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Enterprise Architect Tips and Tricks Compilation

In our previous blog “The Ultimate Guide to upgrade to Sparx Enterprise Architect 14” we have shared the frequently used features in modeling and their menu options. In this article we have complied all the tips and tricks which we discovered in Enterprise Architect from our day to day usage. In this article we have used Enterprise Architect 14 for reference and screenshots. This article contains 100 most essential tips and tricks for Enterprise Architect practitioners.

Tip #1: Highlight Connectors

To highlight the connectors, select an element in a diagram (workspace) and press “L” (keyboard) to highlight its incoming and outgoing flows. Incoming flows will be highlighted in Red and Outgoing in Green.

Tip #2: Insert Existing Element

Draw connector to an existing model Element. One can insert an existing model element and establish a relationship while drawing a new connector Follow usual steps to draw a connector, but press “Shift” before choosing the type of element to be created, this will invoke the “Select Existing Element” dialog to choose a model element instead of creating a new element.

Tip #3: Bend Connectors

Press “Shift” introduces a bend point while drawing a connector, enabling to draw a custom style connector.

Tip #4: Generate Report from Diagram

Generate a report on elements in a diagram, switch to “List View”(Right-click on Diagram and select open in diagramàList View), select the elements and use the “Rich Text Report” button.

Tip #5: Bookmark Elements

Select Element(s) and use “Shift” + “Space” to add bookmark. Bookmarked elements can then be retrieved in
Model Search (Ctrl + F | Diagram Searches | Find Bookmarked Elements) and also be generated as RTF report.

Tip #6: Set Default Toolbox

Pin your favorite toolboxes using “More Tools -> Set Toolbox Visibility”. This enables the desired toolbox visible
in all diagram pages.

Tip #7: Bezier Style Connector

Create a Bezier Style Connector by adding a tagged value (_Bezier = 1).

Tip #8: Document with Pre-defined settings

Creating a resource documentlets you to Auto Generate documents with pre-defined settings.

Tip #9: Update Elements Status

Update the status of all elements in a package and its child packages using ” Design | Edit | Advanced | Update Status”.

Tip #10: Favorites Folder

Create a favorites folder in the “Model Views” to quickly access your frequently used items.

Download the entire article as PDF from this link. Also please comment if you would like to know more about Enterprise Architect.

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