Import and export
Import and export formats
Bring specifications, spreadsheets, requirements-interchange files and models into a Holarch project, and take the model out as documents, tables, images, interchange files and complete project files. This page lists every format, which way it goes, what it carries and its known limits.
How imports and exports work
- Exports are open to every project member, including viewers. Imports need the Owner or Editor role, because they change the project.
- An import from the Import page shows a preview, gives imported items new IDs and is one undo step. To update existing items instead of adding new ones, match them by ID, name or number.
- Imported content is cleaned: rich text loses scripts and unsafe links, SVG pictures lose scripts and external references, and XML with DOCTYPE or ENTITY declarations is refused.
- CSV exports neutralize text that a spreadsheet would run as a formula. File names are cleaned for every operating system.
- Each project is an LMLLifecycle Modeling Language An open modeling language with a small set of classes and relationships that covers a system's whole lifecycle. Holarch models are LML models. project or a SysMLSystems Modeling Language A graphical modeling language for systems engineering, based on UML, with block, activity, state machine and parametric diagrams. v2 project. The Word, spreadsheet, text, ReqIFRequirements Interchange Format An OMG XML standard for exchanging requirements, with their attributes and links, between tools. and XMIXML Metadata Interchange An OMG XML format for exchanging UML and SysML models between tools. imports are for LML projects. SysML v2 projects import SysML v2 text and JSON. Project files, and the Word, Excel and CSV exports of the shared pages, work in both.
Jump to: Requirements and specifications · Models · Spreadsheets and tables · Documents and reports · Images · Project files · API and MCP
Requirements and specifications
| Format | Direction | What it covers | Known limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Word (.docx) | Import | A specification becomes a numbered document. Headings become Statements nested by level; paragraphs with "shall", "must", "will" or "should" and numbered list items become Requirements. Tables become one item per row, or stay as tables in a description. Bold, italic, lists and pictures are kept, inserted tracked changes are read, and the original file is attached. | Pictures in EMF, WMF and other formats besides PNG, JPEG, GIF, WebP and SVG are skipped. Deleted tracked text is not imported. |
| Plain text (.txt or pasted) | Import | Numbered lines and "shall" sentences become a numbered document of Statements and Requirements. Outline numbering is detected or chosen: decimal, Roman, letters, mixed levels, DoDDepartment of Defense The US Department of Defense. style or a custom pattern. | Structure comes only from numbering and wording. |
| ReqIF (.reqif, .reqifz) | Import and export | Import: each SPEC-OBJECT becomes an item, with the specification hierarchy, its type as the class, and string, XHTMLExtensible HyperText Markup Language HTML written with strict XML rules. ReqIF uses it for rich-text requirement content., Boolean, date, enumeration, integer and real attributes. SPEC-RELATIONs become relationships; satisfy, verify and deriveReqt become satisfies, verifies and traced from; trace and refine become traced to. Export from the Database or a document: one type per class with number, name, description and every attribute, relationships as SPEC-RELATIONs and the decomposition as the hierarchy. | Relation types without a match become traced to; links the schema does not allow are skipped with a warning. |
Models
| Format | Direction | What it covers | Known limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| UML and SysML 1.x XMI (.xmi, .uml, .xml, .mdzip) | Import | XMIXML Metadata Interchange An OMG XML format for exchanging UML and SysML models between tools. 2.x with UMLUnified Modeling Language A standard graphical language for modeling software and systems. SysML is built on it. 2.5 and the SysMLSystems Modeling Language A graphical modeling language for systems engineering, based on UML, with block, activity, state machine and parametric diagrams. 1.3 to 1.7 profile, and .mdzip project archives. Requirements with their ids and text, blocks, parts, value properties, connectors and item flows, activities with their control flow, state machines, test cases, packages and tagged values. Satisfy, verify, deriveReqt, refine, trace, copy and allocate become Holarch relationships. Block, internal block, state machine and action diagrams are drawn from the imported model. | Diagram layouts, sequence diagrams, generalizations, operations and choice, junction, fork and join pseudostates are not imported; the review lists them. An activity's flow is drawn only when it is well structured. There is no XMI export. |
| Java source (.java) | Import | On a class diagram: classes, interfaces and enums become Assets, fields become Characteristics, and methods become Actions with their parameters and results as Input/Outputs. | One file or pasted source at a time. |
