Tips & Hints for Categorization: Admins Only
Categories let you define information that’s specific to certain subsets of objects in your workspace. These tips and hints provide a quick reference and some ideas for how to best use categories in BOMControl. For more information, including sample Category trees, download the BOMControl Advanced Categorization Guide from the Document Library, accessible from your BOMControl Dashboard.
Create a Category
Account Administrators can create Item, Request, Change, and File categories.
Category Activation
To prevent users from assigning objects to categories before they are ready, be sure your category scheme is fully defined before activating.
- In the account administration tool, click the Categories view.
- Click the subview in which you wish to create a category.
- Click Add Category or, if you wish to create a child category of an existing category, click the relevant category name from the Category tree and then click Add Child Category.
- Fill out the category information and any desired settings.
- If you’re ready to associate attributes with your new category, select the “I would like to configure this category’s attributes right now” checkbox.
- Click Save Changes.
Use Structural Categories
Structural categories exist only to complete the framework of categories in your workspace. They appear in brackets everywhere in the application, and objects cannot be assigned to them.
- Use a structural category when all objects can logically be assigned to categories farther down the Category tree—for example, if you have Surface Mount Resistors and Through-Hole Resistors, it makes sense to have a structural category [Resistor] and child Categories Surface Mount Resistor and Through-Hole Resistor. Alternately, you might choose to create a structural category [Surface Mount] and child categories Surface Mount Capacitor and Surface Mount Resistor.
Define Category-Specific Custom Attributes
Use category-specific (not Global) attributes whenever possible, so you don’t end up with empty attributes on objects to which they are not relevant.
Association Rule
Global Attributes appear on every object of that object type in the workspace. Category-Specific attributes appear only on objects assigned to a category with which the attribute is associated.
- Categories inherit attributes from parent categories—define attributes at the highest appropriate level so you don’t have to define them at every subsequent level.
- You can define attributes for a structural category, so all child categories inherit the attribute.
Select Default Settings
Categories in each world can be configured with default settings that affect objects assigned to the category. When a user creates an object and assigns it to a category with default settings, those settings will be included in the relevant view for the object. Settings are defaults only—users can choose other options when they create objects
Items
- Number Format If you choose any default format other than Basic Item Number, you can also set default values for each field in the Item Number Format.
- Custom BOM The Default Custom BOM appears first when a user navigates to the Custom subview of the BOM view.
Requests
- Evaluator Group For a list of the members in each Evaluator Group, go to the Evaluator Groups subview of the Requests view.
- Numbering Sequence Set a default prefix for each type of Request in your workspace.
Note: Selecting the Propagation checkbox updates all child categories to the values you’ve selected here, and overrides any default settings set for a child category itself.
Changes
- Routings Select one or multiple default routings per Change category. The Routings subview of the Changes view includes a list of users in each routing, and the stage at which they can vote on a Change.
- Number Sequence Set a default prefix for each type of Change in your workspace.
- Effectivity For deviations set the default effectivity to Temporary.
- Initial Implementation Status For some categories of Changes, you may want implementation status to default to Done.
Files
- Supplier Visibility When you set a File’s Supplier Visibility to Private, no Supplier user can see the File in any view of BOMControl.