Configuring Engineering Definition

As an Administrator, you can configure how the system manages enterprise item numbers and alternates.

This task shows you how to:

Configuring an Engineering Number Parameterization Formula

As an Administrator, you can configure customized formats for enterprise item numbers that users create.

When users select the "Set Enterprise Item Number" command, the custom format is applied to the enterprise item number. If you choose not to customize a format, users can enter enterprise item numbers in a format of their choosing.

Rules for customizing an enterprise item number format:
  • You must include at least one field that uses the type Counter. If there is no Counter type, an icon, , appears in the formula.
  • The formula can have only one Counter field.
  • You can use up to 15 fields in the formula.
  • The formula must have at least one field.
  • Any enterprise item number that you create using business rules supersedes formats that you create in the Engineering Definition domain.
Note: If you customize the enterprise item number format using either the Collaborative Spaces Configuration Center or a business rule, enterprise item numbers will be ignored in data that you import in the future using a spreadsheet.
You can use multiple counters in a formula. For example, you can number engineering items by Type and by a custom attribute that you create (such as a subtype). You can also ensure that the counters are always unique if required. If you choose not to use unique counters, then the counter will be the same for all engineering items that share the same attribute.
Note: If the attribute has no value for an engineering item, then the default value is assigned to the attribute for the engineering item. If there is no default value, a common value is assigned.

  1. Open the Collaborative Spaces Configuration Center widget. For more information, see Widgets to Configure Content and Business Rules.
  2. Under Collaborative Space Configuration Center, click Engineering Definition. You may need to scroll through the list to find it.
  3. Expand the Enterprise Item Numbering:Formula Configuration section. The enterprise item numbering table appears.
    The Engineering Definition displays a table with the current enterprise item number formula above it. The table lists each field in the enterprise item number formula and the order in which the fields appear.
  4. Click the Add Field icon, . The Add Field window opens.
  5. In the Name field, enter a name for the field. The name appears in the formula table but not in the enterprise item number.
  6. In the Order field, select the placement order of the field in the enterprise item number. The lowest available placement order is shown by default. The highest allowed value is 15.

    Note: You cannot use an Order value that is already in the formula table.

  7. In the Type list, select the field type:
    • User Input - Allows the user to enter text for this field.
    • Text - After selecting the type Text, enter a string of one or more characters in the Value field. This is fixed for all enterprise item numbers.
    • Attribute - After selecting the type Attribute:
      1. Select an option in the Attribute list.
      2. Enter a value for the Default Value. Text and numeric strings are allowed.
      3. (Optional) Select Create new counter for each value to ensure that each value is unique. New counters always start at 1. If you clear this option, engineering items that share the same attribute will have the same counter value. You can select or clear this option at any time.
      4. (Optional) Select Avoid duplicate Enterprise Item Number. If you have cleared the Create new counter for each value option and have engineering items that share the same counter value, this option updates the values so that they are unique. A message indicates that "All counters will be updated to highest counter value". This option is not available for when you define a new formula.
      Note: For defining enterprise item number parameterization formulas, only attributes that you create in the Collaborative Spaces Configuration Center are supported. For information, see Adding Custom Attributes to Types.
    • Counter - The field type counter size, up to 15 digits (default is six).
      Note: A warning shows in the Edit Field window if the enterprise item number counter exceeds the number of digits that you specify but the counter will continue to increment as users continue to add parts.
  8. Click Add.
  9. In the table, click Apply.

    Numbering formula that you create is listed in the Enterprise Item Numbering table. The table fields are described below:

    Field Description
    Name The name given to the field for creating the formula.
    Order The position in which the field appears in the formula.
    Type The field type.
    Value The field value.
    Actions Select an icon to either edit or remove the field from the formula.
    Counter Unicity Indicates whether the field counter uses a unique number for each engineering item.
    Deploy Status Indicates whether the field has been applied to the formula. Click Apply as required.

  10. (Optional) To edit a field, click the Edit field icon in the Actions column.

    When you edit a field:

    • You cannot edit the Name and Type fields. To change the name, delete the existing field and create a new one with the new name.
    • When you edit the order, you can only use values that are not used by other fields.

  11. (Optional) To remove a field, click the Remove field icon in the Actions column.

Enforcing Unique Engineering item Numbers

As an Administrator, you can ensure that, whenever a user enters an enterprise item number for an object, the system verifies whether the number already exists in the system. If it does, the system reports an error to the user and requires the user to enter a different number.

Note: After you

  1. Open the Collaborative Spaces Configuration Center widget. For more information, see Widgets to Configure Content and Business Rules.
  2. Under Collaborative Space Configuration Center, click Engineering Definition. You may need to scroll through the list to find it.
  3. Expand the Enterprise Item Numbering:Admin Configurations section.
  4. Select Enterprise Item Number Uniqueness for Engineering Item.

Configuring Alternates

You can configure requirements that users must follow when using alternates. You can enable alternates to be passed from one engineering item revision to the next or enforce alternates to be used only using Work Under change.

  1. Open the 3DDashboard Platform Manager.
  2. Select the Content tab.
  3. Under Collaborative Spaces Configuration Center - onPremises, select Engineering Definition.
  4. Under Alternate Management, choose from these options:

    Rule Description
    Include Alternates of previous revisions in subsequent revisions Carry over alternates defined for an object to all subsequent revisions of the object. By default, this setting is not enabled.
    Enforce Change Required for authoring Require users to use a Work Under change action for all operations for alternates (adding, removing, qualifying, or obsoleting). If this option is cleared, users can perform these operations with or without a change action.
    Forbid authoring Alternate with usage definition on Released parent Do not allow users to add any alternates for specific usage if the parent item is in the Released state.