Access to Enterprise Architect Chats

Introduction 

The new Chats feature in Prolaborate enhances collaboration between Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect (EA) and Prolaborate users by enabling them to create, view, and reply to messages directly within Prolaborate. Users can engage in conversations with individual EA users or participate in group discussions with the EA user groups they belong to, making it easier to follow ongoing exchanges and stay connected. By bridging communication between EA and Prolaborate, Chats ensures that all stakeholders can collaborate effectively without switching between tools.

Note:

1. Chats was first introduced in Prolaborate 5.4.0, allowing Prolaborate users to only view conversations from EA.
2. In Prolaborate 5.6.0, the feature was enhanced to let users start new conversations or reply to existing ones directly in Prolaborate.
3. OpenID users from EA can view their chats in Prolaborate when EA authentication is enabled and they log in with OpenID upon opening the repository.

Prerequisites

1. Model Security must be enabled to allow the respective repository to view the chats in Enterprise Architect.
2. EA Authentication should be enabled, if EA OpenID users wish to view their chat history in Prolaborate.
3. The Chats toggle in the Repository Settings must be set to Show.

How to Enable Chats in Prolaborate? 

To display the Chat icon in the ribbon menu for a repository in Prolaborate, you need to switch the Chats toggle under EA Collaboration Settings to Show in the Repository Settings.

Go to Menu > Repository Settings to access the settings.

The user must be an admin or part of a user group with access to Repository Settings to modify them.

Note:

1. By default, the ‘Chat’ toggle in Repository Settings is set to ‘Hide.’
2. The toggle cannot be accessed if Model Security is not enabled for the repository.

View Chats in Prolaborate 

Once the prerequisites are met, the Chat icon will appear in the repository ribbon menu.

Steps to Access Chats

To access chats, click the Chat icon in the ribbon menu.

In the pop-up window, enter your Enterprise Architect (EA) model credentials. However, if you use OpenID to access EA models, refer to the corresponding section on OpenID authentication.

Your conversations with other users and user groups from EA will be displayed in Prolaborate.

Note:

1. The most recent chat message will be listed at the top, followed by other messages in chronological order.

How to Access Chats for OpenID Users

If EA Authentication is enabled, users can directly view chat history upon clicking the Chat icon (no need to re-enter credentials).

When opening the repository in Prolaborate, a modal window opens if EA Authentication is enabled for the required repository or the logged in user.

Click the Login with OpenID button to authenticate and view the model information in Prolaborate.

After login, click the Chats icon in the ribbon menu and view your conversations with other users and groups.

Initiate EA Chat Conversation from Prolaborate

Introduced in Prolaborate 5.6, users can now start new chats or reply to existing Enterprise Architect (EA) conversations directly within the application.

Reply to an Existing Conversation

When you open a chat conversation, a text box will appear at the bottom. Type your message and click Send to reply.

Start a New Conversation

To initiate a new conversation, click the New Chat button on the left side pane. Choose Groups or Users.

Clicking the users will list all the groups you are a member of whereas clicking the users will display the list of available users in the EA model.

Select the desired user or group to open a chat window. Type your message and click Send to initiate the conversation.

Other Useful Information about Chats

Left Pane Navigation: Click on user or group names to view specific conversations.

Unread Messages: Conversations with unread messages are highlighted in green on the chat icon.

Switch Users: To log in as another user, click the icon next to your name.

Chat History: In Prolaborate, the chat conversation of last 30 days is displayed by default. Use the Chat History dropdown to view up to 90 days.

To view messages older than 90 days, users must switch to Enterprise Architect.

Note:

1. If Versions Explorer is enabled, users must switch to the current state to view chat records.

Limitations

In Prolaborate, EA users can only view chat history for the last 90 days using their model credentials. To access older messages, users must switch to Enterprise Architect.

How to view Chats in Enterprise Architect?

To view your chats in Enterprise Architect, open the Chat & Mail window. Select the Chat section to see all the conversations you are part of.

For more information on Model Chat in Sparx Systems Enterprise Architect, click here.