This target converts an ISO 19109 application schema to an ArcGIS workspace document, which can be imported as schema to the various Esri Geodatabases using ArcGIS. This enables the use of ArcGIS in conjunction with ISO 19109 based application schema.
The conversion supports flattened application schemas as well as – to the extent non-flattened modeling constructs are supported by the ArcGIS 10.x geodatabase model – also more complex application schemas.
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Note
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Application schemas do not contain information related to data capturing or portrayal of features. As a result, such aspects are out of scope and are not part of the conversion result. This information has to be added in ArcGIS. |
1. Workflow
This section documents the conversion workflow. The application schema is read and pre-processed by ShapeChange, and then converted to an ArcGIS workspace model. That model can then be opened in Enterprise Architect and from there exported to an ArcGIS workspace document (in XML format). Details on each of these steps are provided in the following subsections.
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Note
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The ArcGIS workspace model is created within an EA repository. Before EA v15, that required execution of ShapeChange with 32bit Java. Furthermore, when creating the ArcGIS workspace, ShapeChange adds elements with stereotypes from the ArcGIS MDG technology. The MDG must be activated on the system where ShapeChange is executed, otherwise creating such elements may result in an exception (informing about an invalid type). |
For further information on the ArcGIS workspace model and the ArcGIS extension for Enterprise Architect, see http://www.sparxsystems.com/arcgis/
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Note
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In order to successfully derive an ArcGIS workspace document from an application schema, it is important to understand the complete workflow, i.e. the necessary pre-processing as well as subsequent conversion process. |
1.1. Pre-Processing through Flattening
Complex modeling constructs that are not supported by the ArcGIS 10.x geodatabase model can be removed using the Flattener transformation. The sequence of applicable transformation procedures is documented on a separate page, which also includes an example configuration for the Flattener: more information.
1.2. Creating the ArcGIS Workspace UML Model
Once the application schema has been pre-processed, it can be converted to an ArcGIS workspace model using the ShapeChange ArcGISWorkspace target.
The conversion of the various application schema elements into a model that complies with the ArcGIS workspace metamodel (which is used by the ArcGIS extension of Enterprise Architect) is described on a separate page: more information.
1.3. Export to ArcGIS Workspace Document
Once the ArcGIS UML model has been created by ShapeChange, open it in Enterprise Architect.
The ArcGIS extension in Enterprise Architect offers the following functions:
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validate the model
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set the coordinate system
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export the model to an ArcGIS workspace (XML) document; this document can then be imported as schema to an Esri geodatabase
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NOTE: With EA build 13.0.1308 the order in which the elements of a CodedValueDomain are exported is not valid according to the ESRI geodatabase XML Schema. This issue has been confirmed and will be corrected in a future build. A workaround is to correct the order using an XSL transformation.
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For further information on the Enterprise Architect ArcGIS extension, consult the help contents of Enterprise Architect.
2. Configuration
2.1. Template File
This target requires a template .qea file. Per default, the target retrieves the template from https://shapechange.net/resources/templates/ However, if desired, another location (online or local file) can also be specified via a target configuration parameter. During execution, the target copies the template to the output location, and uses it to store the ArcGIS UML model contents that result from the conversion.
2.2. Class
The class for the Target implementation is de.interactive_instruments.ShapeChange.Target.ArcGISWorkspace.ArcGISWorkspace.
2.3. Rules
An <EncodingRule> element defines an encoding rule.
Example:
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<EncodingRule name="ArcGIS">
<rule name="rule-arcgis-prop-initialValueByAlias"/>
</EncodingRule>
The name attribute of the <EncodingRule> element defines the identifier of the encoding rule to be used. The value of the target parameter defaultEncodingRule must contain this name.
The optional extends attribute (not shown in the example) of the <EncodingRule> element includes all rules from the referenced encoding rule in this encoding rule, too.
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Note
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Currently, a pre-configured encoding rule does not exist for this target. |
Each <rule> references either a conversion rule or - possibly in the future - a requirement or recommendation to be tested during the validation before the conversion process.
The default behavior of this target is described in the workflow section, more specifically the section Creating the ArcGIS Workspace UML Model.
The following rules are supported by this target.
2.3.1. rule-arcgis-all-precision
(since v2.4.0)
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Until v2.3.0 this rule had the identifier rule-arcgis-prop-precision |
If this rule is enabled, then the precision of a <<field>> with a range domain as type, or with a simple esri type can be set via the tagged value 'precision' (on the property from the conceptual schema that is converted to the <<field>>; the tagged value must contain an integer value).
