Visual Paradigm International Limited today announced the release of Agilian (AG) 1.3, a Visual Modeling tool for Agile Modeler.

In this release, Agilian introduce 3 new diagram types, enhance usability of various type of diagrams.

What's New?

• Traceability support using Diagram Transitor
  Most of the software projects involve multiple development phases. Developers often like to touch up their requirements specification iteratively, while keep track of the linkages among diagrams between the development phases. Unfortunately, there's no easy mechanism to achieve these. With the introduction of Diagram Transitor, now developer can transcribe all the shapes and diagram elements from one diagram to another in one simple step. More importantly, all linkages among diagrams will be formed automatically for future reference, fully realized the true spirit of traceability advocated in UML 2 standard.
• Import Rational Software Architect project file
  Rational Software Architect (RSA) is a modeling and development environment for architectural design for C++, Java applications and web services using UML. In order to inherit the work from RSA, we now support importing of RSA project file for allowing the further modeling to be done on the imported file by using Agilian.
• Copy diagram elements as XML
  Have you ever thought about copying partial diagram contents of a large scale diagram from one software project to another for reuse and comparisons? Now you will be able to copy model elements as XML for later reuse in one simple step, further enhancing the interoperability and reusability of Agilian.
• Introduce Event-driven Process Chain Diagram
  Event-Driven Process Chain (EPC) Diagram is a widely used diagram which has been newly incorporated in the feature-rich Visual Paradigm Suite 3.3. EPC is the often used by process designers to illustrate the control of lower-level structure of a business process as a chain of events and functions with simplicity and easy-to understand notations.
• Introduce Process Map Diagram
  Process Map Diagram helps to draw a simple picture of processes in approaching a business goal. It is rather in an upper level of analyzing and understanding a business process. Process Map Diagram has now been incorporated as one of the business process modeling diagrams in Visual Paradigm products.
• Introduce Organization Chart
  An Organization Chart is a diagram showing the structure of an organization, relationships and relative ranks in its part and jobs. It's very useful in understanding the relationships between departments or a group in a company. It's now being incorporated in Visual Paradigm products for business modeling.
• Support smart layout in Mind Mapping Diagram
  In a Mind Mapping Diagram, ideas could be stretched out across and becoming very untidy, difficult in tracing nodes and searching for ideas due to the unorganized nodes all over the place. Now no need to suffer from the painful and time consuming of re-arranging the idea nodes manually anymore! Don't wait, try this handy feature and experience our smart diagram layout in a breeze.
• Share data object state in Business Process Diagram
  Business Process Diagram (BPD) always contains Data Objects in different states. We enhanced the BPD to allow setting states for the Data Object models for showing the change of their state in business work flow modeling.

What's Enhanced?

• Enhance usability of Sequence Diagram
  In Sequence Diagram, the duration message representing the time passage and is especially useful when modeling a real-time system. Now you are able to add time constraint on duration messages for specifying the time interval.
• Enhance usability of Mind Mapping Diagram
  Further enhanced the usability of the Mind Mapping Diagram, now you can simply switch the source nodes by drag-and-drop. Also, upon modeling, the node texts are always towards the central idea node, which results a better visual layout of the idea development.
• Show 'Undo/Redo' action name
  Undo and Redo are handy ways to cancel or restore the actions we've done in the project, but it may not be reliable to soly rely on our own memories of the actions done. Therefore, we enhance the tools to have the actions name shown in the Undo and Redo options.
• Support more options in PDF, MS Word and HTML report generation
  A report generated by the Report Engine maybe very long causing by the repeatitve model information due to the multiple model views. New option for report publishing is provide to eliminate these duplicated information. More options are also provided for enhancing the control of how the Rich Text Format (RTF) contents to be represented in the reports.

Enhancements and Bug Fixes

Enhancements

• Supported updating Operations Parameters' properties via popup menu of operation (easier to edit)
• Supported scaling cover page image in report to avoid printing image too big in size
• Supported showing multi-line model header in report in single line
• Supported diagram frame in export image
• Supported extra option for controlling the generation of Use Case Details in report
• Supported Greek in PDF report
• Supported not to show carriage return character in frame title by adjusting global option
• Supported changing From/To shape with different shape type
• Supported turning off generating documentation popup in published documents
• Supported copying diagram as BMP
• Supported referencing Component or Interface as Interaction Lifeline's base classifier
• Supported clicking diagram overview to jump to associated diagram in published Web content
• Improved automatic element sorting in report
• Improved Directory and File Chooser's performance
• Allowed selecting default font for PDF report's header/footer
• Made 'Export diagram with frame' available for all kinds of diagram
• Increased Sweeper's sensitivity and speed
• Disallowed duplicating Found/Lost Message in Sequence Diagram

Bug Fixes

• Fixed drag and drop Class from tree to diagram not presenting Containment relationship
• Fixed Activity Edge connector not contain-able by Activity shape
• Fixed shape created by using generic resource not following formatting
• Fixed BPMN Task owned by both BPMN Pool and BPMN Group at the same time
• Fixed workspace-wide association options (e.g. Show Direction) not applied to newly created diagram
• Fixed paste content in Note show nothing
• Fixed create report with user-defined template in Report Writer cause header styles missing
• Fixed unable to export/import transition of model
• Fixed Diagram preview unable to show whole diagram
• Fixed sweep shapes in DFD cause bad connector end point
• Fixed drag State from tree to diagram missing Region
• Fixed move Entity cause other Entities' columns in the same diagram to vibrate
• Fixed Activity unable to contain Structured Activity Node
• Fixed export diagram show extra frame after print preview
• Fixed show related shapes not show note
• Fixed bad font appearance when running in Simplified Chinese
• Fixed Component cannot hold Class models inside it
• Fixed Moving Combined Fragment cannot moved the Loop Interaction Use in it
• Fixed a problem which might cause application to freeze on splash screen
• Fixed paste Russian content to VP produce content in question marks
• Fixed Communication Diagram Actor and lifeline move too close cause Message disappear
• Fixed undo create message from combined fragment cause incorrect operand bound
• Fixed import XMI missing anchor
• Fixed unable to delete Collaboration Use in Composite Structure Diagram
• Fixed unable to create model in Subsystem if Subsystem is selected
• Fixed documentation in PDF report missing line break if the documentation was entered in plain text mode
• Fixed create shapes by branch resource sometimes cause shapes created outside the container
• Fixed incorrect Transit from/to value show in generated reports
• Fixed import UML2 ignored association's navigability
• Fixed the second lifeline being created in a Frame not being contained by the Frame
• Fixed paste text into table cell in documentation breaks the table