| SysML v2 text (.sysml, or a .zip of .sysml files) | Import and export | Import into a SysML v2 project or a new one, with a preview per package: new, changed, unchanged or conflict. Folders in a zip become packages. Export the whole model or one package; several packages download as a zip. | Text holds no element ids, so a re-import matches elements by name. KerML (.kerml) files are not imported. Up to 2,000 files, 8 MB of text and a 16 MB zip per import; text must be UTF-8. |
| SysML v2 JSON (.json) | Import and export | The flat element list with @id and @type that the Systems Modeling API uses. Element ids are kept, so a re-import matches by id. | Up to 24 MB and 100,000 elements. Element kinds Holarch does not support are left out, and their members move to the owner. |
| SysML v2 model repository | Pull and push | Connect a SysML v2 project to one branch of a repository that offers the Systems Modeling API. Pull the latest commit and review each difference before applying it; push your changes as one commit. | https addresses on public hosts only. A push is refused while the branch has commits that were not pulled. 64 MB per pull, 120 seconds per operation and 300 operations per account per hour. Needs the Editor role. |
| Systems Modeling API in Holarch | Read by other tools | Other SysML v2 tools read a SysML v2 project's elements as SysML v2 JSON over REST, with a personal access token. | Read only: one branch, the current commit, and no write routes or queries. |
| LML to SysML v2 and back | Converted copy, both ways | A new project in the other language: Assets, ports, Conduits, Input/Outputs, requirements, satisfy links, test cases, Actions with their flow, states and equations. Risks, decisions, tasks, documents, whiteboards, requirement status and test results come along. A report lists what converted and what did not, and downloads as CSV. | Diagram layouts, history, baselines and change requests are not converted. Elements one language has no place for, such as LMLLifecycle Modeling Language An open modeling language with a small set of classes and relationships that covers a system's whole lifecycle. Holarch models are LML models. Measures and Resources or SysML v2 calculations and analysis cases, are listed in the report. |
Holarch data next to a SysML v2 model, such as requirement status, risks, budgets and view layouts, is not part of .sysml or SysML v2 JSON files. A project export keeps it.
Spreadsheets and tables
| Format | Direction | What it covers | Known limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Excel (.xlsx, .xlsm) and CSV | Import | New or updated items of any class, with a column mapping that is proposed from the headers. Attributes, labels, relationships, hierarchy from a parent column or from the numbers, and new attributes created from the data. Match existing items by ID, name or number to update them. | Excel 97-2003 (.xls) and semicolon-separated CSV are not read. Names and numbers are cut to 255 characters. |
| Excel and CSV from the Database | Export | Any set of items as a table with chosen attributes and relationships, with hierarchy and rollups, as definitions, as a relationship matrix, as change history or as comments. | Excel cells hold up to 32,000 characters; longer text is cut. |
| Excel and CSV from other pages | Export | RVTMRequirements Verification Traceability Matrix A table of each requirement with how it is verified, the tests that verify it and their latest result., VCRMVerification Cross-Reference Matrix A table that maps requirements to verification methods (test, analysis, inspection, demonstration) and events., RVMRequirements Verification Matrix A report of requirements and the items that verify them., RTMRequirements Traceability Matrix A report of requirements and the items they trace to., RSMRequirements Satisfaction Matrix A report of requirements and the design items that satisfy them. and TVMTest Verification Matrix A report of test cases against the requirements they verify.; requirement quality results; TBDTo Be Determined A requirement value or detail that is not known yet. Holarch tracks TBDs with an owner and a due date./TBRTo Be Reviewed A requirement value that is filled in but still needs to be confirmed. register; interface register; N²N-squared A square chart with elements on the diagonal and what passes between them in the off-diagonal cells. Used to find and check interfaces. and I²I-squared An N²-style chart for physical structure: assets on the diagonal and the conduits that connect them in the cells. matrices; budgets and TPMsTechnical Performance Measure A key technical parameter, such as mass or power, tracked over time against its target and threshold.; risk register; trade studies; functional analysis tables; baseline comparisons; chart data; simulator timelines, event logs and runs. | Each page exports its own columns. |
| Traceability matrix (.xlsx, .csv) | Import and export | Export any relationship as a matrix. Edit the workbook in a spreadsheet and import it back: the preview lists the links to add, the links to remove and the skipped cells. | Import adds and removes links between existing items only. Cells the schema does not allow are skipped and listed. |
Documents and reports