If the rule is not enabled, or the tagged value 'precision' is not set, the default behavior applies, which is to set precision to:
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9 - for a <<field>> with type esriFieldTypeInteger
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10 - for a <<field>> with type esriFieldTypeDouble
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0 - for all other cases
2.3.2. rule-arcgis-all-relationshipClassNameByTaggedValueOfClasses
(since v2.4.0)
Construct the base name of a relationship class from the short names of the source and target class, combined by an underscore. The short name of a class is given via the tagged value specified by parameter shortNameByTaggedValue. If no short name is specified, the original class name will be used as fallback. Note that the base name can be subject to additional modifications (such as normalization, addition of suffix to make the name unique, and clipping in case that the name exceeds the allowed length).
2.3.3. rule-arcgis-all-removeUnusedCodedValueDomains
(since v2.6.0)
Removes any <<CodedValueDomain>> from the ArcGIS workspace model that is not used as value type in any field of one of the feature or table types contained in the model.
2.3.4. rule-arcgis-all-representTaggedValues
(since v2.6.0)
Adds tagged values that are identified by the input parameter representTaggedValues and which are present on application schema elements to the corresponding elements of the ArcGIS Workspace UML model (object classes, feature classes, relationship classes, attributes, association roles). This rule can be useful if additional tagged values that are not automatically written by ShapeChange are needed in an ArcGIS Workspace UML model.
2.3.5. rule-arcgis-all-scale
(since v2.4.0)
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Note
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Until v2.3.0 this rule had the identifier rule-arcgis-prop-scale |
If this rule is enabled, then the scale of a <<field>> with a range domain as type, or with a simple esri type can be set via the tagged value 'scale' (on the property from the conceptual schema that is converted to the <<field>>; the tagged value must contain an integer value).
If the rule is not enabled, or the tagged value 'scale' is not set, the default behavior applies, which is to set precision to:
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6 - for a <<field>> with type esriFieldTypeDouble
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0 - for all other cases
2.3.7. rule-arcgis-cls-identifierStereotype
(since v2.4.0)
Enables use of stereotype <<identifier>> on class attributes. If an attribute with that stereotype belongs to a class, then it will be used as primary key (the OBJECTID field will still be generated).
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Note
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Multiple <<identifier>> attributes per class are not supported. In such a case, ShapeChange will log a warning and use only one of them as primary key. If the maximum multiplicity of an <<identifier>> attribute is greater than 1, ShapeChange will log an error. |
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Warning
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If the application schema contains an n:1 relationship between a type A and an abstract type B, ShapeChange will create relationship classes between A and all non-abstract subtypes of B (on any sublevel of the inheritance tree). However, even though multiple connector would be created to represent the relationship classes, they would all rely upon the same foreign key field that is added to A. The type of this field is defined by the type of the primary key field of B. Therefore, you must ensure that the primary key fields of the subtypes of B have the same type as the primary key field of B. Otherwise, the type of the foreign key field would not support referencing an object of type B or any of its subtypes! |
2.3.8. rule-arcgis-cls-hasM
(since v2.3.0)
If a feature type has the tagged value 'HasM' set to 'true', and the feature type is converted to an ArcGIS feature class (Point, Polyline, etc.), then with this rule enabled the ArcGIS feature class will have the tagged value 'HasM' set to 'true' (default is 'false').
2.3.9. rule-arcgis-cls-hasZ
(since v2.3.0)
If a feature type has the tagged value 'HasZ' set to 'true', and the feature type is converted to an ArcGIS feature class (Point, Polyline, etc.), then with this rule enabled the ArcGIS feature class will have the tagged value 'HasZ' set to 'true' (default is 'false').
2.3.10. rule-arcgis-cls-rangeDomainFromTaggedValues
(since v2.3.0)
Identifies range domains for class properties based upon the tagged values 'rangeMinimum' and 'rangeMaximum'. Each boundary is inclusive. If one of the tagged values is not provided, the default value for that boundary is used (default min: -1000000000, default max: 1000000000). If both tagged values are empty, a range domain is not created. This rule overrides the range domain parsed from an OCL constraint, if the tagged values also specify a range domain for that property.
2.3.11. rule-arcgis-prop-attIndex
(since v2.5.0)
If this rule is included, then for each <<Field>> that represents a property from the conceptual model with tagged value sqlUnique equal to (ignoring case) 'true' – but not for fields that participate in a relationship class, an <<AttributeIndex>> is created in the element that owns the <<Field>>. The name of the index is the name of the field with suffix "_IDX". The index references the field via the tagged value "Fields". The tagged values _IsAscending_ and IsUnique are set to true.
