Use database groups

You can use the database group functionality to manage database contents.

Create group

You can create a new group in a database in which you can store models and objects.

Procedure

  1. Click Application launcher Application launcher > Models and objects Models and objects. The Models and objects view in the repository is opened.

  2. Click the Right arrow arrow of the relevant Database with versioning capability database.

  3. Navigate to the relevant database group. When you select the group, its contents are displayed in the details view. The More More icon is located next to the group name.

  4. ClickMore More > Create group Create group. The corresponding dialog opens.

  5. Enter the required name in the Name box.

  6. Click OK.

The group is created as a subgroup of the selected database group. You can store models and objects in the new group.

You can rename a group by clicking More More > Rename Rename next to its name.

Copy and paste group content

With the Designer license, you can copy and paste models, objects, and groups with models.

Procedure

  1. Click Application launcher Application launcher > Models and objects Models and objects. The Models and objects view in the repository is opened.

  2. Click the Right arrow arrow of the relevant Database with versioning capability database.

  3. Navigate to the relevant database group. When you select the group, its contents are displayed in the details view. The More More icon is located next to the group name.

  4. ClickMore More > Copy Copy. The group and the contained models are copied and can be pasted into another group.

  5. Select the name of the database group into which you want to paste contents.

    1. If you want to paste only the models, clickMore More > Paste Paste. The copied group and the contained models are created in the target group. The model uses occurrence copies of the objects stored in the copied group.

      Copy of the occurrence, that is, only the graphical representation of an object, rather than the entire object as with the definition copy.

      All occurrence copies of an object represent the underlying object definition.

      You can create copies of objects. When copying an object, you can decide whether you wish to create a new object (a definition copy) or a new object symbol for an existing object (an occurrence copy).

      It is helpful to create a copy of the object symbol for an existing object - that is, only a copy of the occurrence of an object - if exactly the same object is used at various positions in the model or in different models.

      For example, if, in the model, you are creating, Plant 1 supplies goods at various points of the model, it is advisable to use occurrence copies at these points. These refer to the same object, and any changes to this object apply to all occurrence copies.

      If you want to rename Plant 1 to Plant A, for example, you only need to do this for ONE of the occurrences: The names of all other occurrences are simultaneously changed to Plant A.

    2. If you want to paste the models and objects, clickMore More > Paste Paste with objects. The copied group, models, and objects are created in the target group. The objects are definition copies of the objects stored in the copied group.

You have copied a group and pasted the contents into another group.

Create model

With the Designer license, you can create a new model in the selected database group. Event-driven process chains (EPC) and Business Process Model and Notation (BPMN) version 2.0. are widely used modeling notations. The basics for these modeling techniques can be found in EPC in ARIS and in BPMN 2.0 in ARIS.

Procedure

  1. Click Application launcher Application launcher > Models and objects Models and objects. The Models and objects view in the repository is opened.

  2. Click the Right arrow arrow of the relevant Database with versioning capability database.

  3. Navigate to the relevant database group. When you select the group, its contents are displayed in the details view. The More More icon is located next to the group name.

  4. ClickMore More > Create model Create model. The corresponding dialog opens.

  5. In the Model name box, specify the name with which the new model is to be created in the selected group.

  6. Click the Model type box and enter part of the model type name. All model types are displayed whose names contain the term you entered.

  7. Select the required model type.

  8. Click OK.

The new model is created and saved in the selected group. A new tab with the model opens and you can model the content.

Import an ARIS Express model

You can import a model from ARIS Express and use it in ARIS. ARIS Express saves models in files of the ARIS Document Format format (adf).

Prerequisite

  • The model is of a model type allowed by ARIS and by the method filter you are using.

  • You have the ARIS Connect Designer license privilege.

Procedure

  1. Click Application launcher Application launcher > Models and objects Models and objects. The Models and objects view in the repository is opened.

  2. Select the relevant database.

  3. Navigate to the database group into which you want to import the ARIS Express model. The More More icon is located next to the group name.

