Template Elements

Importing complex data

Importing complex data into an EA model can be long process. First you need to import the elements, which might come from many sources, then connect them together in the right way. This data might be available as denormalized spreadsheets, or not at all. Either way, importing the connectors is even harder, but as you know, it’s the connectors which make the model interesting, so they are essential.

eaSheets makes this really simple, buy getting you to create a simple example, using dummy data, to show eaSheets exactly what you want. And not using MDGs or meta-models: just an example.

If you are using eaSheets, creating that additional data about how things need to be connected, is really simple. Just create an example – the ‘Template Element’ – and eaSheets will follow the example.

Note: this is starting to look like a kind of MDG, or Model Expert reference model, in that it is a specification for how we want our model to look. The difference here is that all we have done is create a simple example, created the connectors we need, and fill-in the fields and tagged values we need.

So it’s simpler and quicker than the alternatives.

Using the template element

So now we have an example of what we want our new data to look like, we can just put the template element into a new package, and open it in eaSheets.

The sheet which you get is your new package, and a single row, which is the template element. But this template element has told eaSheets exactly which columns you want:

• Which EA fields, in the case the name and the notes
• Which tagged values: Importance and Value
• Which related elements,
  AND
• most important, how you want those related element to be connected to the business function.

So you’re all set to start entering data. See Adding data to an eaSheets ‘Smart Sheet’