14th January, 2009: ARCSeeker Version 2.3 Build 038 released.
Are you interested in reusing your UML models?
Usually, after making UML models, the models are not referred to in future developments. By referring to and using them as part of the future models, you can design another model efficiently. This product ARCSeeker is a tool to help you reusing your models which are created by Sparx System's Enterprise Architect.
You can reuse your UML models by the following 3 steps.
Collect Firstly, you must collect 'Components' for reuse. You can collect them from your EA model files. By using ARCSeeker and our original Enterprise Architect Add-in, you can create Components from EA's packages easily. All Components are stored in a 'Storage' - central repository.
Manage Secondly, you must add additional information to the Components to search and use later. Adding tags to each component is to distinguish them easily. ARCSeeker has features to add Tags easily, and has features to search and sort in various conditions.
Use Finally, you use the Components in future development. Do not forget that not only using Components without any modification, but also using 'as reference' (refer information to make robust models efficiently). By using ARCSeeker and the original Add-in, you can import Components to EA model files easily.
If you manage a lot of your UML models as original 'EAP' files, it is difficult to search through them when you want to reuse them. By separating the EAP files into small meaningful parts (we call them 'Components'), you can manage, store and reuse the parts easily, effectively and efficiently.
ARCSeeker strongly supports you to reuse your UML models.
What are the advantages to use ARCSeeker?
Enterprise Architect has powerful features to manage models by using the version control tools (ex. Subversion). Comparing the version control tools, you can have the following advantages:
You can understand each model package by not only the XML file name, but also the model name, owner, description, etc. (We call them 'Tags') You can define your original Tags. You can specify various relationships between Components.
When you store your package into ARCSeeker as a Component, ARCSeeker automatically checks dependencies between EA model packages, and recommend you to store the related packages at the same time.
When you wish to use the stored Components in ARCSeeker, ARCSeeker automatically checks the target EAP file (or EA repository). If the EAP file does not have the dependent Components, ARCSeeker will recommend you to import the Components at the same time.
You can see the relationships between Components in a Storage as 'image'. See below image.
What is ARCSeeker?
ARCSeeker supports to manage and reuse Software Assets, particularly those created using Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect.
Software Assets include artifacts such as Word/Excel documents or Source Files. Using ARCSeeker, you can create Components from Enterprise Architect's UML models.
Additional information may be added for Components, as well as documentation files like Microsoft Word or Excel. These Components can be easily identified and used by your team members.
By storing your existing information to ARCSeeker Storage(repository), you can find and reuse your models effectively and efficiently.
ARCSeeker and OMG RAS(Reusable Asset Specification)
ARCSeeker is partly based on OMG RAS(Reusable Asset Specification). Currently ARCSeeker is not RAS-compliant. However, in the future, ARCSeeker will support reading/updating RAS-Component.
The format of ARCSeeker Components stored in ARCSeeker Storage(repository) is the same as the RAS-defined format (but currently the filename and extension are different), and schema of the ARCSeeker Component information is a subset of the RAS schema. You can see these facts by unzipping ARCSeeker Components or checking the ARCSeeker API. (You can download the ARCSeeker API reference manual from here.) In the near future, ARCSeeker can handle RAS-Components and users can select the style of stored Components.
