Cloudy Models

As discussed in blog post  SerAws – 0.0.0;   Version 0.0.2 of the addin marks an important milestone in the development of SerAws, in that it provides a vertical slice of functionality for a user to be able to round-trip information from AWS to EA and back again into AWS via CloudFormation .  It only covers the  VPC  entity, but this is sufficient to prove out the overall idea.  Please see below for the steps and accompanying screenshots describing the one round-trip operation. 1. Configure AWS Security Credentials A windows form/dialog is provided to allow the user to enter AWS security credentials.  The figure below shows details of a fictional account. Note that these details are not stored as part of the addin or EA, instead the security credentials are managed by the AWS SDK, and hence any other tooling that uses the SDK can also be used to manage them (e.g. AWS Toolkit for Visual Studio ). 2. Import AWS Entities into EA The .NET AWS S...

I'll keep this one brief as I'm still not happy with the internal structure of the addin.  However, I'm not worrying too much about it as I'm trying to to get version 0.0.2 out for the  Brisbane Sparx Systems EA SIG  meetup  next week . A basic breakdown of the internals of the C# code part of the  addin,  is given below. A main class which meet the criteria for EA to be able to call into.  That is, it needs to conform to the interface defined  here . A wrapper class around the AWS .NET SDK client credential class(es).  This was done to simplify the usage of the SDK and to help in wiring the various objects that make up the addin together. A wrapper clas around the AWS .NET SDK query class(es).  This was done to simplify access to the SDK. A modeller class which is used to convert AWS information into EA model elements. A caching class which is not currently in use at the moment, but which I'm planning to use in later versions...

I've delayed writing on SerAws until I had a minimum set of functionality that could be considered useful, and a level of code infrastructure withing the addin on which I could build upon. I'm denominating this version as 0.0.0 in order to start somewhere.  I don't want to spend too much time on versioning schemes; hence settling on a standard Major.Minor.Patch scheme.  I will probably increase the minor version number if and when SerAws is first used in a commercial setting.  I will probably increase the major version number when it reaches nominal sentience. In terms of available functionality, SerAws currently has at this moment, the following. CloudFormation MDG , with elements for S3::Buckets The MDG is loaded as part of the SerAws addin.  That is, it doesn't have to be manually loaded. A "Set Profile" form to set the AWS security credentials to use in order to connect to an AWS account. An "About" form, which is a straight plagiarisati...

SER stands for S parx systems E nterprise architect R epository.  This is an open source repository on Github which can be found here . The main reason for creating the repository is that I have created a number of resources for EA over the years, and I didn't have a proper way or place to manage them.  Additionally, the idea is that in open sourcing these resources, then it would be easier to use them in any organisation that I may work for in the future. The naming of the repository is deliberate in that it does not refer specifically to me, in that it does not use my name.  In not branding the repository to me, I aim to make the repository as accessible as possible in the hope that others may contribute to it in the future.  The open source license that I have used is the Apache 2.0 license, owned by me, but I would be happy to transfer it to an Apache Foundation style organisation if such a thing was possible in the future.  And if all fails, the repos...

One of my main Cloudy Models projects is working on the Ser.Aws EA plugin.  Building a plugin for EA involves creating an assembly (DLL file) which EA loads on startup.   The plugin can be written in a number of possible languages, but I have chosen C#.  There are a number of bits and pieces that work hand in had together to make the development process easier, fun or more effective. Note that although I have a background as a programmer, it's been a while since I've spent 8 hours on a keyboard, cutting code; Also, my background is in C on Unix with smatterings of C++, Java, Perl, Ruby... etc.  I did do a little bit of C# commercially, as part of working with ESRI  software, but I wouldn't describe it as being extensive.  Anyway, standard disclaimer, this is just my setup.  It could be all wrong. I could change my environment at any moment, if I learn or realise something new. Without further ado, below is my environment (both current and what...

In the last year or so I've been involved, organised, created, done or thought about a number of inter related bits and pieces (technically speaking) which relate to the purpose of the Cloudy Models blog. Vaguely speaking, I want to: Expand my knowledge of Cloud Computing, both from an architecture and design point of view as well as a hands-on-get-my-hands-dirty point of view. Flesh out and test ideas related to model driven approaches ( MDA , DDD , etc) Combine both Cloud Computing and Modelling and see where tooling is useful and effective. Play/experiment with  Sparx Systems EA . And in a sense  Eat My Own Dog Food . More concretely, I have been involved in the following: Brisbane Sparx Systems EA SIG  meetup group, which I co-organise with Paul Reedman . Brisbane Sparx Systems EA Website  which is a website related to the SIG. Sparx systems Ea Repository (SER)  - An open source github repository in which I will host on a longer term basis, any ...

Thanks for joining me! My intention for this blog is to document my experiments in Model Based Approaches and Cloud Computing within the IT sphere.  This will focus on the Sparx Systems products (in particular EA) and AWS as these are my current go-to platforms, but I may expand on this depending on the vagaries of chance. [Originally posted here .]