How to start developing for Decision Architect?



Prerequisites


Checkout, build, and run

  1. Connect to the Team Foundation Project Server using Visual Studio
    • View > Team Explorer > Projects and My Teams > Connect to Team Projects
    • You can find the URL and login credentials by clicking on Connect in the SOURCE CODE tab on CodePlex
  2. Map the da project to a local folder in the Source Control Explorer
    • On the Local Path it should write Not mapped. Click on this link and select a local location where you want to download the files. If you want to build the installer this path must end with a folder named ViewpointsAddIn whose parent folder can be mapped to the logical P:\ drive (see below). This is due to the current configuration of the Installer project. Click on Map and then Yes
    • The project consist of four folders
      • decisions: Contains architecture and decision documentation of the tool
      • metamodel: Contains the sources of the MDG and the meta model
      • src: Contains the projects files and the actual source code
      • BuildProcessTemplates: Default folder. Can be ignored for now.
  3. Open the solution file src/DecisionArchitect.sln
  4. Add third party references to Interop.EA for the project DecisionArchitect, EAFacade, and DecisionArchitectTests
    • For each project, right click on "References" and click "Add Reference...".
    • Add a reference to Interop.EA.dll by browsing to the file in the installation directory of Enterprise Architect.
  5. Add third party references to Microsoft.Office.Interop.Excel for the project DecisionArchitect
    • For the project DecisionArchitect right click on "References" and click "Add Reference...".
    • Add a reference to Microsoft Excel [version] Object Library where [version] is the File Version number (e.g. 15.0). The reference can be found under COM > Type Libraries. 
  6. Add third party references to DocumentFormat.OpenXML for the project DecisionArchitect
    • Add a reference to DocumentFormat.OpenXml.dll by browsing to the file in the installation directory of the OpenXML SDK.
  7. Set EA. exe as start action in order to be able to debug the add-in.
    • Right click on the project DecisionArchitect and select properties.
    • Navigate to tab Debug and select the configuration debug
    • Specify path to EA.exe in Start external program (When using the trial: C:\Program Files\Sparx Systems\EA Trial\EA.exe , otherwise: C:\Program Files\Sparx Systems\EA\EA.exe)
    • Repeat for other configurations, e.g. release
  8. Add the add-in in the windows registry (if necessary), so it is automatically loaded by EA
    • Browse to HKEY_CURRENT_USER\Software\Sparx Systems
    • Right click and add a key with the name EAAddins (if it does not already exist)
    • Right click on the EAAddins key and add a key with the name of the project in Visual Studio, in this case Decision Architect.
  9. Double click on the (Default) value on the right pane, and enter the value in the form of [ProjectName].[ClassName], so in this case DecisionArchitect.MainApplication
  10. If you plan to change the MDG or to create an Installer, you need to map the logical drive P to the project folder
    • Run the command net use P: \\folder\to\project\da\source, e.g. net use P: \\computer\c$\Users\Developers\Documents\da\src for the main branch
    • If you run VisualStudio as Administrator, you need to run the command as Administrator and normal user
  11. Test if the project can be compiled and debugged
    • In Enterprise Architect
    • Check if Extension > Manage Add-Ins lists Decision Architect and the status is Enabled
    • Check if Settings > MDG Technologies lists the technology Decision Architect
    • Check if the Extensions > Decision Architect is present
  12. Read the Developer Guidelines and Start coding! :-)