Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect 16 now includes a New Scriptlet element that provides a dynamic view of your diagram. Scriptlet is a JavaScript-based powerhouse that allows you to access the underlying diagram and element API for customizing element appearance, text, tagged values, and other properties. Scriptlets are executed automatically when the diagram containing them is reloaded or they can be executed manually on demand.

Each Scriptlet has access to three global objects in addition to the standard automation environment. They are:

• theDiagram – an automation Diagram interface to the diagram on which the Scriptlet resides
• theElement – an automation Element interface to the Scriptlet artifact itself
• theInstance – an automation DiagramObject interface to the Scriptlet artifact itself

Figure 1 Scriptlet in Toolbox

Key Points

• Apply change to the appearance of elements, names, and tagged values.
• Updates to dynamic properties can be automated.
• Create your spreadsheets with the new Grid Style diagrams and Scriptlets.
• Update the Grid style diagrams using new cell references (A:1, A:2, etc.,) API.
• Dynamically colour code elements based on your rules.
• Populate and edit a table of data.
• Render graphics.
• Validate model elements in a diagram.

How to use Scriptlets in EA 16?

• Drag-drop the Scriptlet element from the toolbox.
• Double click on the artifact to open the scripting pad.
• Edit the script as required.
• Reload the diagram to run the script automatically or right-click on the Scriptlet element and choose ‘Run Script’ from the context menu to run manually.
• Multiple Scriptlet elements can be used on a single diagram and, the Z-order of the Scriptlets on the diagram determines the order in which they are executed.
• Scriptlets are model-based and therefore the same Scriptlet element can be used on multiple diagrams.

Using Scriptlets in MDG Technologies

• Scriptlets can be incorporated into the definition of an element stereotype, as part of a Profile in an MDG Technology.
• Scriptlets can therefore be used to make on-the-fly changes to an element’s properties and presentation.
• To add a Scriptlet to an element stereotype, create an attribute named ‘_scriptlet’ within the element used to define the stereotype, and enter the script code into the ‘Initial Value’ field of that attribute’s properties.

Further Information 

Please contact us or write an email to info@sparxsystems.in to have a live demo about the new EA 16 features and capabilities.          

• Enterprise Architect has always allowed modelers to customize the appearance and position of elements in diagrams, and the New Grid Style Diagram option allows you to manage and organize diagrams by sorting diagram elements into cells within a grid.
• Build a Spreadsheet, Dashboard, and even a home page for your model with the Grid Style diagram.
• In Enterprise Architect 16, the Grid functionality integrates with a New Scripting API to reference elements by the provided grid position.

Key Points:

• Holds element in each grid cell
• Configurable in rows, columns, and cell size
• Manages medium to a large set of information
• Row and Column headers refer to the grid position
• Element position can be referred by grid position
• Automatically updates and process elements in the grid using Scriptlet.

How to enable Grid Style in Enterprise Architect 16?

In the Diagram Properties tab, select the ‘Enable’ option for Grid Style from the drop-down list under the section ‘Appearance’.

Figure 1 Enable Grid Style

This action turns on the ‘grid-style’ setting and opens the ‘Grid- Style Properties’ dialog, where you can specify settings such as the number of columns and the height and width of cells.

Figure 2 Grid- Style Properties dialog

Figure 3 Grid Style Diagram

Once the Grid-Style is enabled for a diagram, the option ‘Grid’ appears in the context menu which offers a number of commands specific to it. They are:

• Show Grid Lines
• Show Grid Headers
• Edit Grid
• Compact Grid

Figure 4 Grid Style – Context Menu

Altering the Grid Cells Using Scriptlets

Scriptlet Artifacts can be used to run JavaScript code to access elements in a grid-style diagram and set the appearance of those elements like to set the font and background color, or to alter the text that is displayed.

Each Scriptlet has access to three global objects in addition to the standard automation environment. They are:

• theDiagram – an automation Diagram interface to the diagram on which the Scriptlet resides
• theElement – an automation Element interface to the Scriptlet artifact itself
• theInstance – an automation DiagramObject interface to the Scriptlet artifact itself

Further Information

Please Contact us or write an email to info@sparxsystems.in to talk to our EA Expert to understand more about new interesting capabilities in Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect 16.