptlets and diagrams.
Start Page Enhancements
In addition to the usual create and open EA repositories, new tabs allow:
- Create models from patterns
- Select and add diagrams to models
- Quick access to process guidance
Auto-refresh Diagrams
Another exiting new feature especially for collaborative team use. Assuming multiple team members are connected to the same shared repository, the one team member is designated the “modeler” and when they change a diagram, all other team members see the diagram changes in real-time. No need to reload or refresh diagrams.
New and Expanded Collaboration Tools
The following collaboration tools are either new or have been expanded since their introduction in EA version 15.2:
- Realtime chat
- Personal model-based diary (to-do lists)
- Model-based mail
- Element journal
- Formal element discussions
- Review formal feedback
- File and image sharing via chat
Model Governance
Improvements have been made to auditing feature, improving performance and the ability to filter the audit view to a specific timeframe.
Finer control over group / user permissions particularly the ability to prevent groups / uses from deleting Packages, Diagrams, Elements, Connectors, Attributes and Operations.
Pro-Cloud Server
Simultaneously with EA version 16, Pro Cloud Server will also released as a 64-bit version and will also include:
- Native DBMS connections as per the 64-bit version of EA version 16
- Client Whitelists to permit connections only from registered IP addresses
- UI improvements to WebEA and support for model / user default diagrams
- Polarion integration added to the list of existing third-party integrations
Code Miner
A very specialized new feature of EA version 16 which allows the compilation of a codebase into a code miner repository, which can then be interrogated using MFQL searches. Works with languages supported by EA, such as C#, C++, Java. Includes a grammar editor for support of other languages.
NIEM 5.0
NIEM (National Information Exchange Model) is already supported in EA, version 16 will include support for the latest version of NIEM, namely version 5.0
SysML 2.0
This will provided in EA version 16.x once the SysML 2.0 standard has been finalized by the Object Management Group (OMG).
The Burning Question
When will EA version 16 be available? According to Tom O’Reilly, “A beta version EA version 16 will available within the next two weeks. Currently we are still waiting.
All of us at Dunstan Thomas are very excited by this new release, and as soon as it becomes available will give the beta version a thorough test run and will keep you informed of our findings.