Best Practices for Maintaining Model Integrity in Archi

Introduction

Maintaining model integrity is essential for any architecture practice that values consistency, traceability, and stakeholder trust. In Archi, a lightweight tool for ArchiMate modeling, integrity isn't enforced by default—making it the modeler's responsibility to apply structure, governance, and review practices. This article outlines the key strategies and tooling tips to maintain a healthy, valid, and extensible model in Archi.

1. Define and Enforce Naming Conventions

• Establish clear naming standards for each element type (e.g., Application Components, Processes, Capabilities)
• Use prefixes or suffixes for clarity: APP_CustomerPortal, PROC_OrderProcessing
• Use camel case or underscore consistently to improve readability

Tip: jArchi scripts can be used to automatically flag or rename non-compliant items.

2. Structure the Model with Discipline

• Use folders by domain, not by project
• Keep views small, focused, and thematically consistent
• Avoid excessive nesting of folders or relationships—flatten where clarity improves

3. Validate Relationships and Element Types

Archi allows flexible connections, but not all are semantically correct. Regularly check that:

• Business elements aren’t connected directly to technology layers unless intentional
• Relations like Realization, Serving, and Assignment are used appropriately
• Each element exists in a context with purpose—not floating without traceability

4. Automate Health Checks with jArchi

Use jArchi to implement integrity checks, such as:

• Unreferenced elements (orphans)
• Duplicate names across views
• Elements with missing properties (e.g., owner, status, lifecycle stage)

Scripts can generate HTML reports or logs highlighting issues daily or pre-commit.

5. Use the Git Repository Plugin with Discipline

• Commit often with meaningful messages
• Avoid parallel edits on the same views
• Use a pre-merge validation checklist to reduce XML-level conflicts
• Leverage diff tools to visualize model structure changes between versions

6. Manage Viewpoints Intentionally

• Each view should serve a clear audience and purpose (strategy, operation, implementation)
• Avoid catch-all diagrams; create thematic sub-views instead
• Document assumptions and rationale directly in the view or as linked notes

7. Maintain Metadata Consistency

Consistent tagging improves filtering, reporting, and integration:

• Use custom properties like criticality, status, domain
• Enforce dropdowns or accepted values via script validation
• Export metadata to CSV regularly for auditing or analytics

8. Backup, Archive, and Refactor Regularly

• Tag versions before major restructuring
• Archive old views or obsolete elements to separate folders or repositories
• Refactor naming, structure, and relations quarterly

Conclusion

Model integrity in Archi doesn’t happen by accident—it’s the result of consistent modeling practices, automated scripts, and team discipline. Whether you're working solo or across teams, implementing the practices above will help you deliver models that are clean, coherent, and ready for governance, analysis, and stakeholder engagement.

Keywords

Archi, ArchiMate, Model Integrity, jArchi Scripts, Architecture Governance, Archi Validation, EA Modeling Practices, Archi Git Workflow, Model Cleanup, EA Consistency, Modeling Best Practices