With the help of the ReqSuite® Enterprise Architect Add-In, data from ReqSuite® RM can be automatically translated into UML / BPMN or SysML models in the Enterprise Architect tool and vice versa.

To make this possible, the following steps must be performed.

Installation of the Add-In

Since Enterprise Architect is an installed application and not a web-based tool, data exchange cannot be triggered from ReqSuite® RM via built-in interfaces such as to JIRA or TFS. Rather, an extension must be added to Enterprise Architect to take care of the data exchange.

Therefore, the first step is the installation of the ReqSuite® Enterprise Architect Add-In that can be downloaded here. After unpacking the downloaded archive, the included installer must be run with local administration rights on the appropriate device. After successful installation, a new entry appears in the Enterprise Architect menu (see Figure 1).

Adaptation of the Project Templates

Due to its generic and highly customizable nature, ReqSuite® RM cannot automatically determine how elements of different categories map to UML, BPMN or SysML elements in Enterprise Architect. Hence, these mapping rules must be explicitly specified in ReqSuite® RM. For this purpose, model representations must be defined for categories, notations and relationship types in the project templates. These rules are used during the actual data exchange to translate elements from ReqSuite® RM into corresponding model elements and vice versa.

Figure 2 shows an example of how to set up the model representation for a particular category.

Setup of a Project Mapping

After updating or creating a project based on the customized project template, the project is ready for synchronization with Enterprise Architect. After that, a project mapping can be created between this ReqSuite® RM project and a project in Enterprise Architect.

The project mapping is defined in the settings window of the ReqSuite® RM Enterprise Architect Add-In (see Figure 3). By clicking on the “Create” button, a window appears where the user can select a project from his ReqSuite® RM account and a (local) Enterprise Architect file, both to be connected.

Actual Synchronization

While the aforementioned steps typically need to be performed once (in each project), the actual synchronization can be performed as often as desired. The synchronization is divided into two separate steps “Download” and “Upload” (both located below the ReqSuite® RM Add-In in Enterprise Architect).

During the download, the Enterprise Architect Add-In loads elements from the corresponding ReqSuite® RM project and translates them into objects, relationships and diagrams in Enterprise Architect, according to the defined mapping rules (see Figure 4). During the upload, the objects and relationships modified or added in Enterprise Architect are then transferred to ReqSuite® RM. In addition, all mapped diagrams are stored as images for the notation of the categories and elements as defined in the project template.

Important Note: The structure (e.g., folders, diagrams, etc.) automatically created by the Add-In must not be modified or extended, as otherwise the synchronization will fail.