Archi Roadmap

The following is a set of milestones, subject to change depending on time and resources.

• M1 – Archi 4 (completed)
• M2 – Multi-User and Collaboration (in progress)
• M3 – Scripting and Command Line Tools (in progress)
• M4 – HTML/JS based Visualisation, Query, and Reporting plug-ins
• M5 – Extending the Archi and ArchiMate Ecosystem

M1 – Archi 4 (completed)

The first milestone in the roadmap was the release of Archi 4 which supports ArchiMate 3.0. The biggest challenge for this work was implementing connection to connections and supporting future changes. ArchiMate 3.0 allows relationships between elements and other relationships. This required a major re-write of the underlying code. Other features, fixes, and refactoring were implemented.

 

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M2 – Multi-User and Collaboration (in progress)

One of the biggest feature requests is multi-user, sharing and versioning of models in a shared repository. The first stage in supporting this has been the Grafico plug-in created by Jean-Baptiste Sarrodie. This plug-in uses git repositories to store and share Archi models. However, the workflow requires the use of an external git client. This shortcoming is now being addressed with the new model repository plug-in. An early pre-release is available.

 

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M3 – Scripting and Command Line Tools (in progress)

We have already developed the core engine of a JavaScript based Scripting plug-in and Command line support. The Scripting plug-in (jArchi) allows power users to manipulate their Archi models (and the Archi application itself) to do things such as batch processing, report generation, queries, etc. Combined with the Archi Command Line Interface (ACLI) it will be possible to automate many processes.

 

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M4 – HTML/JS based Visualisation, Query, and Reporting plug-ins

Building on the work of the previous milestones we will extend the Archi workflow so that end-users will be able to create their own HTML/JS plugins for such things as query languages, reports, analysis, visualisations, and heatmaps.

 

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M5 – Extending the Archi and ArchiMate Ecosystem

We envisage that users will want to work with their Archi generated ArchiMate models in other frameworks and in the cloud. For example, a company may have their own HTML reporting frameworks or model repositories. Integration with other modelling languages and frameworks will also be on our radar. Using the Open ArchiMate Exchange Format we aim to extend the overall Archi and ArchiMate ecosystem with open cloud-based solutions to completely eliminate the dependence on closed proprietary toolsets and data formats.

 

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