ElaborView for Web

Modeling is not so much about what you want, but what is best for the user. For models like use case model, business process model and requirement model, user feedback is the precious ingredient you need to evolve towards a better end product. Therefore, a key for producing a product that favors usability is to maintain an efficient communication channel which allows end users to see your designs, give comments and raise questions regularly. This ensures the model is valid and any modeled plan can be executed within user's expectation.

July 18, 2011
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One of the common ways to let end users review and comment your model would be to export the related diagram(s) as images and send them to the user via email. User would then review your work and reply your email with his comments. This way of communication is inefficient. First, the comments are detached from the design and are hard to relate. Printing the diagrams out and commenting on the hard copy is just as cumbersome. Second, Emails may be lost due to being blocked by mail filter, especially for emails with file attachments.

To address this problem, Visual Paradigm has introduced ElaborView.

ElaborView provides you with a design review tool. With ElaborView, modeler sends the designs to a server, namely the ElaborView server. Then, end user downloads the designs from server and start reviewing. There is a number of annotation tools for end user to add comments on the designs directly and efficiently. Upon completion of the review, the end user submits the comments back to the server. The modeler can then get and study the comments in order to correct the model accordingly.

In addition to running ElaborView in standalone manner, users can also run ElaborView in any web browsers. This allows end user to review modeler's work with mobile devices such as iPad, anytime and anywhere. In this tutorial, we will demonstrate the use of ElaborView to give comment for a business process diagram (BPD). There will be two players - modeler and user. You can complete this tutorial with your colleague, or to have yourself act both as the modeler and user.

Downloading and Installation of ElaborView Server

When a design is ready for the end user to review, the modeler can send it to the ElaborView Server. In this section, we will walk through the installation of ElaborView Server. Note that ElaborView Server is one of the modules within Visual Paradigm Server. However, there is no direct download link for Visual Paradigm Server. And you need to download Teamwork Server, which is another module within Visual Paradigm Server, in order to download Visual Paradigm Server.

Visit: https://www.visual-paradigm.com/download/vpts.jsp
Login and start downloading Teamwork Server.
Create a folder for storing the server program. For example, C:\VP-Tutorial.
Extract the downloaded zip file of VPServer to that folder. You should obtain a path like this: C:\VP-Tutorial\VPServer\scripts.
Start the server by running VPServer\scripts\startup.bat. A console will be opened. Do NOT close it until the end of this tutorial. Otherwise the server will stop running.
Open a web browser.
Go to http://127.0.0.1:1999/. Note that 1999 is the default port of VP Server.
Enter your organization's name and the administrator's password. Click Select Module at the bottom right corner.
Select the ElaborView Module. Click Configure Database/Module at bottom right.
Keep the database settings unchanged (i.e. using Localized DB). Click Configure Module at the bottom right.

Fill in YOUR OWN mail server settings. Do not enter what you see in the image below as that is for Visual Paradigm only. Before continue, click on Send test email and check your Email box to make sure the mail setting is correct. It is extremely important that you have valid mail server settings. If not, you will not be able to continue to the next section.
configure mail server

If you are unclear about the mail server setting, you may look up in your Email client, or try to search on the Internet with keywords like "mail server". You may also find the following pages helpful if you are using Gmail or Yahoo.
Gmail - http://mail.google.com/support/bin/answer.py?hl=en&answer=13287
Yahoo Mail - http://help.yahoo.com/l/us/yahoo/mail/classic/mailplus/pop/pop-14.html

Modeler - Designing

In this section, we will draw a simple business process diagram. The diagram will be sent to ElaborView Server for commenting in the next section.

Start Agilian.
Create a new project by selecting File > New Project from the main menu. Name the project Online Shop. Click Create Blank Project to continue.
Create a business process diagram by clicking on Business on the toolbar. Select Business Process Diagram from the popup menu.
Enter Order Processing as diagram name. Press Enter to confirm editing.
Draw a diagram like this:

Modeler - Sending Design to ElaborView Server

The design is complete. Let's move on to send the design to end user for review and comment.

