The information in this section can help you become familiar with how to create various diagrams to visualize and analyze enterprise architectures by using different layouts, presentations, and reports. All project information is stored in a multiple-user repository, and you can extend the product by using its underlying metamodel. Microsoft Visual Basic for Applications is built into the product so that you can customize Getting started with System Architect. The product also includes a reporting system that can generate reports in XML, HTML, or Microsoft Word.

Work that you do in System Architect is stored in a project encyclopedia. You can create an encyclopedia for every project, or have multiple projects in one encyclopedia. Encyclopedias are created as databases in an SQL Server. The relationship between the encyclopedia and the database is 1-to-1. That is, the encyclopedia is a database; one database contains just one encyclopedia.

For more information, see Getting started: Working with encyclopedias.

The process of creating and modifying diagrams in System Architect involves creating or opening a diagram of a specific type, drawing symbols and lines on the surface of the diagram, and adding definitions to each of the symbols and lines drawn.

For more information, see Getting started: Creating diagrams.

System Architect provides three types of reporting and documentation systems, its Internal Reporting system, its link to Microsoft Word, and its HTML Generator. Using the Samples encyclopedia, you can run a Use Case diagram report in each of the reporting systems. This can give you a feel for each reporting system, and what it can provide you.

For more information, see Getting started: Generating reports.