Chapter 1 - Installing Business Process Visual ARCHITECT

Installing BP-VA is an easy task. However, there do have things that you should be aware of. This chapter will show you how to get BP-VA started from downloading to running the application. Here are the covered topics:

Downloading BP-VA

To download BP-VA:

  1. Visit Visual Paradigm's official download site at:
    http://www.visual-paradigm.com/download/
  2. Click on the image for Business Process Visual ARCHITECT.
    Figure 1 - Click to visit the download page of Business Process Visual ARCHITECT
  3. Enter your account information, and click Continue to proceed.
    Figure 2 - Login to proceed to download
  4. Choose the way of receiving the evaluation key, or not to receive it. Here are the description of each of the possible ways:
    Ways of receiving an evaluation key Description
    Download Product Only (without request evaluation key) Just to download BP-VA without the need of an evaluation key.
    Send evaluation key as attachment You will receive an email attached with the key file. Make sure your server allows email with attachments for choosing this option. If this option is unchecked, you will receive an email, which includes a download link of the key file.
  5. Select your operating system from the Platform drop-down menu.
  6. From the Mirror Site drop-down menu, choose the location that is closest to your current location for a faster download speed.
  7. Click Download to proceed with downloading BP-VA.
    Figure 3 - Business Process Visual ARCHITECT download page

Installing BP-VA

The Business Process Visual ARCHITECT installer provides a step-by-step graphical user interface for installing BP-VA onto your system. Also, it lets you to create shortcuts under Start Menu for quick access to BP-VA. Moreover, it helps registering Visual Paradigm project files with the operating system so that you can open the project file in BP-VA simply by double-clicking on the file.

  1. Double-click on the installer file to launch the setup program.
    Figure 4 - Running the setup program
    Note
     For Linux platforms, execute the command bash ./%BP-VA-INSTALLER-FILENAME% (e.g. bash ./Business_Process_Visual_ARCHITECT_Linux_3_0.sh)
  2. Click Next > to proceed to the License Agreement page.
  3. Read through the License Agreement carefully. Make sure you accept the terms before continuing with the installation. If you accept the agreement, select I accept the agreement and click Next > to proceed to the Select Destination Directory page.
    Figure 5 - Accepting the license agreement
  4. Specify the directory for installing BP-VA. Click Next > to proceed to the next page.
  5. Specify the name of the Start Menu folder that will be used to store the shortcuts. Keep Create shortcuts for all users checked if you want the shortcut to be available in all the user accounts in the machine. Click Next > to proceed.
    Note
     For Linux platforms, select a folder for creating symlinks. You may select Don't create symlinks if you do not want to.
    For Mac OS X platforms, select whether you want to create desktop icon(s) that act as shortcut(s) to the installed products.
  6. Keep Visual Paradigm Project (*.vpp) and Visual Paradigm License File (*.zvpl) checked if you want your system able to open the project file and the license key file. Click Next > to proceed to the product selection page.

  7. BP-VA features vary by product edition. For more details on the features supported by different editions, click the hyperlink Edition Comparison which brings you to the web page of BP-VA feature comparison for different editions.

    Select the product edition from the Edition drop down menu.

    Figure 6 - Selecting the product edition
  8. A license key is a key file which allows unlocking BP-VA. To import a license key, specify the file path of the key.

    The import of license key is optional at this point, because you can import it when you run BP-VA. Click Next > to proceed with copying files.

    Note
     For evaluation, the key should be sent to your email box (unless you have chosen not to receive it before download). If you have not received the email with key yet, and if you have selected to receive the key as attachment, the email might be treated as spam by mistake. Click on Request Evaluation Key to ask for another one. This time, try not to select sending the key as attachment.
  9. Upon finishing, you can select whether to start BP-VA or not. Keep Business Process Visual ARCHITECT 2.0 selected and click Next > will run BP-VA right away. Click Next > to finish the installation.
    Figure 7 - Finishing the installation and start BP-VA
  10. Click Finish to close the setup program.

Starting BP-VA

  1. Start BP-VA by accessing the shortcut under the Start Menu.
    Figure 8 - Attempting to start BP-VA through the shortcut under the Start Menu
    Note
     For Linux and Mac OS X platforms, execute the file 'Business Process Visual ARCHITECT 2.0' inside %BP-VA-INSTALLATION-DIR%/bin

  2. The Workspace Launcher appears. A workspace is a repository of the UML projects. Besides storing projects, it stores also the settings, user interface perspectives and other preferences defined for the working environment. Specify the workspace folder.

    If you do not want this dialog box to appear again, check Use this as the default and do not ask again. This will cause BP-VA to open the specified workspace folder automatically the next time.

    If you already have an existing workspace, you can import the settings from there by clicking Import Workspace...

    Click OK to continue.

    Figure 9 - Workspace Launcher

  3. If you have imported a valid license key before, BP-VA should be started now. If not, the License Key Manager appears. The License Key manager is a utility for importing a license key. To import a key:

     

    1. Select License Keys > Import... from the menu.
    2. Specify the file path of the key file.
    3. Press Import to import the key file.

    Click Close to close the License Key Manager and start BP-VA. If it prompts you with an invalid license key message, make sure the key you imported does match with the tool that you are running in terms of the following aspects:

    Figure 10 - The License Key Manager

Uninstalling BP-VA

Uninstalling BP-VA will cause it to be removed from the machine. To uninstall BP-VA:

  1. Close BP-VA if it is running.
  2. Run %BP-VA-INSTALLATION-DIR%/uninstall.exe
    Note
     For Linux and Mac OS X platforms, execute the file 'uninstall' inside %BP-VA-INSTALLATION-DIR%.