UML & SysML modelling languages
Expertise and blog articles on UML, SysML, and Enterprise Architect modelling tool
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eaDocX
Introduction to eaDocX
eaDocX makes it possible to work with Microsoft Word to produce documents based on the content from your Enterprise Architect modelling projet, and a document template created using MS Word.
Note : Enterprise Architect includes a document generation tool based on a built-in RTF word processor, however its features can be limited, and documents templates can be difficult to build.
eaDocX also lets you exchange data with Microsoft Excel spreadsheets e.g. to update requirements from Enterprise Architect using Excel. eaXL module offers much more enhanced features compared with Enterprise Architect CSV export/import feature.
eaDocX documentation generation tool
eaDocX™ is the Microsoft Word and Excel document generator Add-In for Enterprise Architect, producing ready-to-publish high-quality documents. Through the use of Microsoft Word eaDocX makes it possible to comply with most customers' requirements (e.g. the company's Word template, maintaining the document's history).
eaDocX is also compatible with Microsoft Excel via its eaXL module that lets you publish data to MS Excel spreadsheets, or synchonise information. As a result requirements, classes, or any other type of element can be exported from Enterprise Architect into Excel.
Note: Viseo Technilogies, formerly known as Objet Direct is an authorised reseller of eaDocX licenses, and can provide coaching and setup services on eaDocX, as well as training sessions defined by eaDocX team.
Easy to use
- Simple GUI interface to work directly into Word or Excel
- Define unique formatting settings for each EA element, and for each stereotype
- No need for RTF or scripting
Document quality
- Define the structure and content of your document templates based on selected diagrams, packages, elements and any other EA project data
- Use Microsoft Word styles and formats
- Auto-generate charts, hyperlinks, change marking, document information & glossary
Improve project deliverables
- Produce custom reports to quickly identify gaps and overlaps
- Use conditional formatting rules to highlight specific information (or gaps)
- Generate and publish targetted documents for each stakeholder
Save time and money
- Quickly edit and import Enterprise Architect using Excel
- Re-use your model data for many audiences, in many formats (e.g. update your requirements in an Excel spreadsheet during a workshop, to synchronise and update them into the EA project afterwards)
- Quickly update your project documents by generating them with eaDocX
Analysts, Architects, Consultants, Designers and Project Managers can all benefit from eaDocX.
... for Analysts
Thousands of analysts all over the world already benefit from using Enterprise Architect to capture their work. It allows analysts to use the full range of UML, BPMN and other modelling techniques to capture all aspects of a business.
With the addition of eaDocX, analysts can significantly reduce the effort needed to produce documents and at the same time dramatically improve their quality.
... for Architects
Capturing an Enterprise Architecture is a big task, and one which needs the very best tools. Sparx Enterprise Architect is the most popular tool for capturing all that knowledge, supporting not only all the UML model types, but also the popular architecture frameworks: TOGAF, DoDAF/MODAF and Zachman.
Once you've captured the organisation's knowledge effectively, it's essential to get that knowledge out to the designers, managers and other stakeholders who need it. The famous value-for-money of Sparx Enterprise Architect means that everyone who needs access to the architecture can have EA installed on their own desktop. But for those without EA, you need documents. And for high quality documents, you need eaDocX.
... for Consultants
Consultants arriving on a new project face a number of challenges. Critically, how to
- make sense of what's already happened on the project
- start showing your client that you can make a difference, and
- make it clear to your client that you offer a unique and valuable service to them.
It's here that EA and eaDocX can give you an edge. In projects and companies where EA is already in place, you can use eaDocX to 'hit the ground running'.
... for Designers
It's the designer who can probably make best use of the huge range of modeling capabilities in EA. All the UML model types are supported, and with the usability that EA users have come to expect. You can put all your design knowlege into one place, and with the ability to link it back to the requirements, you can get a level of traceability which is hard to beat.
With eaDocX you can make full use of all that work, by producing documentation that shows just how great your design is.
... for Project Managers
So the analysts and designers want to use EA and eaDocX. But what's in it for you - the Project Manager? Sounds like just another tool to get in the way of getting things done.
What you need to know is "are we making progress?" and "what can I tell my stakeholders?" "Can I get early visibility of progress on deliverable documents?" And "will they help monitor the quality of what's being done?"
With EA and eaDocX, you can get answers to all these questions and more.
Tuesday, 10 November 2015 00:00
eaDocX 3.7 available
eaDocX 3.7 has just been released with a number of new features, usually in response to user requests according to eaDocX:
- Sparx EA RTF Model and Master documents support
- Quick documents from EA RTF Model Documents
- Internal documents
- HTML Generator Model View documents
- Diagram Sizing
- Diagram Filters
- Matrix Report cell notes
Thursday, 20 November 2014 00:00
Importing requirements from Excel to Enterprise Architect with eaDocX for a model-driven approach to build the RFP response
eaDocX's eaXL module makes it possible to import and export information between Excel and Sparx Enterprise Architect, e.g. requirements, classes (including attributes or methods), use cases, etc.
