Viewpoints API

Note

⚙️ Advanced / API Reference — Complete reference for working with ArchiMate viewpoints and viewpoint-related APIs.

Overview

Viewpoints are standard perspectives on an ArchiMate model, each targeting a specific stakeholder group. PyArchimate provides tools to:

  • Retrieve available viewpoints for a model

  • Query which elements are valid in a specific viewpoint

  • Assign elements to viewpoints

  • Filter model views by viewpoint

The two main modules for viewpoint operations are:

Standard Viewpoints

ArchiMate defines 13 standard viewpoints. Each viewpoint focuses on a specific architectural perspective:

Business Layer Viewpoints

Business Process Viewpoint

Shows business processes and how they relate. Audience: business analysts, process owners.

Business Function Viewpoint

Displays business functions and their responsibilities. Audience: business strategists.

Business Interaction Viewpoint

Represents interactions between business actors. Audience: organization stakeholders.

Application Layer Viewpoints

Application Structure Viewpoint

Shows application components and their relationships. Audience: application architects.

Application Usage Viewpoint

Displays how applications are used by business processes. Audience: application users, business analysts.

Technology Layer Viewpoints

Technology Structure Viewpoint

Shows infrastructure components and their relationships. Audience: infrastructure architects.

Technology Usage Viewpoint

Displays how technology supports applications. Audience: infrastructure operators.

Cross-Layer Viewpoints

Business Process Realization Viewpoint

Maps business processes to applications and technology. Audience: enterprise architects.

Business Function Realization Viewpoint

Maps business functions to applications. Audience: business and application architects.

Service Realization Viewpoint

Shows how services are realized by applications and infrastructure. Audience: service architects.

Stakeholder-Specific Viewpoints

Implementation and Deployment Viewpoint

Shows implementation and deployment details. Audience: project managers, deployment engineers.

Motivation Viewpoint

Displays business drivers, goals, and requirements. Audience: business strategists, stakeholders.

Migration and Implementation Viewpoint

Migration and Implementation Viewpoint

Shows migration paths and transformation details. Audience: program managers, transformation leads.

API Reference

Viewpoint entity and association classes.

class pyArchimate.viewpoint.Viewpoint(id: str, name: str, description: str)[source]

Bases: object

An ArchiMate 3.x viewpoint definition (immutable registry entry).

Parameters:

  • id – Canonical string slug (e.g. ‘stakeholder’, ‘technology’)

  • name – Human-readable viewpoint name

  • description – Brief description of the viewpoint’s purpose

description: str
id: str
name: str

Registry of all 13 standard ArchiMate 3.x viewpoints.

pyArchimate.viewpoint_registry.get_viewpoint(slug: str) → Viewpoint | None[source]

Return the Viewpoint for a canonical slug, or None if not found.

pyArchimate.viewpoint_registry.validate_viewpoint_slug(slug: str) → None[source]

Raise ValueError if slug is not a recognised standard viewpoint.

Usage Examples

Get all viewpoints for a model

from pyArchimate import Model

model = Model.read("mymodel.archimate")

# Get all available viewpoints
viewpoints = model.get_viewpoints()
for viewpoint in viewpoints:
    print(f"Viewpoint: {viewpoint.name} ({viewpoint.slug})")

Get elements valid in a viewpoint

from pyArchimate.viewpoint_registry import VIEWPOINTS

# Access Business Process viewpoint
bp_viewpoint = VIEWPOINTS['business-process']

# Get elements that are valid in this viewpoint
valid_elements = bp_viewpoint.get_valid_elements()
print(f"Valid elements: {[e.name for e in valid_elements]}")

Assign an element to a viewpoint

element = model.get_element("elem_id")

# Assign to Business Process viewpoint
element.assign_viewpoint('business-process')

Filter elements by viewpoint

# Get all elements valid in Technology Structure viewpoint
tech_elements = model.get_elements_by_viewpoint('technology-structure')

print(f"Technology elements: {[e.name for e in tech_elements]}")

Validate element in viewpoint

from pyArchimate import ArchiType
from pyArchimate.viewpoint_registry import is_valid_in_viewpoint

# Check if BusinessProcess is valid in Business Process viewpoint
valid = is_valid_in_viewpoint(
    ArchiType.BusinessProcess,
    'business-process'
)
print(f"Valid: {valid}")

New to This Topic?

If you’re new to viewpoints, start with:

See Also