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(EA)2 User's Guide

Tagged Values

Tagged values are UML extension mechanisms designed to allow you to capture information about your model elements for which the designers of UML had not planned. For example, you may want to capture the amount of RAM on a Server. This can be done with a tagged value. To do so, you can open the element's property dialog and go to the Tagged Values pane.

A better way to provide a consistent approach to your tags is to have them built into the underlying metamodel. The (EA)2 metamodel provides tagged values for most of the toolbox elements you use to create your model. Many of (EA)2 tags are centered around life-cycle management. Some are used internally by the SQL components to identify elements and relate them to other types of elements.

There are three methods used for obtaining the values you can give to tagged values. The following sections describe these methods and give a description of each (EA)2 tagged value. You can import and export the tag definitions as explained on the Reference Data page. See the discussion on setting up Server Metamodels on the Server Metamodel page about including your own tagged values.

Primitives

Primitive tagged values are strings, integers, dates, etc. You enter the value directly into the edit box on the Tagged Values pane. Certain types can have formatting rules. For example, an integer tagged value can only have digits. A date tagged value will only accept date formats and also provides a calendar for entry. (These are not used for the (EA)2 life-cycle date tagged values because once you enter a value, you cannot nullify it and because you cannot enter a date that only includes the year component or just the year and month components).

Lists

List fagged values provide the user with an enumerated list of allowable values that are built into the metamodel. For example, the Support tagged value provides four options: Vendor, Internal, Unsupported, and Unknown.

Element Names

These tagged values present a list of model element names as allowable values. The model elements to be used is determined by the stereotype or stereotypes you provide when setting up the tagged value. For example, you could create a tagged value that gets its allowable values from all of the model elements with the stereotype <<Business System>> or with <<Business App>>. The selected name is copied into the tag's value and the link back to the original model element is discarded. If the element's name is subsequently changed, it does not effect the tag's value. (EA)2 does not use this type.

Element References

These are simillar to the Element Names tagged value types except that the link to the original element is not broken. Therefore, if you subsequently change the name of the element that provided the tag's value, the tag's value will change along with it. (EA)2 uses these to allow you to control the values of certain tagged values. For example, the Device Type tagged value provided for Devices uses elements that you create from the Device Type toolbox element and, therefore, will have an <<EA2 Device Type>> stereotype.

For examples, click on Settings | UML, go to the Tagged Value Types tab and look at the EA2 tags. You will find the element reference tags are listed there. The appropriate tags are placed on elements created from the toolboxes, but the tag definition must also be defined on this dialog. The primitive and list tagged values do not need to be defined here.

Tagged Value List

The follow table shows the (EA)2 tagged values. It provides the name, type, and description of each tag. The type consists of the name of a primitive, e.g. String, the term List for which the static values will be given in the Description, or the Element Reference, i.e. (EA)2 type.

EA2 Tagged Value	Type	Description
Actual Begin Date	String	Date when element was put into use.
Actual End Date	String	Date when element was taken out of use.
App Capability	App Capability	The Provides App Capability connector should have one or more App Capablities tags, indicating that the source element supplies the capability to the target elements. The connector also has life-cycle dates to indicate when this connection is or is planned to be in effect.
Begin Date	String	When the Roadmap Phase will begin.
CI_ID	String	Configuration Item ID which is a unique ID of the element. This may come from an external configuration management database.
Device Type	EA2 Device Type	Indicates what type of device the <<EA2 Device>> element is. The value list is determined by model elements you create with an <<EA2 Device Type>> stereotype.
End Date	String	When the Roadmap Phase will end.
File Type	EA2 File Type	Indicates what type of file the <<EA2 Device>> element is. The value list is determined by model elements you create with a stereotype of <<EA2 File Type>>.
Flow Percentage	Percentage	Indicates the percentage of times a control flow connector is used that comes out of a decision node.
Is Approved	Boolean	Indicates whether the configuration item is approved for continued use.
IT Capability	EA2 IT Capability	IT Capability for an 'EA2 Provides IT Capability' connector.
Lower Record Count	Int	Indicates the approximate lower limit to the number of records to be output for a report.
Network Protocol	Network Protocol
Network Region	EA2 Network Region	Indicates the network region that a node is deployed on. The value list is determined by model elements you create with a stereotype of <<EA2 Network Region>>
Output Channel	String	Indicates where the report is to go, the screen, hard copy, email, etc.
Planned Begin Date	String	Date when a configuration item is planned to be deployed.
Planned End Date	String	Date when a configuration item is planned to be retired.
Priority	EA2 Business Need Priority	Indicates the priority of a Business Need. The value list is determined by model elements you create with a stereotype of <<EA2 Business Need Priority>>.
Priority	String	Read/Write. The priority of this element as compared to other project elements. Only applies to Requirement, Change and Issue types, otherwise ignored. Valid values are: Low, Medium and High.
Provided App Capability	App Capability	Application elements, such as Business Apps, can supply one or more App Capabilities to Business Processes and Activities. You create a Provided App Capability tag for each capability provided. They allow the designer of a Business Process realization to discover Business Apps that provide the capabilities required by the Business Process. They also allow the enterprise architect to determine Business Apps that duplicate the capabilities of other application elements, thus enabling a plan to reduce the duplication.
Provided Business Capability	Business Capability	Business Processes and Activities can supply one or more Business Capabilities to External Actors/Roles. You create a Provided Business Capability tag for each capability provided. They allow the designer of the Business System Context to discover Business Processes that provide the capabilities required by the External Actors/Roles..
Provided IT Capability	IT Capability	IT Software, such as operating systems,, can supply one or more IT Capabilities to application elements such as Business Apps. You create a Provided IT Capability tag for each capability provided. They allow the Application Architect to discover IT software that provides the capabilities required by the Business Apps. They also allow the enterprise architect to determine IT software that duplicates the capabilities of other IT software, thus enabling a plan to reduce the duplication.
Quality Attribute	EA2 Quality Attribute	Indicates the quality attribute (non-functional requirement) of an activity.
Requester	String	The actor that runs the report. This could be the system scheduler or some actor.
Required App Capability	App Capability	Indicates the Application Capability required by the element
Required IT Capability	IT Capability	Business Apps require IT Capabilities in order to operate, e.g. an execution environment, security, data management, etc. You create a tag for each capability you want to track. IT Software elements have tags for their Provided IT Capabilities, which lets an Application Architect discover the IT Software elements that supply the IT Capabilities required by the Business App.
Risk Type	List	Enumerated list of Risk Types that need to be addressed by the system.
Schedule	Schedule	Indicates when the report should be run. This may be ad-hoc, daily, weekly, etc.
Service Type	Service Type
Site	Site
Support	List	The values indicate what kind of support a configuration item has. The values are Vendor, Internal, Unsupported, or Unknown.
Table Type	Table Kind
Upper Record Count	int	Indicates the approximate upper limit to the number of records to be output for a report.
Vendor	Vendor
Volatility	List