This article provides a feedback on a real-life experience where eaXL has been used for a request for proposal (RFP): more than a hundred requirements have been imported into Enterprise Architect in order to carry the analysis and build the response with the aid and support of the model-driven approach. Steps involved to import the customer's requirements are covered in this article.
Wednesday, 29 October 2014 00:00
eaDocX 3.5 available
eaDocx 3.5 has been officially released, introducing the ability to save Word documents as an HTML file with a new HTML generator.
This version also includes a number of re-factoring and internal improvements so that future features can be implemened.
Since Enterprise Architect already has an HTML report feature, one may wonder why eaDocX includes its own HTML generator.
- The EA HTML Generator creates a forest of tiny HTML files, in a deep hierarchy of nested packages. This is hard to save in tools like SharePoint, and cumbersome to move around. But it does deliver a really useful feature: the ability to click on items in diagrams, and jump straight to the item in the HTML document.
Another great feature of the EA HTML generator is that it delivers a really neat 'Table of Contents', which gives the reader a quick way to navigate around the document, with something which looks just like the EA Project Browser. It would be great if eaDocX delivered an equivalent ;-)
In order to make an HTML document look good, it also requires knowledge of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), which whilst they are not hard, are just one more thing to learn.
- Saving a Word document 'as HTML' also works, but produces a file which has a CSS at the start which is huge, and won't work in some browsers, but also has lost all knowledge of source of the data in your EA model.
eaDocX HTML re-generates your document from scratch, starting with an empty file, so HTML documents must have 100% EA content. Extras have been added to eaDocX to make this look better, such as embedding images from the EA Image Library, and selecting overrides to make title pages look smart.
Other Improvements for v3.5:
- Document Management improved, to make it easier to disable it temporarily for a document, and an 'Advanced' tab on the Document Details form to join-up documents and their EA elements, if they become separated .
- 'Image' is now an attribute for 'DocumentInformation' sections, so you can embed images from the EA Image Library into your HTML document. Doesn't currently put images into Word documents.
- Diagram Filters makes it possible to either supress particular diagram types, or print certain diagram types in a different way e.g. with 'Diagram & Contents'.
- Floating Licence diagnostics. V3.4 had some issues with eaDocX not returning the correct error when the eaDocX client can't connect to the LSA. Correct error is now returned.
- Help has been reviewed in many places, especially to show which settings should be changed to implement non-English languages.
- Fixed errors in eaXL, where Unicode characters were not saved correctly, and where EA adds the Tagged Value Enum values into the Tagged Value.Notes field.
- Support for editing of HTML Notes fields in Excel (eaXL module)
- Limited support for the PostgreSQL DBMS. It is said limited as the EA interface to this DBMS seems to be different from other DBMSs, which is still being investigated.
Sunday, 14 September 2014 08:52
eaDocX 3.5 Beta available
eaDocx 3.5 is available in its beta version, introducing the ability to save Word documents as an HTML file with a new HTML generator.
This version also includes a number of re-factoring and internal improvements so that future features can be implemened.
Since Enterprise Architect already has an HTML report feature, one may wonder why eaDocX includes its own HTML generator.
- The EA HTML Generator creates a forest of tiny HTML files, in a deep hierarchy of nested packages. This is hard to save in tools like SharePoint, and cumbersome to move around. But it does deliver a really useful feature: the ability to click on items in diagrams, and jump straight to the item in the HTML document.
Another great feature of the EA HTML generator is that it delivers a really neat 'Table of Contents', which gives the reader a quick way to navigate around the document, with something which looks just like the EA Project Browser. It would be great if eaDocX delivered an equivalent ;-)
In order to make an HTML document look good, it also requires knowledge of Cascading Style Sheets (CSS), which whilst they are not hard, are just one more thing to learn.
- Saving a Word document 'as HTML' also works, but produces a file which has a CSS at the start which is huge, and won't work in some browsers, but also has lost all knowledge of source of the data in your EA model.
eaDocX HTML re-generates your document from scratch, starting with an empty file, so HTML documents must have 100% EA content. Extras have been added to eaDocX to make this look better, such as embedding images from the EA Image Library, and selecting overrides to make title pages look smart.
Other Improvements for v3.5:
- Document Management improved, to make it easier to disable it temporarily for a document, and an 'Advanced' tab on the Document Details form to join-up documents and their EA elements, if they become separated .
- 'Image' is now an attribute for 'DocumentInformation' sections, so you can embed images from the EA Image Library into your HTML document. Doesn't currently put images into Word documents.
- Diagram Filters makes it possible to either supress particular diagram types, or print certain diagram types in a different way e.g. with 'Diagram & Contents'.
- Floating Licence diagnostics. V3.4 had some issues with eaDocX not returning the correct error when the eaDocX client can't connect to the LSA. Correct error is now returned.
- Help has been reviewed in many places, especially to show which settings should be changed to implement non-English languages.
- Fixed errors in eaXL, where Unicode characters were not saved correctly.
- Limited support for the PostgreSQL DBMS. It is said limited' as the EA interface to this DBMS seems to be different from other DBMSs, which is still being investigated.