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Manage Architecture Objects

OpenEA uses schema-driven forms for all twelve standard object types.

Create an object

Users with the Architect or Architecture Administrator role can create objects.

  1. Open Explore.
  2. Select New.
  3. Choose an object type.
  4. Complete the common repository fields and type-specific properties.
  5. Save the record.

OpenEA validates the object against the metamodel before committing it.

Common fields

Typical fields include:

  • Name and description
  • Record status
  • Governance status
  • Lifecycle stage
  • Criticality
  • Owner Organization / Owner Role
  • Source and confidence
  • Validity dates
  • Review frequency
  • Aliases and tags

The object type determines which additional fields appear.

Owner organization and type-specific organization fields

Owner organization is universal repository metadata. It identifies the organization accountable for stewardship of the OpenEA record. It does not necessarily describe where the real-world object sits organizationally.

Some object types also have a type-specific organization reference. In particular, a Role has a Role organization field in the Role details section. That field identifies the organization the business or architecture role belongs to or operates within.

The two values are intentionally independent and may be the same or different. For example:

Chief Security Officer
├── Owner organization → Enterprise Architecture
└── Role organization  → GIS

This means Enterprise Architecture stewards the repository record while the Chief Security Officer role belongs to GIS. It is also valid to set both fields to GIS when GIS both owns the repository record and contains the role.

Edit an object

Architecture Administrators, Architects, and Contributors can edit existing objects.

Aliases are comma-separated alternative names. OpenEA treats duplicate aliases case-insensitively when processing form input, so values such as GIS-Security and gis-security represent the same alias and are stored only once. Existing unchanged aliases are preserved when unrelated fields are edited.

A Contributor can maintain records but cannot create or archive them.

Archive and restore an object

Architecture Administrators and Architects can archive repository objects.

Archival is soft: the object receives an archival timestamp and its Record Status becomes Archived rather than being destructively deleted. Existing relationships are preserved so the historical architecture remains explainable.

Archived objects are excluded from normal repository search, analytics, findings, portfolios, roadmaps, impact analysis, and new relationship target lists. They remain directly viewable and are clearly marked as archived.

Use Explore → Record status → Archived to search archived records. All records searches current and archived records together. Open an archived record and select Restore to return it to the current repository. OpenEA restores the Record Status that the object had immediately before archival when that history is available; the safe fallback for older records without that audit context is Inactive.

Restoring an object does not recreate its relationships. The original relationship records were preserved during archival and become current-context relationships again automatically when the object is restored.

Current-state and historical-display policy

Area Default behavior for archived objects
Explore / global search Hidden; use Archived or All records to find them.
Explore historical results Normal theme background plus Archived badge/status/date.
Relationships tab Hidden; select Show archived to reveal historical entries.
New relationship target lists Excluded.
Impact Analysis Excluded from current-state traversal.
Metrics / Analytics / Findings Excluded from current-state calculations and operational lists.
Reviews Excluded from the overdue Reviews workspace.
Portfolios / Roadmaps Excluded from operational views.
Direct archived-object URL Viewable and clearly marked historical.
History / audit Retained as historical evidence.

OpenEA intentionally uses status, badges, dates, and explicit historical controls rather than a special light/dark row background to indicate archive state.

Detail tabs

An object detail page can expose areas such as:

  • Overview
  • Relationships
  • Visualize
  • Lifecycle
  • History
  • Comments

The exact content depends on object type and available data.

Good repository practice

For useful downstream analysis, prioritize:

  1. Correct object type
  2. Clear name and description
  3. Ownership
  4. Lifecycle and criticality
  5. Relevant business and technology relationships
  6. Review cadence
  7. Source and confidence

A perfectly complete object with no relationships often provides less architectural value than a moderately complete object that is connected to the enterprise context around it.