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Note
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Whether or not an attribute index, or its specific property (like IsUnique), is actually supported depends on the geodatabase setup. For further details, see the ArcGIS help. |
2.3.12. rule-arcgis-prop-initialValue
(since v2.3.0)
If this rule is enabled, then an initial value of an attribute from the conceptual schema will also be set as initial value of the <<field>> that represents that attribute in the resulting ArcGIS workspace model.
2.3.13. rule-arcgis-prop-initialValueByAlias
If this rule is enabled, the initial value for a <<DomainCodedValue>>, which is an attribute of a <<CodedValueDomain>> (that results from conversion of enumerations and code lists from the application schema, is taken from the alias of the respective enums and codes, rather than from the initial value defined in the application schema.
2.3.14. rule-arcgis-prop-isNullable
(since v2.3.0)
If this rule is enabled, then the tagged value IsNullable of non-system <<field>>s in the ArcGIS workspace model are set as follows:
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if the property from the conceptual schema is optional (minimum multiplicity < 1), voidable (stereotype <<voidable>>), or nillable (tagged value 'nillable'='true') then it will be converted to a <<field>> with 'IsNullable'='true'
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otherwise 'IsNullable'='false'
If this rule is not enabled, then the default behavior applies, which is to have 'IsNullable'='true' for all non-system <<field>>s.
2.3.15. rule-arcgis-prop-lengthFromCodesOrEnumsOfValueType
(since v2.3.0)
If this rule is enabled then the length of a property that has a code list or enumeration as value type is computed as the maximum name length from the codes/enums of the value type (if codes/enums are defined by that type). This rule has lower priority than rule-arcgis-prop-lengthFromTaggedValueForCodelistOrEnumerationValueType. If none of these rules apply, the length will be set to 0.
2.3.16. rule-arcgis-prop-lengthFromTaggedValue
(since v2.3.0)
If this rule is enabled, ShapeChange will use the value of the tagged value 'size' (must be an integer) to populate the 'length' tagged value of the <<field>> that will represent the property in the ArcGIS model.
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Note
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Only applies to properties that are implemented as fields with type esriFieldTypeString. If the value is 0 or empty, unlimited length is assumed - unless an OCL constraint exists that restricts the length for the property. That also means that this rule has precedence over an OCL constraint: if the tagged value 'size' has an integer value > 1, then this value will be used as the length in the <<field>>. |
Parameter(s):
2.3.17. rule-arcgis-prop-lengthFromTaggedValueForCodelistOrEnumerationValueType
(since v2.3.0)
If this rule is enabled, then - for properties with a code list or enumeration as value type - ShapeChange will use the value of the tagged value 'size' (must be an integer) to populate the 'length' tagged value of the <<field>> that will represent the property in the ArcGIS model. This rule has higher priority than rule-arcgis-prop-lengthFromCodesOrEnumsOfValueType. If none of these rules apply, the length will be set to 0.
Parameter(s):
2.3.18. rule-arcgis-prop-reflexiveRelationshipAsField
(since v2.5.0)
If this rule is included, then a reflexive relationship (a property whose type is the class that owns the property) is converted to a <<Field>> with a field type suited for storing the ID of the referenced class (e.g. esriFieldTypeInteger or esriFieldTypeGUID). The target parameter reflexiveRelationshipFieldSuffix can be used to define a suffix that is added to the name of such a <<Field>>. This field can be used to store the ID of the object that is the target of the reflexive relationship.
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Note
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If the reflexive relationship property has max cardinality > 1, then this is not represented. ShapeChange will log a warning and convert the property to a single <<Field>>. |
2.4. Parameters
The <targetParameters> recognized for this target are described in the following sections.
2.4.1. defaultEncodingRule
Alias: none
Required / Optional: optional
Type: String
Default Value: none
Explanation: The identifier of the default encoding rule governing the conversion to an ArcGIS Workspace UML model. To use a custom encoding rule defined in the configuration, simply provide the name of the custom encoding rule via this parameter.
Applies to Rule(s): none - default behavior
2.4.2. defaultLength
Alias: none
Required / Optional: optional
Type: Integer
Default Value: 255
Explanation: Default length to set in the 'length' tagged value of <<field>>s that have a textual value, in case that the length is not specified otherwise.
