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Report Deletion of Cross Package References

Your model might contain at least one XMI 1.1 Controlled Package that is also used in other models, but not necessarily in the same context.

For example, consider the combination of Projects and Packages described in the figure below.

Two common packages, 'Package A' and 'Package B', are shared across two separate projects, 'Project X' and 'Project Y', through the use of XMI package files.  From the point of view of the common packages, each of these projects is 'incomplete'.  Project X does not contain 'Specialized Package Y' and similarly, Project Y does not contain 'Specialized Package X'.

Problem

When 'Package B' is exported from 'Project X', its XMI file will not contain the cross-package reference 'Y depends on B', as that relationship does not exist in 'Project X'.  If the XMI file is subsequently imported into 'Project Y', the relationship 'Y depends on B' will be removed from 'Project Y'.

Solution

You can easily check for and preserve the cross-Package relationships by selecting the option 'Report Cross Package Reference Deletions (XMI 1.1)' in the 'Preferences' dialog ('Start > View > Preferences' ribbon option, then select the 'XML Specifications' tab). When you save a controlled Package, Enterprise Architect compares the XMI for that save with the most recent XMI 1.1 revision of the Package. Any items that are missing from the Package are listed on the 'Missing Cross References' dialog.

Actions

Action

Detail

See also

Decide which cross-references to merge

In some cases Enterprise Architect cannot determine whether a cross-reference is missing or intentionally deleted by the user. When the 'Missing Cross References' dialog displays, the basic analysis process should be:

  • If the item was deleted intentionally, deselect the checkbox beside it
  • If the item was not deleted intentionally, its presence in the list suggests it is a missing cross reference and you should leave the checkbox selected

Merge missing items

Items missing from the exported Package are listed in the 'Missing Cross References' dialog. To regenerate them into the XMI file that is being saved:

  • Select the checkbox against each item type
  • Click on the OK button

Items of any type that you do not select are omitted from the saved XMI file.

Abort or cancel this XMI Export

If you do not want to proceed with the export (or Check-in or Put Latest) operation:

  • Click on the Cancel button

Review the details of an entry

To display the details of an entry on the 'Missing Cross References' dialog:

  • Double-click on the type name

The details of each item are shown on the 'Missing <item type>' dialog. For any items where information is missing from the XMI file, the missing details are grayed-out.

To find the item with the missing cross-reference in the Project Browser, either:

  • Right-click on the entry in the list and select the 'Find in Project Browser' option, or
  • Click on the item and press Alt+G

Copy a value from a column on the dialog to the clipboard

To preserve a copy of an item from the dialog on the clipboard:

  • Click on the column value to highlight it; the selected value is shown in the bottom left corner of the dialog
  • Select the text in the bottom left corner and press Ctrl+C to copy that value to the clipboard

Notes

  • If you are not sharing any common packages between multiple projects, then detection of missing cross references is not necessary, and you should disable the feature by deselecting the 'Report Cross Package Reference Deletions (XMI 1.1)' checkbox.

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