Operation and System Reusability

A System or Operation template is a System or Operation that is stored in a library, which is organized in chapters,

Systems and Operations are References. A System component can be made of other System or Operation components. An Operation can be made of other Operations.

You can define a time constraint between two Operation instances. Time constraints are oriented from a source Operation to a target Operation.

You can define a flow link between two System instances. The flow is oriented from a source System to a target System.

The advantage of using templates to define a new System or Operation is that attributes are already defined with pertinent values. In addition, flow links and time constraints links are also already defined.

To create an operation template in a library, you must first create a structure of Operations with internal time constraints between Operations and time estimation values on Operations.

The time constraint between the source and target Operations must belong directly or indirectly to the Operation that will be stored in the library. Otherwise the time constraint is not stored along with the parent Operation.

To create a system template in a library, the first step is to define Operations, then store them in a library. You can then use these Operations to build a System. You can add time constraints between operations inside the System scope. Then this System can also be stored in a library.

A System template is often Multi-Levels. For example, it can be built using Operation templates.

First step is to define Operations, then store them in a library. Second step is to reuse these Operations to build a System. You can add time constraints between operations in the System. This System is also stored in a library and can be reused.

The time constraint between the source and target Operations must belong to the System that will be stored in the library. Otherwise the time constraint is not stored along with the parent System.

Flow links between Systems can also be stored with Systems. The same rule applies as for time constraint links. The flow link between the source and target Systems must belong directly or indirectly to the System that will be stored in the library. Otherwise the flow link is not stored along with the parent System.

The inserted System or Operation is an instance of a clone of the System or Operation Reference that is in the library. These instances are added to the selected System or Operations in session.

The flow links between Systems and the time constraint links between Operations are also instantiated.

The following rules apply to import existing Systems or Operations from the library:

• A System can be added to a General type System only.
• An Operation can be added to either a System or a General type Operation.

You cannot instantiate Operations under a component that is not a System or Operation (an Item, for example).

When a library contains systems and operations that have associated documents, the Insert as Copy command copies the systems and operations and also copies the documents.

The command then associates the copies of the documents to the relevant copies of the systems and operations.