Open the ElaborView Manager by selecting File > ElaborView Manager... from the main menu.
You need to create an account for yourself. Click on the ... button next to the drop down menu of Connection name.
In the Login dialog box, click on Add Connection.
Enter 127.0.0.1 as hostname. This is where the ElaborView Server got installed. Since the server is running on this computer in this tutorial, we shall enter 127.0.0.1, for local host IP.
Click on Request Account.... Click Yes when you are prompted to save connection.
Enter a valid Email address for modeler, the display name and captcha (as shown in the image). Click Request.
Check your Email box. You should receive an activation Email sent by ElaborView. If you do not find such email, check your junk folder to make sure it was not filtered by the mail program. Click on the activation link appear in the Email to continue.
On the web page prompted, enter and confirm password. Click Activate.
Go back to Agilian. Enter the password you just entered in the Password field and click Connect.
The people who are going to review your design are called reviewers. You, as a modeler, have to invite the reviewers to review your design. Click on Invite Reviewer....
Enter a valid Email address for the reviewer, the display name and enter captcha. Click OK. In order to complete this tutorial, make sure you can receive Email with the addresses you supplied here.
Reviewer should decide to accept or reject the invitation. Check the reviewer's Email box for the invitation Email. Click on the accept link in the Email.
On the Web page prompted, enter and password and click Activate.
In ElaborView Manager, click on the Refresh button to let ElaborView manager recognize the acceptance of reviewer.
Now, you can send the business process diagram to ElaborView Server. Click on Send to ElaborView Server....
In the Send to ElaborView Server window, keep the project name unchanged, keep Reviewer selected as reviewer and select the diagram Order Processing to send to server. Click Export.

Now, an ElaborView project has been created in server. Reviewer can start commenting with ElaborView.

End User - Commenting

Having sent the designs to ElaborView server, the end user can start commenting.

Check the reviewer's Email box again. There is an Email about the assignment of project. Click on the first link appearing in the Email.
On the Web page prompted, click the hyperlink to login to the Web version of ElaborView.
Enter the reviewer's email address and password specified in previous section. Click Login.
Double click on the project Online Shop to open it.
Double click on diagram Order Processing to open it.
The left hand side lists the tools for commenting. Let's say the task Register is not necessary in the process. Select the Pencil tool.
Press and drag over the task Register to add a stroke.
Yellow seems not clear enough. Let's change it to red. Select Red.
Add another stroke over task Register to form a cross.
You also want to introduce a new task in after the Checkout task, for the need of submitting payment details. Click on the task Checkout.
Click on the Note tool.
This creates a note. Enter Add "Submit Payment Details after this task." to be the content.
You have finished reviewing and commenting. Let's submit the comment back to server. Click on Submit Diagram... at bottom. Click Submit when you are prompted to enter comment.

Modeler - Improving Design

Now, project owner can get the feedback from server, to study the comments made by reviewer.

Go back to Agilian.
Open the ElaborView Manager (if it is closed).
In the Server tab, click on Get ElaborView Submission.... When you are prompted to download submission, click Yes.
Select the submission entry in table. Click on Open.
You can see in the business process diagram the comments reviewer made. Click on the items to study them one by one.
Correct the design base on reviewer's comment. First, add a task Submit Payment Details after the Checkout task. Move the mouse pointer over the sequence flow between the task Checkout and end event. Click on the resource icon Split with Shape.
Select Task from the popup menu. This creates a task. Name it Submit Payment Details.
As the requested task is added, mark the note as read. Right click on the note on diagram and select Mark as Read. This removes it from diagram.
Delete the task Register as user requested.
As all the comments are processed, click Mark Done at the bottom panel.
Open ElaborView Manager. Click on Complete(Updated) on the ElaborView project listed in Export section. When you are prompted for confirmation, click Yes. This causes the status to change from Updated to Completed. This is the end of this tutorial.