| Format | Direction | What it covers | Known limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Word (.docx) | Export | Documents and outlines with Word heading styles, markings, cover pages and page numbers; redlines with tracked changes between baselines; entity breakdowns; diagram reports; ICDsInterface Control Document The agreed definition of an interface between two systems: what crosses it, how, and who owns it. Holarch also has an Interface Control Diagram.; test cases; RVTMRequirements Verification Traceability Matrix A table of each requirement with how it is verified, the tests that verify it and their latest result. and traceability matrices; trade study summaries; functional analysis reports; the DoDAFDepartment of Defense Architecture Framework The US DoD framework for describing architectures as a set of viewpoints and products, such as OV-1 and SV-1. architecture package. | Pages are US Letter. |
| PowerPoint (.pptx) | Export | Presentations, one slide per page, with text boxes, shapes and speaker notes. Presentations also export as HTML and Word. | None listed. |
| Markdown (.md) | Export | A document as Markdown headings and text. | None listed. |
| HTML | Export | Web pages of diagrams, diagram reports, charts, presentations and traceability matrices. | None listed. |
| Print and PDF | Export | Documents, tables and diagrams through the browser's print dialog, which saves PDF. Whiteboards export PDF directly. | Whiteboard PDF pages are images. |
Images
| Format | Direction | What it covers | Known limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| PNG and SVG | Export | Diagrams, charts, slides, simulator panels and gallery cards. PNG at a chosen scale, with or without a background; SVG as a scalable vector image. | None listed. |
| Whiteboards: PNG, JPG, SVG, PDF | Export | A board, a selection, the current view, a frame or all boards. SVG keeps shapes and text editable in vector tools. | PDF pages are images. |
| Pictures and attached files | Import | Pictures in rich text, entity images, file attributes, whiteboards and slides. PNG, JPEG or SVG graphics for DoDAFDepartment of Defense Architecture Framework The US DoD framework for describing architectures as a set of viewpoints and products, such as OV-1 and SV-1. products, such as an OV-1High-Level Operational Concept Graphic DoDAF Operational Viewpoint product: a picture-plus-narrative overview of the mission, its main players and how they interact. with hotspots. | Pictures over 4,000 px on the longest side are reduced. Files are limited to 10 MB on the Free plan and 25 MB on paid plans, and projects to 100 MB on the Free plan. |
Project files
| Format | Direction | What it covers | Known limits |
|---|---|---|---|
| Holarch project (.json) | Import and export | A whole project for backup or for moving it to another Holarch server: items, relationships, diagrams, baselines, comments, history and Home preferences, with attachments and pictures embedded. Imports as a new project that you own. The format is documented. | Always a new project; to merge into an open project, use the merge import below. |
| Merge into a project (.json, .inno, .xml) | Import | Holarch project, Database and document exports, Innoslate .inno archives with their attached files, and XML files of <entity> elements, merged into the open project. Classes, attributes, labels and relationships are matched by name, and missing schema items can be added first. Comments, history and diagram layouts come along when chosen. | Simulation scripts from a file are marked as imported, and the simulator asks before running them. |
| Project package (.inno) | Export | A zip of the chosen items with their relationships, diagrams, comments and schema, and every attached file. | Holds the chosen items; baselines and history are not included. |
| Schema (.json) | Import and export | A project's classes, relations, attributes and labels. Import merges what the project lacks, or replaces the schema. | None listed. |
| Baselines and document data (.json) | Export; document data also imports | A baseline with its date, document, approvals and snapshot. A document's items, relationships and state, which can be merged into another project. | None listed. |
| DoDAF products (JSON) and DM2 PES subset (XML) | Export | The architecture description, every product with its data, and the dictionary. The XML writes the dictionary in DoDAFDepartment of Defense Architecture Framework The US DoD framework for describing architectures as a set of viewpoints and products, such as OV-1 and SV-1. Meta Model terms. | The XML uses Holarch's own namespace and is not validated against the DM2DoDAF Meta-Model The data model behind DoDAF that defines its concepts and how they relate. PESPhysical Exchange Specification The XML format DoDAF defines for exchanging architecture data based on DM2. schema. |
| MS Project schedule (.xml) | Export | The Gantt rows of a simulation run as an MS Project XML schedule. | From simulator runs only. |
API and MCP
Scripts read and change projects through the REST API, with a personal access token and an OpenAPI description. AI tools such as Claude connect over the Model Context Protocol (MCP); their changes arrive as proposals you review before they apply. See API and MCP.