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| title | chunk | source | category | tags | date_saved | instance |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| ArchiMate | 2/3 | https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/ArchiMate | reference | science, encyclopedia | 2026-05-05T14:22:21.573663+00:00 | kb-cron |
==== Aspects ==== Passive structure is the set of entities on which actions are conducted. In the business layer the example would be information objects, in the application layer data objects and in the technology layer, they could include physical objects. Behavior refers to the processes and functions performed by the actors. "Structural elements are assigned to behavioral elements, to show who or what displays the behavior". Active structure is the set of entities that display some behavior, e.g. business actors, devices, or application components.
=== Full framework ===
The Full ArchiMate framework is enriched by the physical layer, which was added to allow modeling of “physical equipment, materials, and distribution networks” and was not present in the previous version. The implementation and migration layer adds elements that allow architects to model a state of transition, to mark parts of the architecture that are temporary for the purpose, as the name says, of implementation and migration. Strategy layer adds three elements: resource, capability and course of action. These elements help to incorporate strategic dimension to the ArchiMate language by allowing it to depict the usage of resources and capabilities in order to achieve some strategic goals. Finally, there is a motivation aspect that allows different stakeholders to describe the motivation of specific actors or domains, which can be quite important when looking at one thing from several different angles. It adds several elements like stakeholder, value, driver, goal, meaning etc.
== ArchiMate language == The ArchiMate language is formed as a top-level and is hierarchical. On the top, there is a model. A model is a collection of concepts. A concept can be either an element or a relationship. An element can be either of behavior type, structure, motivation or a so-called composite element (which means that it does not fit just one aspect of the framework, but two or more). The functionality of all concepts without a dependency on a specific layer is described by the generic metamodel. This layer-independent description of concepts is useful when trying to understand the mechanics of the Archimate language.
=== Concepts ===
==== Elements ==== The generic elements are distributed into the same categories as the layers:
Active structure elements Behavior elements Passive structure elements Motivation elements Active structure elements represent entities that are capable of performing behavior. Based on two levels of abstraction that ArchiMate provides, it is possible to distinguish between internal active structure elements, which stand for active elements within the system - e. g., business actors - and external active structure elements which stand for elements that carry out the behavior outside the system - e. g., interfaces. Behavior elements can be internal or external as well. An internal behavior element is one that stands for an activity carried out by an active structure element within the system. Archimate defines for instance process and function elements. External behavior is a service that the whole system provides to the environment. Passive structure elements are objects that can be used by behavior elements (and thus active structure elements can perform behavior on them). They usually stand for information objects in the business layer and data objects in the application layer, but they may also be used to represent physical objects. As described in the previous chapter, motivation elements are answering the question Why?, they are trying to give a context and explain the motives behind the architecture. They can be of an active structure, as a stakeholder and also of a passive structure - value, meaning, driver, etc.
==== Relationships ==== ArchiMate sets several types of relationships that can connect different sets of source and target concepts. The classification of relationships is following:
Structural relationships – create a static construction of concepts of the same or different types Dependency relationships – define how elements can support other elements Dynamic relationships – model behavioral dependencies Other relationships
=== General structure of models within the different layers ===
The general structure of models within the different layers is similar. The same types of concepts and relations are used, although their exact nature and granularity differ. First, it is necessary to distinguish the structural or static aspect and the behavioural or dynamic aspect. Behavioural concepts are assigned to structural concepts, to show who or what displays the behaviour. For example, role, interface and collaboration are assigned to business process, organisational service and business interaction, respectively. Second, there must be a distinction between an external view and an internal view on systems. When looking at the behavioral aspect, these views reflect the principles of service orientation. The service concept represents a unit of essential functionality that a system exposes to its environment. For the external users, only this external functionality, together with non-functional aspects such as the quality of service, costs etc., are relevant. Services are accessible through interfaces, which constitute the external view on the structural aspect. Although for the external users only the external view is relevant, the design of organisations or systems and their internal operations and management also requires knowledge about the internal realisation of the services and interfaces. For this realisation, it is necessary to make a distinction between behavior that is performed by an individual structural element (e.g., actor, role component, etc.), or collective behavior (interaction) that is performed by a collaboration of multiple structural elements.
=== Notation === The ArchiMate language separates the concepts from their notation (contrary to the UML or BPMN). As there are different groups of stakeholders, they may need different notations. This might be confusing, but it is solved by the viewpoint mechanism. Although ArchiMate doesn't stress the only one notation, it comes with one and it aims to those "used to existing technical modeling techniques such as ERD, UML, or BPMN, and therefore resembles them".
==== Use of colors ==== Formally, color has no meaning in ArchiMate, but many modelers use colors to distinguish between the different layers: