Syndeia™

Syndeia™ is the digital thread platform for model-based engineering. It enables engineering teams to collaboratively and concurrently develop and manage a digital thread for any complex system/product by federating models and data from diverse ecosystems of modeling and simulation tools, enterprise applications, and data repositories. This diverse set of tools and repositories includes, for example, SysML modeling tools (e.g., MagicDraw, Rhapsody), PLM systems (e.g., Teamcenter, Windchill), CAD systems (e.g., NX, Creo), ALM systems (e.g., GitHub, JIRA), Project Management Systems (e.g., JIRA), Requirements Management Systems (e.g., Jama, DOORS-NG), Simulation tools (e.g., MATLAB/Simulink), Databases (e.g., MySQL), and other data sources (e.g., RESTful APIs). Syndeia provides a rich set of services for building, managing, analyzing, querying, and visualizing the digital thread of the product/system through its lifecycle. Syndeia builds on various open standards (e.g., REST/HTTP, JDBC, JSON, STEP, OSLC, and FMI), open-source projects and libraries, and production-ready APIs made available by our partners.

Digital Thread - Syndeia

Digital Thread is a graph whose nodes are elements in various enterprise repositories, tools, and version control systems and whose edges are intra-model relationships within each agency and inter-model relationships created and managed by Syndeia between the nodes. Syndeia provides model transformation services to build the digital thread graph, such as drag-n-drop requirements from Jama or DOORS-NG to SysML, generate Simulink models and PLM part structures from SysML models, connect behavior elements in SysML to software code in GitHub, or track the development status of a sub-system in JIRA directly from SysML. In addition, Syndeia provides services to search, compare, and bi-directionally synchronize connected models in the digital thread, such as compare and sync changes in system architecture to PLM part structure, compare connected SysML and Simulink models, or sync changes in DOORS-NG requirements to SysML.

Digital Thread - Syndeia

Digital Thread graph is the digital blueprint of a system that evolves through its lifecycle. It knows the versions of connected models in various configuration management systems, e.g., PLM, ALM, and Requirements Management. Syndeia provides visualization and query services to analyze the digital thread and trace intra- and inter-model relationships within and across the boundaries of repositories/tools. For example, start with a SysML block and explore intra- and inter-model relationships to requirements in Jama, then relationships to mechanical parts in PLM and CAD systems or issues in JIRA.

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Digital Thread - Syndeia 3.5
 
New Integrations and Improvements to Existing Integrations

Collaborator (SmartBear)

Syndeia 3.5 brings a new integration with Collaborator – a software application for peer-review of code, models, and documents – from SmartBear. Users can connect to multiple Collaborator repositories (servers) and browse Reviews and related artifacts such as participants, defects, review materials, and linked items (e.g., Jira issues) directly from the Syndeia Dashboard shown below. In addition, reviews can be connected with artifacts from other integrated repositories, such as requirements (e.g., DOORS NG), system architecture (e.g., SysML), software (e.g., GitHub), hardware (e.g., PLM/CAD), and others, in the context of the digital thread for a system. Furthermore, navigation and graph queries on the digital thread will show Reviews connected with other engineering artifacts.

Digital Thread - Syndeia 3.5 - Collborator

Collaborator integration

The Collaborator integration is accessible via the Syndeia Web Dashboard, Syndeia Client Dashboards, and the Syndeia Cloud REST API.

RESTful Integration

Enterprises deploying digital engineering solutions need to integrate 100s to 1000s of tools, services, and data sources – commercial (COTS), government (GOTS), home-grown, and open source (OSS).

Syndeia 3.5 brings a generic RESTful Integration capability that enables users to connect to any service, tool, or data repository that provides a REST API directly from the Syndeia Dashboard with no code. Users can add requests to the REST API endpoints for each service/tool, curate collections of requests, and view detailed responses in the Syndeia Dashboard, as shown below. Users can connect RESTful artifacts to artifacts in other repositories integrated with Syndeia (e.g. Jama Connect, Jira, Windchill, etc.), including other RESTful repositories, to build digital threads. Video tutorials demonstrating the RESTful integration capability are included with the 3.5 release, such as with Jenkins CI/CD automation software, Vitech GENESYS, DataStax AstraDB, OpenMBEE, Sonatype Nexus Repository, and others.