Applies to Rule(s): none - default behavior
2.4.3. documentationNoValue
(since 2.0.2)
Alias: none
Required / Optional: optional
Type: String
Default Value: the empty string
Explanation: If a descriptor is used in the documentation template, but has no value, this parameter will be used. See here for more information about descriptors.
Applies to Rule(s): none - default behavior
2.4.4. documentationTemplate
since (2.0.2)
Alias: none
Required / Optional: optional
Type: String
Default Value: [[definition]]
Explanation: The template for the documentation that is placed in the notes field in the EA model. The patterns "[[descriptor]]" will be replaced by the value of the descriptor, or the value of documentationNoValue, if the descriptor has no value for the model element. See here for more information about descriptors.
Applies to Rule(s): none - default behavior
2.4.5. eaAuthor
since (2.9.0)
Alias: none
Required / Optional: optional
Type: String
Default Value: none
Explanation: Value for the field 'Author' of an EA element created while encoding the ArcGIS workspace model.
Applies to Rule(s): none - default behavior
2.4.6. eaStatus
since (2.9.0)
Alias: none
Required / Optional: optional
Type: String
Default Value: none
Explanation: Value for the field 'Status' of an EA element created while encoding the ArcGIS workspace model.
Applies to Rule(s): none - default behavior
2.4.7. foreignKeySuffix
since (2.4.0)
Alias: none
Required / Optional: optional
Type: String
Default Value: 'ID'
Explanation:
Suffix to append to the name of foreign keys.
Applies to Rule(s): none - default behavior
2.4.8. keepCaseOfRoleName
since (2.4.0)
Alias: none
Required / Optional: optional
Type: Boolean
Default Value: false
Explanation:
If set to 'true', do not switch the first character of a target or source role name in a relationship class to lower case.
Applies to Rule(s): none - default behavior
2.4.9. maxNameLength
Available for ShapeChange version: 2.3.0+
Alias: none
Required / Optional: optional
Type: Integer
Default Value: 30
Explanation: Can be used to configure a different limit for the length of field, feature class, and table names. This can be useful if the deployment environment is known.
Applies to Rule(s): none - default behavior
2.4.10. nameOfTaggedValueToDetermineFieldLength
Available for ShapeChange version: 2.3.0+
Alias: none
Required / Optional: optional
Type: String
Default Value: size
Explanation: Can be used to configure a different name for the tagged value that provides the length of a <<field>>.
Applies to Rule(s):
2.4.11. outputDirectory
Alias: none
Required / Optional: optional
Type: String
Default Value: <the current run directory>
Explanation: The path to the folder in which the resulting ArcGIS workspace (UML) model will be created.
Applies to Rule(s): none - default behavior
2.4.12. outputFilename
Required / Optional: Required
Type: String
Default Value: The name of the schema
Explanation: The name of the ArcGIS workspace model file (can be without file extension).
Applies to Rule(s): none – default behavior
2.4.13. reflexiveRelationshipFieldSuffix
(since v2.5.0)
Required / Optional: optional
Type: String
Default Value: none
Explanation: Define the suffix to add when encoding a reflexive relationship property as a <<Field>>.
Applies to Rule(s): rule-arcgis-prop-reflexiveRelationshipAsField
2.4.14. shortNameByTaggedValue
(since v2.4.0)
Type: String
Default Value: shortName
Explanation: Name of the tagged value that provides the short name for a model element, when used in constructing specific names of the ArcGIS workspace.
Applies to Rule(s): rule-arcgis-all-relationshipClassNameByTaggedValueOfClasses
2.4.15. valueRangeExcludedBoundaryDelta
Alias: none
Required / Optional: optional
Type: Double
Default Value: 0.01
Explanation: Delta to add to / subtract from a range limit in case that the lower and/or upper boundary comparison operator is not inclusive (more details can be found here).
Applies to Rule(s): none - default behavior
2.5. Configuration Example
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<Target class="de.interactive_instruments.ShapeChange.Target.ArcGISWorkspace.ArcGISWorkspace"
inputs="flattenedModel" mode="enabled" xmlns:xi="http://www.w3.org/2001/XInclude">
<targetParameter name="defaultLength" value="1024"/>
<targetParameter name="outputDirectory" value="output/ArcGISWorkspace/qea"/>
<targetParameter name="valueRangeExcludedBoundaryDelta" value="0.001"/>
<rules>
<EncodingRule name="ArcGIS">
<rule name="rule-arcgis-prop-initialValueByAlias"/>
</EncodingRule>
</rules>
<xi:include
href="https://shapechange.net/resources/config/StandardMapEntries_iso19103_ArcGISWorkspace.xml"/>
</Target>