  4. ClickMore More > Import Import ARIS Express model. The corresponding dialog opens.

  5. Click Select file and use the File Upload dialog to navigate to the group in which the model is stored in ADF format.

  6. Select the relevant ADF file and click Open.

    1. The selected model is imported if an ARIS Express filter or an ARIS Express template is available.

    2. If no ARIS Express filter or ARIS Express template is available, you are asked whether you still want to import the model. Click OK if you want to import the model. Only after you have imported the ARIS Express filter and ARIS Express template does the model look as in ARIS Express. Click OK to confirm the message that some object types are represented by default symbols.

  7. Use ARIS Architect to import the ARIS Express filter and the ARIS Express template if you want the imported model to appear exactly as it does in ARIS Express.

The imported model is stored in the selected group and you can open it for editing. If you import BPMN diagrams from ARIS Express, Enterprise BPMN diagrams are created. Only if Enterprise BPMN diagrams are not allowed, BPMN diagrams from ARIS Express are imported as BPMN (2.0).

Import BPMN file

You can import data from a BPMN file and use the BPMN diagram that was generated by the import in ARIS. When importing a BPMN diagram of a third-party supplier, an Enterprise BPMN diagram is created in ARIS.

Prerequisites

  • The method filter you are using allows BPMN diagrams.

  • You have the ARIS Connect Designer license privilege.

Procedure

  1. Click Application launcher Application launcher > Models and objects Models and objects. The Models and objects view in the repository is opened.

  2. Select the relevant database.

  3. Select the database group into which you want to import the BPMN diagram. The More More icon is located next to the group name.

  4. ClickMore More > Import Import BPMN diagram. The corresponding dialog opens.

  5. Click Select file and navigate to the relevant BPMN file.

  6. Select the BPMN file and click Open. The file is parsed. If it is a valid BPMN file, it is imported.

The BPMN diagram is stored in the selected group, and you can open it for editing on a tab.

Import Visio files

With the Designer license, you can import Visio drawings to create models with semantics.

Procedure

  1. Click Application launcher Application launcher > Models and objects Models and objects. The Models and objects view in the repository is opened.

  2. Click the Right arrow arrow of the relevant Database with versioning capability database.

  3. Navigate to the relevant database group. When you select the group, its contents are displayed in the details view. The More More icon is located next to the group name.

  4. ClickMore More > Import Import Visio files. The report starts and the Select Visio file dialog opens.

  5. Click Select files. The dialog opens.

  6. Select the group that contains the Visio files.

  7. Select one or more Visio files and click Open. The importing of the files starts. If a default drawing type is available for a Visio file, the default is used during the import. The Select import settings dialog opens for each Visio file, for which you must select a default Visio drawing type or can select the pages to import.

    • If a default drawing type is not available for a Visio file, select the required drawing type.

    • Do not disable the check boxes for the Visio pages you want to import.

  8. If you want to use the current template for all imported Viso files, enable the Skip further dialogs and use this template for all files check box. When the check box is not enabled, a dialog opens again for each Visio file.

  9. Click OK.

The Visio data is transferred to one or more models.

Refresh content of a database group

You can update the contents of the selected database to display the current contents. This is useful when several people work in the database at the same time. For example, if someone else changes the names of groups, you can see the changes after refreshing.

Prerequisite

You have the ARIS Connect Designer license privilege.

Procedure

  1. Click Application launcher Application launcher > Models and objects Models and objects. The Models and objects view in the repository is opened.

  2. Select the relevant database.

  3. Select a database group. The More More icon is located next to the group name.

  4. ClickMore More > Refresh Refresh.

The current database data is read and displayed.

Delete a group

With the Designer license, you can delete a group and its contents.

Warning

You cannot undo the deletion of the group and its contents.

Procedure

  1. Click Application launcher Application launcher > Models and objects Models and objects. The Models and objects view in the repository is opened.

  2. Click the Right arrow arrow of the relevant Database with versioning capability database.

  3. Navigate to the relevant database group. When you select the group, its contents are displayed in the details view. The More More icon is located next to the group name.

  4. ClickMore More > Delete Delete. A confirmation prompt is displayed.

  5. Click Delete. If the group does not contain any items, it is deleted immediately. If the group contains items, you are asked in a confirmation prompt whether you also want to delete these items.

  6. Click Yes.

The group and its contents are deleted.