Since most modern applications provide a REST API, the number of services and tools that can be integrated with Syndeia is now limitless. The RESTful Integration capability in Syndeia 3.5 will make it possible for any digital engineering repository, that provides a REST API, to be connected with digital threads.

RESTful integration

SysML v2 (OMG)

The SysML v2 language and API are under development at the Object Management Group. Intercax is playing a leading role in the development and validation of the SysML v2 standard API. Syndeia 3.4 introduced the first commercial integration to SysML v2 API (2021-03 release). Syndeia 3.5 upgrades that integration to the latest 2022-08 internal release of SysML v2 API. With this upgrade, Syndeia users can view and navigate SysML v2 elements and relationships in projects branches and tags, as shown in the view below. Users can connect SysML v2 elements in any branch, tag, or commit to artifacts in other repositories and visualize intra-model and inter-model relationships in the Digital Thread Explorer.

Integration to SysML v2 API

VOLTA (ESTECO)

Syndeia 3.5 brings a new integration with VOLTA – the Simulation Process and Data Management (SPDM) and Design Optimization software from ESTECO. Users can connect to multiple VOLTA repositories (servers), browse, and search simulation artifacts such as models, sessions, plans, and files with simulation inputs and outputs, all from the Syndeia Dashboard. An example digital thread would connect system requirements (e.g. in Jama) with system architecture elements (e.g. in SysML), hardware assembly design (e.g. in PLM/CAD), verification test (e.g. in TestRail) with simulation model and results in VOLTA. Users can visualize these digital threads in the Syndeia Web Dashboard and run graph queries to trace requirements to simulation campaigns.

VOLTA Integration – Connecting simulation artifacts (SPDM) in the digital thread

The VOLTA integration is accessible via the Syndeia Web Dashboard, Syndeia Client Dashboards, and the Syndeia Cloud REST API.

XML

Syndeia 3.5 brings XML integration to Syndeia Cloud. Syndeia users can expand XML files version managed on GitHub and GitLab, browse XML element trees, and view attributes of XML elements from the Syndeia Dashboard. Users can connect XML elements to artifacts in other integrated repositories. In most organizations, data from legacy tools and services are often available as XML files. The XML integration available in Syndeia 3.5 will enable users to integrate data (as XML) from many legacy tools and services in the digital thread for products and systems.

XML Integration

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Authentication

 

Industry Standard SAML2 SSO

Syndeia 3.5 introduces delegated authentication to an organization’s choice of Identity Providers (IdPs) that support the OASIS standard “Security Assertion Markup Language 2.0” (SAML 2.0). Organizations that have deployed Single Sign-On (SSO) services using their preferred IdPs (e.g. Okta, Ping Federate) can configure Syndeia Cloud to delegate authentication to those IdPs using SAML2. Users signing in to Syndeia Cloud Web Dashboard will be redirected to the IdP and navigated back to the Web Dashboard after successful sign-in.

Single Sign-On (SSO) flow

LDAP Groups

Since the beginning, Syndeia Cloud has offered delegated authentication to industry-standard and commercial Secure LDAP Identity Providers (IdPs). In Secure LDAP authentication, Syndeia Cloud connects to your organization’s LDAP server using SSL and LDAP for authentication. Syndeia 3.5 adds support for LDAP groups for authentication. Syndeia admins can specify LDAP group membership(s) constraints in addition to LDAP username when Syndeia verifies LDAP users during authentication.

Jama OAuth Support

Syndeia 3.5 adds support for OAuth2 when connecting to Jama repositories from Syndeia Cloud Web Dashboard. Jama OAuth2 support was already available via Syndeia clients (Plugins and Standalone) in earlier versions of Syndeia. With Syndeia 3.5, users can connect to Jama repositories using basic authentication or OAuth2 from the Web Dashboard.

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Cybersecurity

Syndeia 3.5 makes significant strides in the cybersecurity hardening of the Syndeia platform.
  • Syndeia 3.5 uses updated Open Source libraries which have improved their cybersecurity scores.
  • Syndeia 3.5 depends on later versions of industry-leading IT services that have improved their cybersecurity scores. Each dependency on Cassandra, JanusGraph, Kafka, and Zookeeper has advanced.
  • Intercax routinely scans its software and its supply-chain software for the latest vulnerabilities using the services of Snyk.io and of the OWASP Dependency Check tool and service.

