Import & Export

Archi Online reads and writes the same interchange formats as desktop Archi, and can render any view to an image. Everything is client-side — no files leave the browser except the ones you deliberately save.

Native .archimate documents

Use native .archimate files when Desktop fidelity matters. Asset-free models are XML; image-bearing models are compatible ZIP documents. Native I/O retains the complete normalized model, including nested folders and property order, recursive node/connection endpoints, manual and Manhattan router state, dormant bendpoints, named property-bearing note connections, and configured live legends. Missing endpoints and endpoint cycles are rejected atomically.

The reciprocal certification commands are:

npm run verify:phase2
npm run verify:phase2:desktop

The first command is cross-platform and runs in CI. The second requires the exact pinned Desktop Archi 5.9 installation, uses temporary round-trip paths, and never rewrites the committed goldens.

Import and merge

Use Import/Export ▾ → Import and Merge .archimate… to reuse another model without opening it as a workspace session. The dialog parses the source and builds an immutable preview before changing the active model. Objects match by global ID and exact kind/type; profiles match by case-insensitive concept type and name. A same-ID/different-type conflict blocks the import.

Choose whether to update existing objects, model information, and source folder structure. Updates replace complete source-owned fields and view contents while never deleting target-only content. Assets are deduplicated by SHA-256. The preview reports created, updated, moved, unchanged, skipped, and warning totals; click applied details to navigate. Apply is one undoable transaction and is rejected if the target changed after preview.

Model templates

Open Model Templates from its toolbar button or Import/Export ▾. The browser-local gallery can import/export .architemplate files, save the current model, search and filter categories, edit metadata and the key thumbnail, create a new unsaved model, or delete the local gallery copy.

The standard archive entries are manifest.xml, nested model.archimate, and up to 50 numbered Thumbnails/*.png images. archi-online.json adds a portable catalog ID and categories without affecting Desktop readers. Every ID is remapped once when saving a template and again when creating a model, while profiles, assets, views, appearance, and connection-to-connection topology are preserved. Unsafe paths, malformed manifests, invalid IDs, missing models, and oversized thumbnails are rejected before IndexedDB storage or model creation.

View images

Open the Import/Export ▾ menu on the toolbar (or use it while a view is active):

• View as image… opens a dialog to export the current view as PNG (at 1×, 2×, or 4× scale) or SVG, with a white or transparent background. The image is rendered from the same figures as the canvas, so it is pixel-faithful; labels are written as real SVG text, so the SVG is self-contained and the PNG is not tainted.
• Copy view as image copies a PNG of the current view straight to the system clipboard, ready to paste into slides or chat. Where a browser does not support image clipboard writes, use View as image… instead.

Static HTML reports

Use Import/Export ▾ → Static HTML Report (.zip)… to package the active model for people who need to inspect it without Archi Online. Choose the ZIP filename, export it, then extract the complete archive and open index.html. The report works directly from the extracted directory through file:// and from ordinary static web hosting; it makes no network requests.

The report provides the model tree, case-insensitive literal search, stable view/object deep links, documentation and ordered properties, relationship source/target links, Model Relations and Used in Views analysis, and diagram Zoom, Actual size, and Fit controls. Each diagram is produced by the same standalone SVG renderer as image export, including embedded model images.

The exported artifact necessarily contains the complete model content. Its allowlisted report projection does not include browser settings, extensions, scripts, autosave records, file handles, sharing associations or credentials, tokens, dock layout, or undo history. Keep every extracted file together; moving or deleting a views/*.svg file leaves the rest of the report usable but that diagram cannot be displayed.

Presentation mode

The toolbar Present button opens a full-screen, chrome-free walkthrough of the model's views:

• ←/→, PgUp/PgDn, or Space step between views (in model-tree order); Home/End jump to the first/last.
• Pan and zoom work as in the read-only viewer.
• A small heads-up display shows the view name and position, then fades.
• Esc (or leaving browser full-screen) exits back to the editor with the layout untouched.

ArchiMate Open Exchange format

The Open Exchange format is the vendor-neutral ArchiMate 3 interchange XML.

• Open — the normal Open… dialog accepts .xml Open Exchange files as well as .archimate files; the format is detected automatically. An Open Exchange file is imported as a new, unsaved model (as in desktop Archi), so a later Ctrl+S saves it as .archimate rather than overwriting the source.
• Export — Import/Export ▾ → Model to Open Exchange (.xml)… opens the Archi 5.9 export options. Folder organization and local XSD validation are on by default; language defaults to en; all 15 Dublin Core fields are editable; and schema copying is optional. Invalid output is not written. When schema copying is selected, one directory choice receives the XML and five official XSDs where supported, with individual downloads as the fallback.

The mapping is ported from Archi's own exporter/importer, including viewpoints, junctions, property definitions, optional folder organization, absolute diagram coordinates, styles, bendpoints, access/influence/association attributes, ISO-639 language, Dublin Core metadata, and Archi 5.9 specialization definitions and assignments. Import returns structured warnings and errors and never applies a partial model.

Open Exchange and CSV cover their standards' applicable scope; they are not a substitute for the native file when a workflow depends on recursive connection endpoints, native note connections, live legends, or dormant manual routes. Automatic-relationship and legend-label preferences are browser-local settings and therefore are never exported as model data.

CSV

Archi's CSV format is three files — elements.csv, relations.csv, and properties.csv — that round-trip with desktop Archi.

• Export — Import/Export ▾ → Model to CSV… offers the delimiter (comma/semicolon/tab), a filename prefix, a UTF-8 BOM toggle, newline stripping, and Excel-safety quoting. Where the browser supports it, all three files are written to a folder you pick; otherwise each is downloaded. Concept attributes such as access type, influence strength, association direction, and junction type are written as special properties, exactly as Archi does.
• Import — Import/Export ▾ → Import CSV into model… lets you select one to three CSV files (matched by the elements/relations/properties suffix in their names). Comma, semicolon, and tab delimiters are detected automatically. Objects are matched to the current model by ID: existing ones are updated in place and new ones are created, with relationships validated against the ArchiMate rules. Specializations are created or assigned from the Archi columns. The report distinguishes created, updated, unchanged, profile, property, warning, and error counts. The whole import is a single undo step, and any illegal ID, record length, endpoint update, duplicate relationship, or other error aborts it without changing the model.

What does not leave the browser

Image, static-report, Open Exchange, CSV, merge preview, and template workflows all run locally; the files are produced in the page and handed to the browser's save/download. See the User Guide for link- and gist-based model sharing.