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Monday, 26 April 2021 07:48

Diagram Comparison with eaUtils 1.19.6

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eaUtils 1.19.6 Compare Diagrams

eaUtils 1.19.6 introduces a new feature to compare diagrams.

Native feature in Enterprise Architect

Enterprise Architect provides a baseline comparison tool to compare the current state of the model in the database with a "baseline" i.e. an XMI export of a model branch. This is relevant and convenient to compare the model with an older state when snapsnots (baselines) are available.

For more information, search for model baseline in Enterprise Architect User Guide.

Alternative approach with eaUtils

eaUtils Compare Diagrams feature provides a different approach by running a comparison on the content from 2 diagrams, to identify differences in terms of elements and connectors visible in each diagram.  

The illustrated purpose on this page applies to an Enterprise Architecture model built with ArchiMate (Open Group).

The following diagrams establish the current and future state of the organization's main applications flows i.e. before and after a planned migration to replace "Application 2" with "NewAPP A" and "NewAPP B" applications.

Current state with "Application 2":

Current Applications Flows 

Future state with "NewAPP A" and "NewAPP B":

 Target Applications Flows

Procedure to use eaUtils Compare Diagrams:

  • Create a new diagram where eaUtils will be executed.
  • Add a hyperlink for each diagram to compare (drag/drop each diagram and select Hyperlink).

Compare diagrams

  • Set the hyperlinks alias values as follows:
    • Diagram 1 alias = eautils_compare_v1
    • Diagram 2 alias = eautils_compare_v2

Compare diagrams diagram 1 alias

  • The setup is complete. Right click on this diagram and select Specialize > eaUtils > [Diagrams] Compare Diagrams
  • The following window is opened with the status update:

Run Compare Diagrams

  • Note: if the diagram is not properly set up, the following error is shown.

 error compare diagrams eautils sparx

  • Result
    • A diagram is generated with all elements and connectors from both diagrams.
    • Elements and connectors with the border line in RED were only found in Diagram 1 i.e. they can be considered as removed from Diagram 2.
    • Elements and connectors with the border line in GREEN were only found in Diagram 2 i.e. they can be considered as added in Diagram 2.
    • Other elements and connectors with the default border line were found in both diagrams (matching).
    • A legend is available.

"eaUtils Compare Results 20210412-190632" diagram:

Compare diagrams results

  • This diagram can be finalized and saved:

Compare diagrams results completed

It is also possible to set a different colour from the default red and green. To do so, update each hyperlink font (text) colour e.g. diagram 1 = blue and diagram 2 = orange.

Compare Custom colours

Running eaUtils Compare Diagrams feature generates the following result:

Compare Custom colours Results

Click here to open a video demonstration (YouTube).

The latest version of eaUtils addin is available from the following link : www.eautils.com/download.