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Web Dashboard

Pagination

Syndeia 3.5 brings pagination for integrated repositories via the Web Dashboard. In the Tree View for integrated repositories, a Cloud icon indicates additional pages of data. Users can click the Cloud icon to load additional pages. The Cloud icon is hidden when there is more data to load. Pagination works at all levels of the repository tree, such as when fetching containers (projects), fetching artifacts in containers, or fetching relationships to other artifacts. Since Syndeia is an API-first platform, this capability is made available in the Syndeia Cloud API and used in the Web Dashboard. See the API updates in the following section.

Network Connection and User Credential Verification

Syndeia 3.5 provides users the ability to test network connections and user credentials when adding or updating repositories in the Syndeia Web Dashboard. A Test button is available in the Repository creation and Repository update forms.

See here for details.

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Usability Improvements

 

 

Syndeia 3.5 brings several usability improvements to the Web Dashboard.

See here for the the full list with details.

Syndeia Cloud REST API

Syndeia Cloud API Cookbook – Jupyter notebooks

Syndeia 3.5 includes the first release of the Syndeia Cloud API Cookbook, a collection of demonstration examples and patterns for using the Syndeia Cloud REST API. The package includes a collection of Jupyter notebooks using the Python client of the Syndeia Cloud REST API. The notebooks demonstrate using Syndeia Cloud API to (1) Access, query, and fetch data from integrated repositories, e.g. Jira, Jama Connect, and Teamwork Cloud; and (2) Build and query digital thread for a system where artifacts from multiple repositories are connected together. The Python client for the Syndeia Cloud API is available as a Conda package.

The Syndeia Cloud API Cookbook is available with the Syndeia 3.5 installation downloads. Refer to for more details on getting started.

Pagination

In Syndeia 3.5, the Syndeia Cloud REST API brings extensive support for pagination. Query parameters for specifying page reference and page size are available with the endpoints. This includes both: (1) Endpoints for integrated repositories, e.g. for fetching containers (projects) and artifacts (issues) in Jira, and (2) Endpoints for core digital thread data, e.g. fetching integrated repositories, Syndeia containers, and inter-model relations in Syndeia containers. Syndeia Dashboards use this pagination capability. See Pagination under the Web Dashboard section above.

See here for details.

Attributes

In Syndeia 3.5, the Syndeia Cloud REST API brings extensive support for fetching attributes of integrated repositories. Artifact and search endpoints for integrated repositories (e.g. Jira, Jama Connect, TestRail) have the includeAttributes query parameter that can be used to specify all, specific, or nested attributes to be fetched.

See here for details.

Test endpoint

In Syndeia 3.5, the Syndeia Cloud REST API includes a test endpoint for each repository integration. The test endpoint is used to verify network connections and user credentials when connecting to integrated repositories. This endpoint is also used by the new Test button available in the Repository creation and update forms in the Web Dashboard.

See here for more details.

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Bug Fixes
 
Syndeia 3.5 includes several bug fixes from Syndeia 3.4. These fixes were rolled out incrementally with the release of Syndeia 3.4 Service Packs – SP1, SP2, and SP3. All the fixes in the Syndeia 3.4 Service Packs are also included in Syndeia 3.5.
 
See here for details.
Tutorials
  • Syndeia 3.5 comes with over 200 hands-on tutorials with demonstration videos.
  • Syndeia 3.5 demonstration videos are also available on our YouTube channel. Check the Syndeia 3.5 playlist, and other videos. Subscribe to the channel to get notified when new demonstrations are added.
  • The Syndeia Training Program has significantly expanded. It is a live, online training program with 6 classes (2 hrs. each), diving into all aspects of the Syndeia platform – Overview, Web Dashboard, Plugins, REST API, Graph Queries, and Installation. The program is held at regular intervals throughout the year. To get the latest schedule, visit Syndeia Training Programs – Intercax.

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What’s new in Syndeia 3.5

Click here for the complete list of new features and improvements in Syndeia 3.5.

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